HERE

Feature Film Project Summary

A Braden King Film
Written by Braden King and Dani Valent
Producers: Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
Co-Producer: Jeff Kalousdian
Executive Producers: Zoe Kevork, Julia King

A Truckstop Media / Parts and Labor Production

302A W. 12 th St., #223 New York, New York 10014
(212) 989-7105 / where@herefilm.info
www.herefilm.info

Logline

HERE is a dramatic, landscape-obsessed road movie that chronicles a brief but intense romantic
relationship between an American satellite-mapping engineer and an expatriate Armenian art
photographer who impulsively decide to travel together into uncharted territory.

Synopsis

Will Shepard is an American satellite-mapping engineer contracted to create a new, more accurate
survey of the country of Armenia. Within the industry, his solitary work - land-surveying satellite
images to check for accuracy and resolve anomalies - is called “ground-truthing”. He’s been doing it
on his own, for years, all over the world. But on this trip, his measurements are not adding up.

Will meets Gadarine Najarian at a rural hotel. Tough and intriguing, she’s an expatriate Armenian art
photographer on her first trip back in ages, passionately trying to figure out what kind of relationship -
if any - she still has with her home country and culture. Fiercely independent, Gadarine is struggling
to resolve the life she’s led abroad with the Armenian roots that run so deeply through her.

There is an instant, unconscious bond between these two lone travelers; they impulsively decide to
continue together. HERE tells the story of their unique journey and the dramatic personal
transformations it leads each of them through.

Will and Gadarine move through Armenia and its remarkable landscape photographing, measuring
and experiencing the trip in their own individual ways and, ultimately, through each other’s eyes.
Their journey takes them across the length of the country, from the Lori region in the north to the
Iranian border in the south, and finally into the diplomatically undefined Nagorno-Karabagh region.
Here they are forced to confront their intensifying relationship and the difficult questions it raises.

Along the way, Will is continually challenged with erroneous data as his trip descends toward failure,
while Gadarine encounters much more personal static: nationality, culture, family, old friends. As
she starts to discover a new relationship with her homeland, Will begins to question the solitary life
he has chosen.

The two become deeply connected as their sense of themselves - and their worlds - expands. As their
trip comes to an end, each must deal with the conclusions to which their journey has led them, and
each must decide where to go from HERE.
The Explorer Stories

HERE contains a series of brief interludes: fictional tales of mythical explorers who map the
land in fantastic ways. One imagines the land to be a vast sea and designs ships that might sail
upon it. Another devises a navigational method using the clouds instead of the stars. A third
creates maps that are actual-size. And so on.

These interludes are the story’s dreams.

They will be illustrated in collaboration with a number of well-known avant-garde and

experimental filmmakers – explorers themselves – who will be sent to a series of extraordinary
landscapes around the world to “map” them, using their own idiosyncratic methods.

As these mythical stories are heard in poetic voiceover, cinematic renderings of fantastic
landscapes will overtake the screen – some time-lapse, some abstract, others vivid and still.

Through organic visual transitions, the interludes will weave seamlessly in and out of the film,
expanding its texture, themes, emotional impact and cinematic vocabulary. With them, HERE
follows a tradition of combining compelling drama with creative expressiveness that began with
such now-classic independent films as MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, WINGS OF DESIRE, MY LIFE
AS A DOG and BREAKING THE WAVES. They allow HERE a dreamlife as rich and vivid as our
own while uniting disparate cinematic traditions, deepening the project’s artistic integrity,
expanding its audience and intensifying the viewer’s experience of its story and themes.

Stills (L – R):

O, Julie Murray; Hardwood Process, David Gatten; I Said Yes, Phil Solomon; Greece, to Me, Barbara Meter
All films were contributions to Boxhead Ensemble’s Stories, Maps and Notes from the Half-Light tour.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 2

 Boxhead Ensemble at the 2001 Dublin Film Festival.

