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Tribeca Film Festival
Boston Film Festival
Denver International Film Festival
New York International Latino Film Festival
Urbanworld Film Festival
Arpa International Film Festival
ReelWorld Film Festival
Chicago Latino Film Festival
IFP New Film Works Series
Audience Choice Award: Urbanworld Film Festival
One-to-Watch Award - Rafael Sardina: Urbanworld Film Festival
Outstanding Director - Michael Tolajian: Arpa International Film Festival
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Filmmaker
Magazine - April 2003
Read this article on "Bought & Sold" in
Filmmaker Magazine.
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NY Times - May 2003
Read this article on "Bought & Sold" in the NYTimes.
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Variety - May 2003
Read this article on "Bought & Sold" in
Variety.
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New York Daily News - July 2003
Read this article on "Bought & Sold" in the Daily News.
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The Boston Phoenix - September 2003
Read this article on "Bought & Sold" in the Boston Phoenix.
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Straight off the streets of Jersey City, writer-director Michael Tolajian's affable debut charms with its scruffy characters and nuanced multiculturalism. Nineteen-year-old Ray Ray (Rafael Sardina) tries to appease his ambitious girlfriend, Hilda (Cristina Ablaza, doing her best Rosie Perez), by moonlighting for local crime boss "Chunks" Coln (Joe Grifasi), who assigns him to watch over indebted pawnshop owner Kutty Nazarian (David Margulies). Through slow afternoons at the shop, Ray Ray forms a bond with the taciturn Kutty -- with help from Kutty's spunky niece Ruby (Marjan Neshat) -- and soon finds himself divided in his loyalties to Kutty, Coln, Hilda and Ruby. Tolajian has a feel for the diversions that flesh out his characters, from slow, static shots of Ray Ray gazing longingly at DJ turntables in the pawnshop window to a long quiet scene in which the dignified Kutty gradually confesses to a foot fetish. The director gets the most out of his charismatic young cast, playing their shy energy off the wary watchfulness of veterans Margulies and Grifasi. Perhaps most refreshing is Tolajian's open vision of Jersey City's melting pot, where working-class Puerto Ricans, Asians, blacks and Armenians mix freely on the streets and dance floors. (Jon Strickand)
- LA Weekly
"Another winner from the East Coast Latino film scene . helmer Michael
Tolajian neatly transforms this potential crime thriller into a Horatio
Alger comedy,
Puerto Rican style. Cast is muy simpatico and, with the right handling, pic
could follow in the footsteps of upbeat Latino breatkouts like Real Women
Have Curves and Raising Victor Vargas."
- Ronnie Scheib, Variety
"Bought & Sold generates friction. Capably spoofing the myopic machismo of
guys in a manner reminiscent of Spike Lee, Mr. Tolajian gets solid work out
of his cast."
- Elvis Mitchell, New York Times
"Crisp and quirky. Bought & Sold's charm lies in its
narrative efficiency and unpretentiousness, and in the subtlety and grace
of the performances."
- Nina MacLaughlin, Boston Phoenix
"Mr. Tolajian ably manages his fresh-faced cast (particularly newcomer
Rafael Sardina), along with vets David Margulies and Joe Grifasi, making
this effort a worthwhile career start."
- Anthony Kaufman, Filmmaker Magazine
"Bought & Sold is a poignant, witty and down-to-earth film, which draws the
viewer emotionally into the lives of its characters."
- Florence Avakian, The Armenian Mirror-Spectator
"Bought & Sold boasts an incredible multicultural ensemble cast that
mirrors the Jersey City neighborhood where the film was shot, adding
another layer to an already compelling story. Tolajian gives the film all
the polish of a more expensive offering, but he leaves a rough-around-the-
edges look and feel that personalizes the story and brings it closer to the
lives of the characters it portrays."
- David Kwok, Tribeca Film Festival
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