“Manos Sucias” – 2014 Tribeca Film Festival red carpet

Josef Wladyka’s “Manos Sucias” made its North American premiere at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival on Apr. 17.  Headlining the list of red carpet guests was executive producer Spike Lee.

Spike Lee attends the Apr. 17 screening of “Manos Sucias” at Bow Tie Cinemas in Chelsea. (photo by Shelly Xu / Meniscus Magazine)

The “Jungle Fever” director was more than an executive producer for “Manos Sucias”; he also served as a mentor to Wladyka, an NYU graduate who won a fellowship named after Lee.  Wladyka, who partially financed the film through Kickstarter a year ago, set his film in Colombia, focusing on its drug trade.

“We documented numerous accounts of daily confrontations with paramilitaries, guerrillas, and criminal drug traffickers,” Wladyka said on his movie’s Kickstarter page. “I asked a man from Tumaco if he could see an end to the turmoil in Colombia and he responded, “Yes…but only in my dreams.””

(l-r) “Manos Sucias” producer Elena Greenlee, producer Marcia Nunes, actor Cristian James Abvincula, executive producer Spike Lee, director Josef Wladyka and cinematographer Alan Blanco. (photo by Shelly Xu / Meniscus Magazine)

all photos by Shelly Xu / Meniscus Magazine