Beyond the Movie: HERE and the Boxhead Ensemble

Several years ago, HERE director Braden King made the film DUTCH HARBOR: WHERE THE
SEA BREAKS ITS BACK in collaboration with photographer Laura Moya. DUTCH HARBOR is a
lyrical examination of the life and landscape of a community on the Aleutian Islands, off the
west coast of Alaska. The film interweaves residents’ personal narratives about living at one of
the edges of the Earth with imagery of Dutch Harbor’s landscape, its community and crab
fishing boats on the Bering Sea.

In addition to more traditional festival screenings and distribution, DUTCH HARBOR toured in
the United States and Europe with live, improvised soundtrack accompaniment by the Boxhead
Ensemble - a rotating group of musicians formed to create the film’s soundtrack under the
guidance of composer Michael Krassner.

King has continued to work with the Ensemble since DUTCH HARBOR, producing live music and
film events that have featured work by filmmakers Jem Cohen, Gustav Deutsch, Gerard
Holthius, Peter Hutton, Barbara Meter, Julie Murray, Chris Petit, Phil Solomon, Guy Sherwin,
Anita Thacher and Naomi Uman, among others. The Boxhead Ensemble’s rotating lineup has
included Guillermo Gregorio, David Grubbs, Glenn Kotche (Wilco), Fred Lonberg-Holm, Will
Oldham, Jim O’Rourke (Sonic Youth), Jeff Parker (Tortoise), Tim Rutili (Califone), Jeff Tweedy,
Scott Tuma, Ken Vandermark, Jim White (Dirty Three, Cat Power) and many more.

King, Krassner and the Ensemble will continue their collaboration with HERE – but with an even
greater sense of ambition and intention. Non-traditional venues for the recording of the film’s
soundtrack are under consideration: James Turrell’s Rodin Crater, for example, and several
ancient monasteries throughout Armenia. In addition, international tours and events featuring
film screenings with live musical accompaniment are being planned to coincide with premieres
and to support HERE’s DVD release.

Conceptually, these tours and events will turn HERE inside out, featuring longer “director’s
cuts” of the Explorer Story interludes, seamlessly connected with landscape footage taken
from HERE’s dramatic story. Separate from the film’s primary theatrical release, these events
will be a visceral exploration of the “dream life” of HERE. They will expand its thematic scope
and audience – greatly extending its life, press profile and revenue potential.

The entire project – the film, the Explorer Stories, the Boxhead Ensemble tours – is designed to
become a kind of macro Map or Explorer Story of its own, functioning on several formal,
narrative and conceptual levels at once, while transcending all manner of media and audience
borderlines.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 3

Awards and Honors

Cannes Film Festival Atelier (2008)

HERE was one of fifteen projects (and one of only two U.S. projects) selected from around the
world for the 2008 Cannes Film Festival Atelier.

Sundance / NHK International Filmmakers Award (2008)

At the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, the HERE screenplay and Director Braden King were
named the U.S. winners of the Sundance / NHK International Filmmakers Award.

Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art (2008)

Braden King’s Armenian research and location scout photographs were included in the recent
exhibition “Mapping the Self” at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art.

Rockefeller / Renew Media / Tribeca Film Institute Fellowship (2008)

Braden King was awarded a 2008 Rockefeller / Renew Media Fellowship for HERE.

Sundance Institute: January and June Screenwriters Labs (2007)*

HERE was one of twelve projects selected for the January and June 2007 Sundance Institute
Screenwriters Labs.

Sundance Institute: June Directors Lab (2007)*

HERE was one of eight projects selected for the June 2007 Sundance Institute Directors Lab.

Annenberg Feature Film Fellowship (2007)

Braden King was awarded an Annenberg Feature Film Fellowship for HERE.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship (2007)

Braden King was the 2007 Alfred P. Sloan Fellow for HERE.

Rotterdam Film Festival Cinemart Producer’s Lab (2007)

Producer Julia King was one of two U.S. producers selected for the Rotterdam Film Festival's
2007 CineMart Producer's Lab for HERE.

