Victims of the dot-com boom and bust, a couple - NICK and CHARLETON (Charlie) - escape from their crumbling lives in San Francisco to the pristine Anderson Valley where JAY, Charlie's godfather, owns a winery. In this bucolic small town, home to many boutique vineyards, Nick and Charlie just want regroup from their business failure where they lost everything.

Jay, however, is close to death after a long struggle with cancer, and seeks to leave his vineyard to a young illegal immigrant named Edgar who has cared for Jay and his property for the last years of his life. Jay proposes that Charlie marry Edgar so that he may legally inherit, and the three young people are swept away by visions of a simple, unfettered life.

However, the trio's nascent ambitions and jealousies soon threaten their expectations of pastoral bliss and the secrets of the past may soon doom this idyllic existence forever. 
 
Inspired by the works of Terrence Malick, most notably Days of Heaven, THE MARRIAGE OF CHARLIE JOHNSON is a poetic and lyrical exploration of immigration, ownership, forgiveness and the death of the American Dream.
 
THE MARRIAGE OF CHARLIE JOHNSON is the first film from the production company Typhoon Pongonsa, a partnership between Citizen Media and JHKstudios. The film marks the feature film debut of several promising talents behind the camera including David Lee, the writer and director, as well as in front of the camera with Braden Tenney, Natasha Wenger, and Germaine De Leon, playing the roles of Nick, Charlie, and Edgar, respectively. Nathan Weinberg and Stephen Twardokis play supporting roles. The producer is Lewis Haidt. The director of photography is Lisa Stoll and the film editors are Jim Munro, DGC, and Michael A. Ryan. The music is by Helen Simmins-McMillin.

 

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