Theodore Collatos is an American screenwriter, director, filmmaker, documentarian, playwright, and photographer best known for his films "Palookaville", "Queen of Lapa", "Tormenting the Hen", and "Dipso".
Career.
Collatos' debut feature film, "Dispo", was inspired by years of bartending and films like "Fat City", "On the Bowery", and directors Alan Clarke and Robert Bresson. Starring a cast of non-actors, set in a post-industrial Massachusetts town, the film centers on a post-punk alcoholic who is released from prison with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. It had its international premiere at and won the Grand Jury Prize at AIFVF.
Cultural turmoil, a disruptive neighbor, and films like "The Plumber" by Peter Weir led to the inspiration of his second feature, which he wrote, shot, and edited, "Tormenting the Hen." The film was shot in six days, won the Duncan-Williams Screenplay award at IndieMephis, stars Carolina Monnerat, and co-stars with acclaimed actress and filmmaker Josephine Decker. The film explores the pitfalls of miscommunication and the political dynamics of America's cultural conversations. "Here’s hoping the current upheaval in the real world has a happier outcome."
Collatos, as cinematographer and editor, together with his wife Carolina Monnerat, a native of Brazil, as sound recordist, created their documentary debut feature "Queen of Lapa" about Brazilian Icon Luana Muniz and her safe hostel for trans-sex workers in Lapa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both admirers of the Direct Cinema movement and the films of Fredrick Wiseman, the film is noted for its intimacy where the film's subjects are "honored instead of fetishized". "Queen of Lapa" had its international premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest, and was included in "Focus on Brazil" at the Göteborg Film Festival. It won various Grand Jury Prizes, including New York's NewFest and was described as "recalling trailblazing documentaries, inviting and jubilant" and "a triumph of documentary filmmaking" and an "essential look into the camaraderie and struggles."
"Palookaville", his television pilot, premiered at Slamdance where it won the Grand Jury Prize and had its international premiere at Raindance. With a cast of stand-up comedians, it is a story of a complex brother-sister relationship, where the brother ultimately believes he is legendary heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Stylistically influenced by French New Wave, it's namesake from On The Waterfront, and inspiration from friendship between Max Schmeling and Joe Louis. It was described as “striking that melancholy-comedic balance while incorporating fantastical and surreal elements.”
"Moving Dave", is his theatrical debut and has been described as "an excellent climax to a night of stories of people reuniting to find that a whole lot has changed since they went away" and "The humorous main plot was a disguise for the more heartfelt underbelly of the story... causing several members of the audience to gasp."