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‘Riddle of Fire’ Director Weston Razooli Takes Flight Into Fantasy With Directors’ Fortnight Feature Debut

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variety.com

Gregg Goldstein Weston Razooli is far more than just a writer, producer and director. He’s a world-builder, as evidenced by his feature debut, “Riddle of Fire.” The faux-’70s children’s fantasy adventure, which premieres May 20 in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight program, follows three tweens (Charlie Stover, Skyler Peters and Phoebe Ferro) on a quest for ingredients to bake a blueberry pie, all to coax the boys’ mother into letting them play a stolen video game.

Danger arrives when they meet the “Enchanted Blade Gang” led by a witch (Lio Tipton). Its deadpan comedy and surreal feel — somewhere between “Escape to Witch Mountain,” “Scooby-Doo” and “Napoleon Dynamite” — make it equally appealing to kids, Gen Xers, stoners, Adult Swim watchers and fans of cult indie cinema. “There’s this tone that I call a ‘dark ’70s sci-fi fantasy vibe’ in children’s films that get a bit scary, which I think is important for an adventure film,” Razooli says. “I was making a movie for myself, but it’s for all ages. ’Riddle’ contains a piece of all my other scripts: it’s kind of a motorcycle movie, a fantasy film, a party movie and a folklore movie.” Razooli’s attraction to filmmaking developed from his childhood in Utah, where “Riddle” was shot on vivid 16mm film. “These vast forests were natural places for daydreaming and playing games,” he says. “My friends and I would play ‘capture the flag’ and paintball wars.

The location itself was my fantasy world, and then I started playing a lot of Dungeons and Dragons, creating a whole story and LARPing — which is like writing a movie.” Gifted with a video camera on his 10th birthday, he explored stop-motion animation and make “tons” of comedy and action shorts with his friends.

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