IFP / No Borders (2005)

HERE was selected for the prestigious No Borders section of the 2005 IFP Market.

Creative Capital Foundation (2005)

Braden King received a 2005 Creative Capital Grant to develop HERE.

Current Status

HERE is in the final stages of development and financing. The film will be shot entirely on
location in Armenia. Principal photography is set to begin in late spring, 2009.

HERE is being produced by Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy. Associate Producer Jeff
Kalousdian and Director Braden King have made numerous research and scouting trips to
Armenia, traveling extensively throughout the country and immersing themselves in its film and
creative communities. The production is now finalizing cast and crew.

*Just six projects were invited to the 2007 Sundance Screenwriters Labs and the ‘07 Sundance Directors Lab.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 4

Presenting Partner: Pomegranate Arts

Founded in 1998 by Linda Brumbach, Pomegranate Arts is an independent production company

dedicated to the development of international contemporary performing arts projects. Since its inception,
Pomegranate Arts has conceived, produced, or represented projects by Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson,
London’s Improbable, Sankai Juku, Dan Zanes, and Goran Bregovic. Special projects include Dracula:
The Music And Film with Philip Glass and the Kronos Quartet; the music theater work Shockheaded
Peter; Brazilian vocalist Virginia Rodrigues; Drama Desk Award winning Charlie Victor Romeo; Healing The
Divide, A Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, presented by Philip Glass and Richard Gere; and Hal
Willner's Came So Far For Beauty, An Evening Of Leonard Cohen Songs. Upcoming projects include the
first North American tour of Goran Bregovic, Laurie Anderson’s Two-Sided Plays, the remounting of
Lucinda Childs’ 1979 classic Dance and the international art and performance-based extensions of HERE.

The Production Team

Co-Writer / Director

Braden King co-directed the film DUTCH HARBOR: WHERE THE SEA BREAKS
ITS BACK. Made in collaboration with photographer Laura Moya, DUTCH
HARBOR is a lyric, non-fiction meditation on the life and landscape of an
Aleutian Island community off the west coast of Alaska. DUTCH HARBOR has
screened in over 20 international film festivals and the film toured internationally
with live, improvised soundtrack accompaniment by the critically-acclaimed
Boxhead Ensemble, under the direction of composer Michael Krassner. The film
was released theatrically in Europe by ED Distribution; Plexifilm will distribute a new, deluxe DVD edition
worldwide in 2009.

King is represented for commercial work by New York-based Washington Square Films. Commercial clients
include American Airlines, ESPN, Johnson and Johnson, Miller Beer, Nikon, The Partnership for a Drug-
Free America, Siemens and UNICEF. He has directed music videos and short films for Sonic Youth, Chan
Marshall, Will Oldham, Tortoise, Low, Yo La Tengo and Sparklehorse. King also directed the
groundbreaking interactive DVD project LOOKING FOR A THRILL, which features over five hours of
expressively rendered interviews with over 112 musicians and artists.

Recent non-narrative work includes HEAVEN IS A PLACE / NOTHING EVER HAPPENS (2007), a film and
video installation commissioned by Chris Doyle for the 50,000 BEDS exhibition at the Aldrich
Contemporary Art Museum and THE STORY IS STILL ASLEEP, a dynamic, multi-channel video piece with
live musical accompaniment that premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. His Armenian HERE
location scout photographs were included in the Spring, 2008 exhibition MAPPING THE SELF at the
Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art.

King’s work has been screened on all major U.S. broadcast networks and HBO, the BBC, Sundance
Channel, MTV, Channel 4 (UK) and others. He has guest-lectured at Yale University, The University of
Southern California, Bard College, Wheaton College and the Graduate School at the City University of New
York. King studied film at the USC School of Cinema-Television in Los Angeles, graduating Magna Cum
Laude in 1993.

