Assistant Professor, Tim Ritter, had his feature film Echoes screening at the Central Florida Film Festival held in the Epic Theatre in Mount Dora. His film won Best Florida Project at the festival and was one of four nominees for Best Dramatic Feature.
Ritter also shared that the film debuted at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival, where it won Best of Genre and he won the top award, Robert Rodriguez Indie Autuer of the Year, and has since played in festivals from Cleveland to Italy to right here in town.
Ritter gives a synopsis of the film as well as the inspiration behind it:
“Logline: With mankind wiped off the planet, God retires to a cabin in the woods to start the Adam-and-Eve experiment over. As the seasons and years pass and familiar patterns — and mistakes — start to appear, the new first family hurtles toward an impossible choice.
I’ve always been fascinated with the passage of time on film, and the way cinema can allow us to live entire characters’ lives in a couple of hours. I’ve also consistently explored the ideas of personal and societal responsibility in my work, and how our evolution socially tends to be much more circular than linear. Rebooting the Genesis story allowed me to explore all these ideas, while pushing in innovative ways just how much a microbudget film can do.
Director Tim Ritter calls out instructions while second unit director of photography Kyle Gattis, one of Ritter’s former UCF film students, sets up the shot.
Director Tim Ritter watches the action as second unit director of photography Kyle Gattis, one of Ritter’s former UCF film students, sets up the shot and former UCF Film MFA student Phil Irving helps out.
Microbudget films are typically not generational sagas, because it involves waves of actors and/or heavy makeup effects to age actors. However, using makeup and other sonic and visual cues, we cover decades in our two hours. The film follows a four-season structure, with each season showcasing a different period in the first family’s lives while also mirroring the mood of that period in their lives (ie. Adam and Eve as children in a blooming, blossoming spring). Shooting seasons in the Garden of Eden in central Florida also was a challenge, but we used color and audio cues to convey these changes to audiences in a way that has really connected.”
You can watch the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/933790464/596dbcce38.
Production still from the film. Young Eve, played by Trinity Soos, gazes off into the forbidden forest after being confronted by Young Adam, played by Nicholas Djuro.
The thumbnail art for online videos, as well as key art for other promotional purposes, featuring actress Trinity Soos.
Written by Majdulina Hamed. Photos courtesy of Tim Ritter.
Published to Nicholson News on February 4th, 2025.
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