Independent Film Director Rob Nilsson, Winner of Awards at Cannes and Sundance,Returns to New York with One-Week Screening of ‘Chalk’ from July 26 to August 1 With a Cast Largely Drawn from San Francisco’s Skid Row, Tense and Gritty Pool Hall Drama World-Premiered at 1996 Locarno International Film Festival to Media AcclaimNew York – July 5,2019:Rob Nilsson, an acclaimed, independent film director who has won awards at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals, is bringing his critically praised 1996 pool hall drama, Chalk, to New York City.With many in the cast drawn from the “skid row” population of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, the “Direct Action” film screens at The Metrograph at 7 Ludlow Street in Manhattan from Friday, July 26 through Sunday,August 1. San Francisco-based Mr. Nilsson and cinematographer Mickey Freeman will be present for the opening showing of Chalk and will conduct a question-and-answer session after the film.Applying his innovative “Direct Action Cinema” approach, Mr. Nilsson led an acting workshop in the Tenderloin neighborhood for ten years. The program offered “direct” movie acting opportunities for local homeless, drug users, actors, and inner-city residents.Chalk centers around a sibling rivalry in a rundown pool hall operated by Watson (Edwin Johnson), a dying, 60-year-old black man. He has two sons, the doted-upon, adopted Chinese-American pool prodigy T.C. (Kelvin Han Yee), and T.C.’s step-brother Jones (Johnnie Reese), Watson’s child with a Korean woman he had met during the Korean War. Vying for their father’s love, the action culminates in an intense, high-stakes match — arranged by the spurned Jones — pitting T.C. against a ranking pro (Don Bajema). High-ranking 9-ball pros of the era appearing in the film include Billy Aguero, Chris MacDonald and Kim Davenport.The expressionist, rough-and-ready film was shot in vivid color by cinematographer Mickey Freeman. The producers were Rand Crook and Ethan Sing, and the film editor was David Schickele.Chalk won critical praise from Roger Ebert, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, the Village Voice, the New York Post, the San Francisco Examiner, theAustin Chronicle.and others. A portion of the film’s proceeds will support the Faithful Fools Street Level Community, which serves the homeless in the Tenderloin community, and also to support The Nomad Trilogy, Mr. Nilsson’s in-progress series focused on homeless-related themes.