An award-winning independent film is coming to Syracuse for its world theatrical premiere.

“Blue Collar Boys” is a gritty New Jersey story of a family’s struggle to keep their contracting business afloat amid turmoil. It’s fresh off winning Best Micro-Budget Feature Film at the Toronto Independent Film Festival, along with Best Screenplay at the Hoboken International Film Festival. The film premieres at 7 p.m. Friday at the Palace Theater. Director Mark Nistico and Leomark Studios executive Maria Collis spoke with The Daily Orange about the film.

The D.O.: So first off, Mark, tell us a little about “Blue Collar Boys.” What was your inspiration for the film?

Mark Nistico: The film is about a family struggling to put food on the table, and what can happen to people during that struggle, the temptations you’re faced with and the decisions you can make. We’re dealing with a young man and his somewhat of a coming-of-age story. It’s basically a collage of true stories I researched through encounters with blue-collar workers in various industries.

The D.O.: Maria, you’re from Syracuse originally. What was it about your hometown that brought you back here for the premiere?

Maria Collis: I still have really strong ties to Syracuse, and when I first saw “Blue Collar Boys,” I immediately thought of home. I thought about the Syracuse community, and how these characters were the kind of people I knew growing up, the working middle class.

Syracuse also has a great university population, and students are some of the most politically aware and engaged people, so we thought it would be something they’d be interested in. There are also a lot of budding filmmakers, and this is a great story for people interested in making films and the business of filmmaking. We’ve got New Jersey-based filmmakers, a distributor from Syracuse — pretty grassroots beginnings on both sides.

The D.O.: What attracted you to the Palace Theater?

MC: We could’ve gone to Carousel Mall or any other theater, but The Palace is iconic. I remember going to see “The Ten Commandments” there when I was little — it was a rerelease, I’m not that old. 

The D.O.: So how did the two of you end up working together on “Blue Collar Boys?”

MN: Well, it’s very difficult to get anyone to look at your independent film. I was reaching out to several companies, including Leomark, but I knew there was something different about this company. What attracted me was a level of honesty that came across with both Maria and Erik (Lundmark — Leomark Studios CEO). They really understood and believed in the film. In this business, it’s difficult to get someone to even watch a film, let alone believe in it. It just felt right from the start.

MC: As soon as my partner Erik and I watched the film, we knew it was really special. This is a feature with artistic vision, an excellent script and phenomenal acting. We said, we need to go to the theaters with this; it isn’t just a back-of-catalog, straight-to-DVD movie, it’s a quality film. We don’t take a lot of films. We represent a few that we really like and think we can sell. There was just no question.

The D.O.: Lately you’ve been doing the festival circuit: Toronto, Hoboken, opening to rave reviews and awards. What’s it like to get this overwhelmingly positive reception to the film? 

MN: It’s the best part. People ask me how I stay focused for this long, and it’s because of the reactions I’ve been getting. When we were at Hoboken, the highlight for me was when men my father’s age came out of the theater in tears. They shake my hand, and sometimes they’re speechless. This has happened at every festival, especially Hoboken. One guy came up to me choked up and just said, “That’s my life.” That is the most important thing to me; there’s the impact. They have these thankless lives working thankless jobs, struggling just to put food on the table for their children every night. That audience doesn’t get to see themselves on-screen very often.

It’s not a sentimental pan to the workingman. They’re not portrayed picture-perfect. They’re shown with their flaws exposed. These are people who you’d steer clear from in a bar, people who are dangerous. It was difficult for me to see past that initial impression and get down to the heart of it, because there’s a reason why these people are so quick-tempered.

Published on September 6, 2012 at 12:33 am

Contact Rob: rjmarvin@syr.edu