I love a good indie project and THE DISCOVERERS looks like a clever, quirky work of all kinds of goodness. The film focuses around washed-up history professor Lewis Birch (Griffin Dunne) who takes his teenage kids – Zoe (Madeleine Martin) and Jack (Devon Graye) – on a road trip to a conference in hopes of putting his career back on track. But, when Lewis’s estranged father Stanley (Stuart Margolin) goes AWOL on a Lewis and Clark historical reenactment trek, Lewis is forced to make a family detour.
THE DISCOVERERS is the debut feature from writer and director Justin Swartz and from the trailer below, is something I think we should all look out for. It’s also just picked up a few official plaudits at the Genart(ist) Emerging Actor Awards, which celebrates upcoming talent on all sides, where Madeleine Martin (who you might recognise as Becca from the excellent Californication) grabbed the emerging actress award and Devon Graye for best emerging actor. There was also an extra celebration as Aaron Mirman took home a gong for the score.
Check out the teaser trailer below and scroll down for some images:
THE DISCOVERERS has no set release date internationally at the moment but it is doing the US Film Festival circuit.
There’s also a very notable cast that includes David Rasche, (IN THE LOOP), Dreama Walker, Ann Dowd (both COMPLIANCE), Cara Buono (Mad Men), Becky Ann Baker (Girls), Scott Adsit (30 Rock), and John C. McGinley (Scrubs).
