Official selection
Sitges 2022
Fantastic Fest 2022
Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival 2022
Mórbido Film Festival 2022
Atlanta Film Festival 2023
Honors
Best Narrative Feature - Kansas City FilmFest International 2023
Best Narrative Feature - Oxford Film Festival 2023
Best Narrative Feature - Capital City Film Fest 2023
Best Director - Phoenix Film Festival 2023
Best Comedy & Audience Award - Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival 2023
Best Comedy Feature - Midwest Weirdfest 2023
Bronze Skull Award - Mórbido Film Festival 2022
Director
Mike Cheslik
Producer
Kurt Ravenwood, Matt Sabljak, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Writer
Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Cast
Olivia Graves, Doug Mancheski, Luis Rico, Wes Tank, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews
Cinematographer
Quinn Hester
Sound Designer
Bobb Barito
Composer
De Wolfe Music, Chris Ryan, Wayne Tews
Editor
Mike Cheslik
Animator
Mike Cheslik
Special Effects
Mike Cheslik
contact
SRH
“Steroidally swollen with gags and smarts”– Guy Maddin
“An unexpected visionary work... Must be seen to be believed... Further proof that Wisconsin produces the strangest independent movies in the country”– Michael Talbot-Haynes, FILM THREAT
“Exists at the crossroads of Looney Tunes, Benny Hill, CANNIBAL: THE MUSICAL, BLAZING SADDLES, and Adult Swim”– Matt Donato, SLASHFILM
Paying homage to silent cinema and cartoonality, Mike Cheslik’s feature debut HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS opens with an epic animated sequence introducing us to our trusty hero, a drunken applejack salesman whose supply of Applejack Cider is ruined due to the work of some hungry beavers. To recover his fortune, he must become the greatest fur trapper the continent has ever seen by defeating hundreds of beavers. HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is a no-dialogue heroic epic that is endlessly inventive, embracing the innovative spirit of cinema’s first decades while using animation to reimagine natural laws in creative and compelling ways. The film captures zany and anarchic energy by featuring a new gag every few seconds. It has many one-offs but similarly builds momentum with slower build-ups and call-backs that keep the experience fresh and surprising. A man-versus-nature narrative about overcoming the cruel and unforgiving landscape of a northeastern winter, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is an uproarious and dynamic theatrical experience.
Director Mike Cheslik produced, wrote, edited and did VFX for LAKE MICHIGAN MONSTER (which won Gold Audience Award for Best International Feature at the 2019 Fantasia Film Festival). LAKE MICHIGAN’s director, writer, and star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews steps into the lead role here yet again and demonstrates himself to be a keen and expressive physical comedian in the spirit of Laurel & Hardy, infused with a touch of lumberjack chic. The film has since played at festivals like Fantastic Fest, Night Visions Film Festival, and Mórbido Fest, where it’s already building an enthusiastic cult following. Comparisons range from Looney Tunes and Tex Avery to William Castle, as the film’s relentless pace captures a style of filmmaking mostly lost in our modern era. – Justine Smith
Showings
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