He lives in New York City with his wife, Mimi, and his two sons, Jonas and Oliver.

(continued)

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 5

Co-Writer

Australian writer Dani Valent spent eight years traveling the world for guidebook publisher
Lonely Planet, researching and writing about various places, including Bulgaria, Bonaire,
Hong Kong, New York, India and Turkey. Her book World Food Turkey was short-listed for
the Andre Simon Memorial Fund Book Award in 2000, and she was a consultant for Lonely
Planet Television’s SIX DEGREES series.

Valent has threaded fiction and poetry-writing through her career; her short stories and poems have
appeared in numerous Australian literary magazines. She published a book of poetry and short fiction,
Dani Valent: Works, in 1990.

Dani currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, where she works as a freelance journalist, contributing
regularly to Good Weekend, Australia’s premier newspaper magazine and The Age, Melbourne's daily
newspaper.

Lead Actor

After seeing Lubna Azabal (Gadarine Najarian) in the film PARADISE NOW, director Braden
King invited her to work with him for three weeks at the 2007 Sundance Directors Lab. It
was immediately evident that there was no more perfect actor for the role of Gadarine.

Based in Brussels and Paris, Azabal has appeared in over fifteen feature films, including
Ridley Scott’s BODY OF LIES, André Techine’s FAR and CHANGING TIMES, Tony Gatlif’s
EXILS*, Hany Abu-Assad’s Academy Award Nominated PARADISE NOW and Robert
Kechichian’s ARAM. In 2007, Azabal won the Jerusalem Film Festival’s Most Promising
Actress award for her performance in Guy Nattiv’s STRANGERS. She is a graduate of the Conservatoire
Royal de Bruxelles.

*Winner, Best Director, 2004 Cannes Film Festival; Nominated for the Palme D’Or.

Composer

Michael Krassner began composing music for film with the Boxhead Ensemble, a group
he first formed in the early ‘90s to score a number of short films by filmmakers Braden
King and Larry Stuckey. The Ensemble went on to record the soundtrack to King’s film
DUTCH HARBOR: WHERE THE SEA BREAKS ITS BACK at Truckstop Audio Recording
Co. (Chicago), where he was a founding partner along with King and musician /
recording engineer Joseph Ferguson.

Subsequent Boxhead Ensemble recordings include two live albums from the DUTCH HARBOR film
screening tours (The Last Place to Go and Niagara Falls), a soundtrack for the John Hyams HBO
documentary THE SMASHING MACHINE and the studio albums Two Brothers, Quartets and Nocturnes.

Over the years, the Boxhead Ensemble’s rotating lineup has included Ken Vandermark, Jim O’Rourke
(Sonic Youth, Gastr del Sol), Will Oldham (Palace Music, Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), Glenn Kotche (Wilco),
Doug Mccombs (Tortoise), Tim Rutili (Califone), Fred Lonberg-Holm, Scott Tuma, Jim White (Dirty Three,
Cat Power) and others.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 6

 (continued)
Producers

Established in 2004, Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy’s production company
Parts and Labor is dedicated to director-driven, collaborative filmmaking.
Integral to the company’s consistency is an unwavering dedication to each
project, a true respect for the process and a love of film.

In October 2008, Parts and Labor signed a First-Look / Development deal with
producer Scott Rudin (Miramax / Disney). At the 2008 Toronto Film Festival,
Variety singled out Knudsen and Van Hoy in their list of “10 Producers to Watch”. In 2006, the two were
included in Filmmaker Magazine's “25 New Faces of Independent Film” and Paste Magazine’s Top 10 list
of “Arthouse Powerhouse Producers.”

Knudsen and Van Hoy produced Kelly Reichardt's acclaimed feature OLD JOY, Cam Archer's WILD
TIGERS I HAVE KNOWN, Steve Collins' GRETCHEN and Spencer Parsons' I'LL COME RUNNING. Two
recent projects, Nik Fackler's LOVELY, STILL and So Yong Kim's TREELESS MOUNTAIN, premiered at
the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. Both will be released theatrically in 2009.

