“An absorbing and compelling drama, “The Replacement Child” garnered the Angelus Director’s Choice Award for a reason – this drama bewitches and challenges audiences from the first frame.”

“The Replacement Child” explores the space between one’s own convictions and those of the community in which one exists, echoing the missions of both the Windrider Forum and the Angelus Student Film Festival.”

We are proud to present the fourth film of the Windrider Summer Series — “The Replacement Child” by Justin Lerner. We hope you have seen our every-Wednesday-in-June online films and joined our weekly online discussions. In “The Replacement Child,” I’m sure you’ll discover that director/filmmaker Lerner has crafted a short-form narrative at its best. Enjoy!

I have had the distinct privilege of watching “The Replacement Child” in three vastly different locations:
• on a “gigantic” screen at the Directors Guild of Hollywood where the film earned the 2008 Angelus Student Film Festival’s Directors Choice Award
• at Sundance Film Festival during the 5th annual Windrider Forum
• in the Czech Republic at Prague’s beautiful national library.

With each viewing I have concluded that this film — like its young, talented writer/director — is a force of nature. A brief look at Justin Lerner’s “CV” would not only suggest that the young man has smarts, but “filmmaking chops” too. Ultimately, though, Lerner’s artistic humility, networking ability and overall pleasure-to-be-around personality are the things that have most endeared him to me.

A quick summary:

In “The Replacement Child” we see Todd Turnbull coming home. After a year in a juvenile center, he returns to his backwoods roots, repentant and deeply religious. But all too quickly, he faces a lose/lose decision: to let his friend die, or break his oath of non-violence and take matters into his own hands. In just over 20 minutes, we travel a tough-but-rewarding journey with this young man. This film will keep you lingering in thought long after the credits roll, and will undoubtedly inspire a terrific “blaudience” discussion here.

Awards, Kudos:

Following its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival (Colo.), “The Replacement Child” has been an official selection at numerous U.S. festivals and international competitions (in Italy, Portugal, Canada and South Korea), garnering laurels for Best Director and Best Actor.

Lerner’s extensive experience directing theatre as an undergraduate at Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.) shines through in this film’s riveting character study, one that includes a moral dilemma, a taut psychological drama, and haunting musical performances.

Please note:

This film is not for the faint-of-heart, and should be previewed by adults before children under the age of 15 are allowed to view it.

Filmmaker biography:

Justin Lerner is the son of two developmental psychologists — one Catholic, one Jewish — who compromised by sending him to a Quaker school in Pennsylvania until he turned 11. He got his bachelor’s degree in theater arts from Cornell, graduating cum laude for his honors thesis on spirituality in the films of Andrei Tarkovsky. Following graduation, Lerner spent a year in La Coruña, Spain, teaching and freelancing as a writer. He recently received a master’s degree in directing from UCLA’s Graduate Film School. His thesis film project — “The Replacement Child” — made its world premiere at the 2007 Telluride Film Festival and won the UCLA Director’s Spotlight Award, a prize honoring the school’s “Best of 2007” (as selected by a blue ribbon panel of judges headed by Sundance Film Festival director Geoff Gilmore).

“The Replacement Child” also garnered two College Television Awards (“Student Emmys”) — for Best Drama and Best Director — and has won awards at various festivals, including top honors at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, Boulder Int’l Film Festival (Colo.), Omaha Film Festival (Neb.), Angelus Student Film Festival (Calif.), and the Silver Dolphin at Festroia Int’l Film Festival (Portugal).

Lerner lives in Los Angeles and is currently in pre-production on his first feature-length film, “The Irresistible Vincent Chang.”