l COMPANY • Gift Baskets • Sweet Tra ys • Muffins • Soups ro „ a a ce' • Cookies Everything Made Fresh Daily 'Swimming' Controversial director of anti-Vietnam flick swims in more placid waters in his third movie. MICHAEL ELKIN Philadelphia Jewish Exponent The funny thing is that the student, Lisa Bazadona, "hated me as a teacher. "I'm known as a terror. It's a tough business and I teach n Swimming, producer-director Robert J. Siegel [students] for the real world — as if we're going into transforms the personal and public ebb and flow of war." loneliness into a quiet movie that may very well Make script, not war, became their mantra as the two, make waves this summer. abetted by Grace Woodward, sent the script through nine Floating among other films more adept at shallow end- drafts. ings, Swimming features a tomboyish performance by "I wrote the last three, and Lisa polished it," says Siegel. Lauren Ambrose (Emmy- The polish shows in this gem-like nominated for her role in film. It's no surprise that it has the HBO's Six Feet Under) as a stamp of authenticity since Lisa, says solitary teen in the sleepy Siegel, once worked at a Myrtle Southern town of Myrtle Beach shop doing tattoos, just like Beach, S.C. the Nicola character. Indeed ; there is no Swimming is a mild movie com- Southern comfort for pared to the tsunami Siegel swam Frankie (Ambrose) until a through during his first time out. sexual awakening roils her His debut movie, Parades, pilloried placid existence. the Vietnam war, and the fervor it Frankie's gentle fomented erupted into fisticuffs girl/woman is a siren call when it played in New York, eventu- for those eternal outsiders ally forcing the distributor to with- fighting the feeling of being draw what Siegel calls the first the- alone. It certainly was that atrical film to focus on America's siren signal for Siegel, who's role in the war. also the film's co-screen- But the feisty Siegel wasn't about writer. to withdraw from controversy; his "Frankie is me," says Descending Angel, premiered by Siegel. HBO, tackled the touchy topic of How could a Jewish inde- Romanian Nazis' penetration of the pendent producer from Romanian Orthodox Church in the Riverdale, N.Y., see himself United States. in the quiet Frankie, a "I spent three years researching Southern gentile? that, and what I learned was that 28 "I always felt like the out- of the 40 churches were run by sider when I was growing indicted war criminals," he says. Lauren Ambrose stars as a solitary teen in up," says Siegel. What he also discovered as a film- Robert Siegel's "Swimming." Raised in an Irish Catholic maker was a different kind of crime neighborhood, Siegel says he — how long and how much of an "always felt at a disadvantage," effort it takes to raise funds for a film. and he takes advantage of that adversarial feel in the film. Which was one of the reasons Swimming went so swim- "There is not a moment she goes through that I didn't mingly. "I decided to make a film for which I could raise experience," he says. the money in one day." And like Frankie, who hangs out with the town's cooler Siegel has his sights set on a new project about - chick, Nicola (Jennifer Dundas Lowe), Siegel was sidekick McCarthyism's impact on the comings and goings at a to the school dude. hotel in New York's Catskill Mountains in the 1950s. "I'd walk along with Richie Goldstein, the cool guy, Tentatively called In the Pink, it's a comedy that looks at hoping to live vicariously," he recalls. the Red Scare through the eyes of a rough-edged Irish kid Siegel is hot in his own right now. Swimming took sent from reform school to work in the unfamiliar Jewish home the Torchlight Award for excellence in filmmaking world of the Catskills. at the Woodstock Film Festival and has been invited to Like Swimming, a coming of-age film, it is all about dozens of film festivals around the world. how a reputed incorrigible is taught "to do the right All this recognition makes Siegel happy and one of his thing," Siegel says. 111 students probably even happier. Swimming swam against the tide from the very beginning: The film was originally Swimming, unrated, opens Friday, .Aug. 23, at the Maple scripted as a senior thesis by one of Siegel's students — Art Theatre in Bloomfield Township. (248) 542-0180. Siegel is a film professor at SUNY Purchase — before he optioned it. '14MOWSUMA41WkaARNMEWAMMEN. I . Try our Challah _Bread! Buy two Muffins get the 3rd for FREE 1 coupon per order Expires 9/30/02 not good with any other discount or special offer 24-hour notice please on r. . specialty items (some exceptions) 6879 Orchard Lake Rd. the Boardwalk Plaza 248-626-9110 €.0 4270 Bangkok Sala Cafe THAI CUISINE Buy One Lunch or Dinner & Get a Second for 150% OFF One per customer • Expires 12/31/02 a 27903 Orchard Lake Rd. (NW corner of 12 Mile) Farmington Hills (248) 553-4220 Open 7 days a week Mon-Sat 11 am - 10 pm Sunday 4 pm - 9:30 pm 8/23 2002 95