Film Stars Joseph Mckelheer And Cory Knauf From The Butcher Brothers The Violent Kind And The Hamiltons. A small picture vibrating with grand passions, Godspeed transforms the vast lawlessness of the Alaskan wilderness into a playground for damaged souls and Old Testament mischief. The New York Times a seriously great filmat times seems co-written by Stephen King and Flannery OConnor Austin Chronicle
Godspeed recently premiered theatrically in New York, Los Angeles and Anchorage and comes out on DVD/VOD April 20th. The film premiered to critical acclaim at a number of film festivals and won the Special Jury Award for Exceptional Artistic Achievement at the CineVegas Film Festival. Please see reverse for screening times and visit www.godspeedthefilm.com for more information.
Charlie Shepard (Joseph McKelheer, The Violent Kind, The Hamiltons) is a modern day faith healer, a man who claims that if you let go and believe, then his power to heal is very real indeed. Living with his young son and wife, Charlie ekes out a meager living from his “healing” sessions in a small Alaskan town. With his marriage failing, and an old drinking habit coming back to haunt him, his family is brutally murdered by unknown assailants. Six months later, Charlie has abandoned his former life and the house his family lived in. Even local fish and game man Mitch (veteran actor Ed Lauter, Seabiscuit) cant seem to break through Charlies desolation. Then, a young, mysterious girl named Sarah (Courtney Halverson) appears in town, and seeks out Charlie. Its here on Charlies journey to Sarahs remote home, buried deep in the Alaskan wilderness, where he must eventually confront Sarahs troubled brother Luke (Cory Knauf, The Violent Kind, The Hamiltons) a dark journey that will ultimately reveal the truth of his familys killings and lead to tragic, violent consequences for all.
With Godspeed, Saitzyk says that he was most inspired by the challenge to make a film shot entirely on location in Alaska. Working with both Joseph McKelheer and Cory Knauf who starred in the Butcher Brothers 2010 Sundance film The Violent Kind and The Hamiltons, Saitzyk crafted a film that he describes as both an intense, dramatic thriller set in the lingering light of the Alaskan midnight sun and also a film that questions the nature of healing, compassion and retribution.
Shot in and around Anchorage and Wasilla, Alaska, Godspeed was directed and edited by Robert Saitzyk and produced by Houston King and John Flanagan. The screenplay is by Cory Knauf and Robert Saitzyk and the story is by Knauf and Joseph McKelheer. Saitzyks previous films include After the Flood and White of Winter, which premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
