Elijah Wood (The Ice Storm) stars in The Bumblebee Flies Anyway, a dark psychodrama based on a Robert Cormier novel that’s Irish director Martin Duffy’s second feature and first in the States. Wood’s character, Barney, is an 18-year-old amnesiac in an experimental hospital for terminally ill kids; he can’t recall a previous life or the circumstances under which he was admitted, but he is convinced amnesia is his only problem. What Barney can’t remember is that he volunteered for a new treatment protocol to keep his unnamed fatal disease in remission and the memory repression is just a side effect. Barney’s covert investigation into his past with the help of some colorful characters among his fellow patients raises provocative questions about the genesis of illness as well as the relative merits of living with no past or dying with full self-awareness. The film’s title refers to the conundrum of the bumblebee, whose body-weight-to-wing-span ratio should make flight impossible.

Dead Poets Society producer Steven Haft originated the project; he’d just done Emma when he brought the Bumblebee script to The Shooting Gallery (TSG) last year with Wood attached. TSG partner Larry Meistrich tapped Duffy from a pool of possible directors, citing his affinity for the material.

The film will be released through TSG’s theatrical output deal with LIVE Entertainment. Meistrich says the company handles creative chores and raises P&A funds in-house while relying on LIVE’s system to book and collect from theaters. "We’re financed competitively to be able to do that," he says, "and we’ll go through LIVE’s video and Showtime deal." TSG also has some new releasing expertise on staff in Eammon Bowles, the ex-Miramaxer who spearheaded Kids’ release. Bumblebee started shooting February 2 in Queens at the imposing Creedmore Psychiatric Center, a century-old landmark. Stephen Kazmierski is the film’s cinematographer. Look for Bumblebee to be completed over the coming summer; further information regarding likely release scenarios and rights is available from Meistrich.

Cast: Elijah Wood, Joe Perrino, Rachael Leigh Cook, Roger Rees, George Gore II, Jeffrey Force, Oni Faida Lampley. Crew: Executive Producer, Larry Meistrich; Producer, Steven Haft; Line Producer, Jonathan Starch; Screenwriters, Jennifer Sarja and Martin Duffy; Director, Duffy; Cinematographer, Stephen Kazmierski; Production Manager, Blair Breard; Production Designer, Susan Block; Casting, Lynn Kressel; Editor, Suzanne Pillsbury. Contact: Larry Meistrich, The Shooting Gallery, 145 Sixth Avenue, 7th floor, New York, NY 10013. Tel: (212) 243-3042, Fax: (212) 647-1392.

All Of It - Jody Podolsky
Another Brother - Tami Gold
The Bumblebee Flies Anyway - Martin Duffy
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Desert Blue - Morgan J. Freeman
The Money Shot - Matt Mailer
SHOCK TV - Whitney Ransick
The Sky Is Falling - Florrie Lawrence
Snapped - Jesse Fiegelman
was once a girl... - Hellin Kay