Interview: Nino Aldi and Jake Hunter Discuss Their Short Film ‘Tribes’

The new short film Tribes is the story of three men, an African American named Jamar (DeStorm Power, Punk’d), an Arab-American named Amed (Adam Waheed, Pitch Please), and a white man named Kevin (Jake Hunter, Class Act) who attempt to rob a subway train full of passengers. Sounds simple enough, right? However, when they decide not to rob people of their own race, it sets them (and everyone else) off to a series of arguments over self-identity resulting in comically depicted scenarios where the three men spend the entire ride dividing the passengers into various ethnic, cultural and economic subgroups to decide whom exactly they should rob before the train reaches the next station.

Tribes, written by award-winning writer Andy Marlatt was a project director Nino Aldi (Stillwater, Producer for 17 seasons of The Voice) and former pro baseball player turned actor/producer, Jake Hunter, wanted to make as soon as they read it. Both men talk to us about why this piece resonated so strongly with them, the logistics of building and filming in a closed space while addressing broad topics such as race and class warfare, the raves Tribes has received since its January debut at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and how it feels that their comedic short is now competing for Oscar qualification. Continue reading here