28 Dhjetor, 2010 | Posted by Prishtina Press

‘Dreaming American’ Movie Review

By Prishtina Press
December 28, 2010

New York - “Dreaming American” exposes the painful struggle of an Albanian immigrant trying to make it in New York. Based on the true story of Praq Rado who plays the lead character, as Zef Noja, this powerful drama brings to the viewer the emotional true story of real people and real faces. Once in a while Hollywood is inspired by real life events, but Dreaming American serves a larger purpose. It draws people to a greater connotation – the idea of being an illegal immigrant with aspiring dreams while at the same time identifying with struggles of the everyday life in America. Does Zef have an identity crisis? And for how many people like Zef is this a reality in United States today? The immigration issue is a heated debate at the social realm as well as at the national level. It is brilliant movies such as “Dreaming American” that remind us of the democratic principles America as a great nation has been founded on, that despite ones national origin, freedom of life and pursuit of happiness should be a right for all individuals.

Praq Rado expresses gratitude to be given the wonderful opportunity by the crème de la crème of the film industry such as Lee Percy and Barbet Schroeder. “I consider myself extremely lucky and honored to be part of the amazing experience of Dreaming American. Barbet Schroeder (executive producer who has worked on ‘A least Hollywood starts,’ Oscar nominated director of ‘Reversal of Fortune’ with Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons, ‘Single White Female’ with Bridget Fonda, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Steven Weber and ‘Murder by Numbers’ with Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin and Ryan Gosling) and Lee Percy, (director – award-winning editor of ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ with Hilary Swank, ‘Grey Gardens’ with Drew Barrymore , Jessica Lange and ‘Salt’ with Angelina Jolie) have been my mentors and have played a defining role in my acting career. I consider myself the luckiest man to get a chance to work with such artists.”

For the director, Lee Percy, it is important to involve the audience in the characters so that the larger themes of the movie better resonate with them. This pushes the viewer to be a critical thinker, pose questions that reflect current life scenarios. With the help of casting director, Kerry Barden, Lee was happy with the final selection of the talented crew chosen for the movie. GianCarlo Esposito plays Daytona, the key supporting role of Zef’s employer. Lee takes this opportunity to bring out the humor from the friendship of Zef and Daytona. And for Praq, this film is too real and emotional, which helped him bring out the originality and sincerity in his superb acting. “Since the film is based on my own life story it was challenging to play myself and create a character. It was a challenge not to get lost in my own world of emotions. But I am very happy with the overall experience.”

The film is expected to be released in February 2011 and the directors are considering submitting the film to the New York film festival, Sundance, and Oscars for review. Dreaming American is a masterpiece and a must watch. | PrishtinaPress.info

[Praq Rado]