Upcoming films include Cruz Angeles' DON'T LET ME DROWN, which will premiere in Competition at the
2009 Sundance Film Festival. Currently in post: David Barker's UNTITLED, Cam Archer’s SHIT YEAR and
Bradley Rust Gray’s EXPLODING GIRL. In development are new films by Cam Archer, So Yong Kim, Nik
Fackler, Spencer Parsons, and Bradley Rust Gray and debuts by Steve Doughton (SPRUNG), Andrew
Dosunmu (MOTHER OF GEORGE), Matt Ross (FRANK & LOLA) and James Clauer (WAYWARD HO!). Now
nearing production are new features by Julia Loktev (THE LONELIEST PLANET), Aaron Katz (COLD
WEATHER), Mike Mills (UNTITLED), and Braden King (HERE).

Originally from Lake Tahoe, California, Co-Producer Jeff Kalousdian has lived and
worked in Armenia since 1992. He brings 15 years of Armenian operational know-how
and extensive cultural and social insight to HERE.

Kalousdian’s work has drawn him to some of the world’s most volatile and challenging
areas, including Kosovo, Abkhazia and Nagorno Karabagh.
Specializing in economic development and international relations, Kalousdian has
managed post-conflict recovery and economic development projects in Armenia, Georgia, Serbia and
Macedonia. Sponsors behind these programs include the United Nations, European Union and the U.S.
Government.

In Armenia and Karabagh, Kalousdian has managed multi-million dollar development programs and
advised the United Nations, Red Cross, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Save the
Children, Open Society Institute, Danish International Development Agency and the Armenian
Government. In 2006, Kalousdian helped pioneer the Directors Across Borders program at Yerevan’s
Golden Apricot Film Festival. DAB works to build regional peace and tolerance by supporting cross-border
film production.

Kalousdian currently divides his time between the U.S. and Armenia.

Executive producer Julia King is a New York-based independent film producer who
works in documentary and feature films. She co-produced AMERICAN SPLENDOR,
directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini and produced by Ted Hope
in association with HBO Films. AMERICAN SPLENDOR won the Grand Jury Prize at
the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, the FIRPRISI International Critics Prize at the
2003 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best
Adapted Screenplay.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 7

 (continued)
King also produced the feature length documentary THE YOUNG AND THE DEAD, a portrait of a Los
Angeles cemetery and its youthful owner that premiered at the Venice Film Festival, screened at the
Telluride Film Festival and aired on HBO in 2000, and HELLO HE LIED, AND OTHER TRUTHS FROM
THE HOLLYWOOD TRENCHES, a lighthearted, yet in-depth look at producers working in Hollywood that
aired on American Movie Classics in 2001.

Most recently, King produced WANDERLUST, a feature-length documentary about road movies for the
Independent Film Channel and THE CARETAKERS, a 20-minute narrative film directed by Elisabeth
Subrin and Executive Produced by Scott Macaulay. THE CARETAKERS premiered at the 2006 New York
Film Festival.

Four years after moving to Los Angeles, Executive Producer Zoe Kevork has already
worked in various capacities for Kevin Spacey’s Triggerstreet Productions, Val Kilmer,
Fred Roos, Faye Dunaway and Francis Ford Coppola.

As an attorney, Kevork has split her career between Toronto and Los Angeles, having
practiced as an international trade attorney for the Ontario government and, more
recently, focusing on entertainment law.
She has been invited to present at the ACSUS conference on the North American
monetary union, has been to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW), has coached at Notre Dame University Law School and she also judged the
Jessup International Law Moot Competition.

Besides maintaining her legal practice, Zoe is on the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Dramatic Arts
Alliance (ADAA) and is a concert producer / promoter as the founder of Infinite Echo Entertainment.

HERE: Feature Film Project Summary - Pg. 8