Let Them Chirp Awhile

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Let Them Chirp Awhile
Directed by	Jonathan Blitstein
Produced by	Jonathan Blitstein Anouk Frosch
Written by	Jonathan Blitstein
Starring	Justin Rice Brendan Sexton III Laura Breckenridge Zach Galligan Pepper Binkley Charlotte af Geijerstam and special appearance by Anthony Rapp
Cinematography	Andrew Shulkind
Running time	91 Minutes
Language	English
IMDb profile

Let Them Chirp Awhile is an independent film drama-comedy by Jonathan Blitstein which was filmed in eighteen days in New York during October 2006. The film was produced by Anouk Frosch and Jonathan Blitstein. It was photographed by Andrew Shulkind. (All three are NYU Film School alumni)

The film is 91 minutes long. It was shot on Kodak Color 35mm film and begins and ends with a long sequence in black and white.

The film had its World Premiere at the 2007 Woodstock Film Festival in Woodstock, NY where it received acclaim from both audiences and critics. The director of the festival, Meira Blaustein called the film a "a hidden gem" and praised Blitstein's "unique eye" during her introduction prior to the first screening, as the film had been accepted through regular submission.

The basic storyline of the film follows Bobby and Scott, two young men in their late twenties who are struggling to make careers out of their artistic dreams but their competitiveness with each other gets in the way. Bobby is a screenwriter and Scott is a musician but neither of them are productive because they don't believe in themselves and they share incredibly high standards for their work. Bobby meets an old lover, Deirdre, who is headed to Los Angeles and she begs Bobby to take care of her dog while she's gone. Bobby agrees but only in exchange for a sexual favor. Later, when Bobby makes the mistake of sharing an idea for the opening of his new screenplay with Scott, Scott tells their mutual friend, Hart, a playwright, and Hart steals the idea, incorporating it in his new play "Death of a Banker", a campy morality tale about the September 11, 2001 attacks set to be performed off-Broadway later that month. Bobby loses Deirdre's dog and tries to figure out a way to get out of the situation.

The film builds on the cinematic style of 1970's New Hollywood filmmakers like Hal Ashby, whose "The Last Detail" and "Harold and Maude" begin with slapstick comedy and slowly shift to straight drama as the characters begin to look inward and make self-discoveries, ultimately returning to a blend of comedy-drama at the film's denouement. Let Them Chirp Awhile capitalizes on this style while also maintaining a sense of heightened realism which lends the film an originality distinguishing it from other indie films of the late 2000s.

The result is a unique coming of age tale disguised within the indie genre. Because of its comedy-drama blend, it has been compared to films by Woody Allen, Wes Anderson, Todd Solondz and Richard Linklater.

The film has an orchestral score composed by Giulio Carmassi which is used throughout the film as well as rock songs from the album "The Shredding Tears" by indie artist Bryan Scary.