Writer, Director Lili Matta Talks About Her Latest Film '86 Melrose Avenue'

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Lebanese-American, Writer, Director Lili Matta talks about her latest action, thriller, 86 Melrose Avenue available on VOD, Tuesday April 20, 2021.

Official Synopsis:

From writer/director Lili Matta, and starring Dada Elza ("Mystery Incorporated") and Jim O'Heir ("Parks and Recreation"), action has a new address : 86 MELROSE AVENUE.

A diverse group of people at a gallery opening is taken hostage by an ex-Marine suffering with PTSD and forced to confront their cultural differences, their pasts, and their looming mortality as time ticks away.

Anastasia Antonia, Gregory Zarian, Terri Ivens, Langstone Fishburne, Michael Polak, Andy Evans, Richard Sabine, Helen Kennedy, and Gary Sturm star in a film by Lili Matta.

We talked with Matta about about surviving the Lebanese Civil War, the issues with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how mental health is neglected. I prefer to used the term from World War I referring to it as Shell Shocked instead as it does not diminish those currently suffering and struggling through their issues.

Matta also talks about gun violence, the difficulties that people have in interacting with one another because of unresolved issues, warring nations and how a setting like an art gallery is what beings people of all walks of life, from the affluent to the impoverished in appreciating the works of talented creators.

We also discuss with Ms. Matta about the struggles of being the executive producer, director and writer on her own projects, how film helped her escape while hiding in the shelters during the shelling going on during the Lebanese Civil War, where Lebanon had really become more of a chessboard in the disputes between warring nations and not just among the people. Ms. Matta also talks about why so many filmmakers have chosen to leave Los Angeles when it comes to financing independent films.

Follow Lili Matta on Instagram @mattalili.

86 Melrose Avenue arriveson VOD, Tuesday April 20, 2021.