An IMPACT CONVERSATION with David Oyelowo, Aaron Davidman, actor Gilbert Owuor, Veteran Mike Taylor, Brady Advocate Matt Litton at the industry screening of “American Solitaire.” Photo courtesy of Aaron Davidman

A “quiet movie for a noisy time,” is how Director and Writer Aaron Davidman and Executive Producer Lisa Bruce describe their new film, American Solitaire, which has its world premiere on Friday, November 7 at 4 pm, at Coronado’s Village Theatre as part of the Coronado Island Film Festival’s (CIFF) tenth anniversary event (get tickets here). The film delves into the issue of guns in America from an array of perspectives. Centering on Slinger, played by Joshua Close, known for roles in Fargo, Flowers of the Killer Moon, and more recently the Netflix series Wayward, as an American soldier just home from Afghanistan, the movie focuses on how he navigates reintegrating into civilian life.

Bruce has a deep Coronado connection; she grew up in a military family here, worked at Village Theatre as a teenager, and still visits her parents often. With a 30-year career in the film industry, she has been part of CIFF from the beginning with two of her Academy Award winning films, Theory of Everything and Darkest Hour shown during a festival. A friend connected her to Davidman and the duo echo that it has been a wonderful collaboration creating American Solitaire.

Film Executive Producers David Oyelowo and Lisa Bruce with Director Aaron Davidman. Photo courtesy of Aaron Davidman.

Coming from the live theater world, this is Davidman’s first time directing a feature film.  With an extensive background as an actor, director, and playwright, he created “Wrestling Jerusalem,” a solo play about the Israeli Palestinian conflict, where he performed 17 characters. This project gave him perspective on how to convey a polarizing issue from multiple perspectives.

He initially wrote American Solitaire as a play called “Shooting Gallery,” which he turned into a movie after the pandemic. He spent a year travelling around the country talking and listening to all sides of gun issues, from gun makers, veterans, parents of school shooting victims, and many others. He took a concealed gun carry class to help better understand the concerns.

As executive producer, Bruce weighed in on multiple drafts and acted as a coach, helping with story development, production, and advising on picture and sound edits. Award-winning actor David Oyelowo was also instrumental as an executive producer, lending his invaluable industry experience and creative vision to the film. Production began in February 2024 and went for four weeks, with the industry screening last week in Los Angeles.  Interesting insights can be found at Davidman’s production blog at medium.com/@aarondavidman.

Director Aaron Davidman and Ivan Sinitsin as young Slinge. Photo courtesy of Aaron Davidman.

The intent of the film is to showcase a myriad of issues and viewpoints that will leave the audience with a greater understanding and ready to have an informed discussion. To begin this meaningful dialogue, a Q & A panel — made up of Bruce, Davidman, Close, Gilbert Owuor (who stars as Auggie in the movie), and Mike Martin from RAWtools — will follow the CIFF film screening. Davidman says that going forward there will be an opportunity for open discussion and thoughtful reflections after each film showing to create an even greater impact.

Stressing how large and unique the issue is, Davidman notes that the United States boasts 400 million privately owned guns, with only one-third of the population being gun owners. He notes that this is not a gun control movie, but rather focuses on gun safety, storage, respect for power, and other key areas.

“Veterans have the moral authority to speak to this issue and understand it uniquely,” says Davidman. The audience should expect a thought provoking journey that looks at this significant issue from all angles.

A scene from “American Solitaire” with Joshua Close as Slinger and Gilbert Owuor as Auggie. Photo courtesy of Aaron Davidman.

This powerful film, with its layered story that delves into critical gun problems our country is facing, should help get conversations started, where diverse sides take time to listen to each other. Davidman believes in “Calling people in, not out” to solve problems. American Solitaire is designed to facilitate people coming together on this issue and depolarizing it, with the realization that we are bigger than our individual perspectives.

For more details, visit www.americansolitairefilm.com, coronadofilmfest.com, and Instagram @aarondavidman.

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