Andrew Lyman Clarke’s science fiction thriller Night Sweats tells a riveting story of the disease that is corruption. The sudden death of his roommate leads skateboarder Yuri to investigate the inner workings of a suspicious self-help company. When he takes a job there, he uncovers the company’s scheme to spread a new virus that could infect people across the Globe.
by Saige Gipson
See the thriller Night Sweats on February 24 @2:25 PM at LOOK Cinemas (657 West 57th Street) as part of New York City’s 12th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Tickets now on sale!
Night Sweats blends science fiction and suspense to tell the story of a deadly disease and corporate greed. “It’s a cautionary tale,” said Andrew Lyman-Clarke, producer, director and co-writer of the film.
“There’s a lot of people out there and a lot of institutions out there that have some kind of hidden agenda. It’s almost like I was writing it or creating it for myself when I first moved to New York City, because maybe if I had watched that film when I first moved here, maybe I would have been a little bit more cautious and made some better decisions. That being said, I have no delusions that film can totally radically change somebody in those two hours; I also thought it would just be a fun experience for young people to witness this,” explains Lyman-Clarke.
The film opens with a tight shot of a mysterious motorcyclist, and a disturbingly fraught scene ensues. The cyclist watches a man stumble down a New York City stoop following him down the street. When the man asks for help, the motorcyclist, played by Brett Azar, stops. Instead of aiding the sick man he strikes him and takes medical samples, leaving the audience perplexed.
From the first scene, the film goes on a fast-paced journey of secrets, lies, and discovery that holds your attention for the entire 100-minute duration. Night Sweats takes many twists and turns resulting in an unpredictable conclusion that changes the way you look at the world.
The storyline is constantly pushing forward. The fast pacing combined with the constant motion of skateboards, trains, motorcycles, vans and planes makes the viewer feel as though they are on the raucous journey with Yuri, the film’s lead played by Kyle DeSpiegler.
The story is taken from the real life of producer Seth Panman who wrote the film alongside Lyman-Clarke. “So Seth wrote a small 15-page short film that I really liked, and it was based on his experiences coming to New York and working for a shady self-help company and meeting a girl, and I liked it a lot and I was looking for a project to do with Seth and Jason – so I was like, Well, here’s a good opportunity,” said Lyman Clarke.
The film took almost a decade to make, which gave opportunities for many challenges “The longer something takes, the less likely it is to get done, in my opinion, so I think that there were a lot of exits, you know, but it got done, so I’m proud of that,” said Panman.
“I started working with (Seth’s) script and I worked on it for about four years. I think I wrote 25 to 30 drafts; it took a while for me to get the structure right,” said Lyman-Clarke. The director and Jason Abrams, who plays Charles in the film while also serving as producer of the film, explain that there were several editing passes which also took a lot of time and thought to carefully craft the film. “It was ‘how do we make time to give this baby everything it needs to grow and flourish?’ And it’s ironic that when we did finish it and screen it, like a moment later, the world shut down,” said Abrams.
Ironically the long-awaited film initially premiered in November of 2019 right before the COVID-19 pandemic. “It will always be known as the film that predicted the Pandemic,” said Panman. “Yeah, it felt so real, that project was real and then the pandemic was real. It felt like, where does real life begin and where does what we’re doing end? And it really blurred the lines, this project,” said Abrams.
Although the global pandemic put a damper on the initial release, the crew is appreciative of this second phase of the film’s release. “So what’s great right now is Covid’s over and we’re back to a period where people can watch an epidemic movie and, you know, granted, we’re on guard now for the next epidemic or whatever, but it’s not so scary as it was during the actual pandemic. So I like that about this period. “ said Lyman-Clarke.
Night Sweats examines the seedy underbelly of New York City forcing viewers to reexamine reality and look at the world through a new lens.
Saige Gipson
Saige Gipson is a recent graduate of New York University. She enjoys all forms of art especially film and photography. Saige is also an avid baker – her favorite treats to make include croissants and chocolate chip cookies.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 12th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 21-25 2024 in New York City and includes 82 outstanding films, a diverse mixture of animated films, documentaries, comedies, romances, dramas, horror films, music videos and web series of all lengths. Our five-day event is jam-packed with screenings and Q&A sessions at NYC’s LOOK Cinemas, six Education sessions/workshops and a variety of filmmaker networking events all coming to a glittering close on February 25 with our red-carpet gala Awards Ceremony.
Winter Film Awards is dedicated to showcasing the amazing diversity of voices in indie film and our 2024 lineup is 58% made by women and half by or about people of color. Filmmakers come from 23 countries and 41% of our films were made in the New York City area. 13 films were made by students and 26 are works from first-time filmmakers.
Winter Film Awards programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Promotional support provided by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment.
Visit https://winterfilmawards.com/wfa2024/ for more information.
