Chronicles two summer days in the life of a young recent family: Lena, 17, and Joe, 20, two recent and accidental parents residing in a diverse suburban neighborhood in northeast Baltimore City. When the picture begins, Lena is looking for Joe. Lena, who lives with Joe’s family, wants to see hum before she leaves town for the month of August; she hasn’t seen him for weeks. He’s rented an apartment from a neighbor and works two jobs, providing her with money but very little time. Through Lena’s search, we are introduced to her daughter, her family and friends, her neighborhood, and Joe, her baby’s father. –HamiltonFilmGroup
Matt Porterfield was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 6, 1977. He studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. In 2006, he made his first feature film, Hamilton. Along with working as a director and screenwriter, Porterfield also teaches screenwriting and production at the Film and Media Studies Program at Johns Hopkins University. Putty Hill is his second feature film. –Berlinale
Porterfield has an eye for finding interesting rhythms in everyday activities, for beauty in the banal, for the keen juxtaposition of images through cutting.
