By Maria Esteves – April 19, 2014

Lou Howe’s directorial debut of GABRIEL premiered during the 13th Tribeca Film Festival at the SVA theatre, New York, Thursday, April 17, 2014. The post premiere Q&A session immediately followed with director Howe, lead actor Rory Culkin, cast and crew members moderated by artistic director Frederic Boyer, Tribeca Film Festival.

Questions posed by Boyer and the audience to director Howe and cast included: “Describe the film style, the sound, the mix, the music and the silence of the film; Did you do a lot of research on mental illness?”

GABRIEL is a powerful and intimate film that captures the innocence and purity of a heart in search for love despite mental health challenges. Set in present day New York, Gabriel (Rory Culkin) a young adult institutionalized with a history of mental illness returns home to his family in the Hamptons. A prisoner in his mind with unresolved inner pain and anguish who doesn’t think about his diagnosis yearns to live an ordinary life (get a job, have a house, get married). Unable to make rational decisions, cope with his mother (Lynn Cohen) and brother Mathew (David Call), Gabriel escapes to New York City in search to find the only person in the world that really understands him, his first true love Alice Elizabeth Norton (Emily Meade). Gabriel says as long as I have Alice, it’s ok!

Culkin’s performance of Gabriel was extraordinary and authentic. He nailed it right on the head reminding the audience of someone they may know or someone they love with mental disability.

GABRIEL, directed by Lou Howe | AgX Production | USA | 2014 | 84 min | Drama, Thriller | World Premiere: 13th Tribeca Film Festival.

TFF 2014 World Premiere of GABRIEL: artistic director Frederic Boyer,
Tribeca Film Festival, left, and director Lou Howe.

TFF 2014 World Premiere of GABRIEL: Director Lou Howe, center, with
actors Rory Culkin, right, and David Call.