The world around us is collapsing, our planet is on fire and most of us can hope for little more than a day at the beach. It’s with almost cosmic timing that HIGHER GROUNDS arrives as a movie of the moment.
Shot on location in Philadelphia, HIGHER GROUNDS is an extraterrestrial short-form comedy that takes an orbital view of life on Earth. Philly director Joe Kramer offers all of the Larry David-inspired humor in retro sci-fi packaging that was celebrated in his viral Vimeo Staff Pick, RUNNING THE GAMMATAR. This new film even features a hilarious performance from SEINFELD’s own John O’Hurley, as the eccentric alien commander.
However, HIGHER GROUNDS tackles much more urgent social themes than its predecessor: namely in humanity’s lukewarm response to threats of climate change and tendency toward mob mania in times of unrest. It meets these pressing issues of the time with a cartoonish, Simpsons-like satire and a vibrant, artistic flair influenced by Wes Anderson.
In fact, HIGHER GROUNDS captures the now virally trending “Wes Anderson Style” more than even the filmmakers themselves intended. A passing glance of the trailer and subject matter for Anderson’s yet unreleased ASTEROID CITY shows an uncanny resemblance between the two films. The filmmakers have stated that they will not be charging extrasensory consultation fees to Anderson’s team, and will instead chalk this one up to cosmic timing, too.
HIGHER GROUNDS was the recipient of the Tarkovski Grant from the Bruges International Film Festival, as well as the Philadelphia Independent Media Finishing Fund grant from Scribe Video Center and the Wyncote Foundation. It was awarded Best Comedy Short from the Jersey Shore Film Festival (2023) and Best NJ Comedy from the Brightside Film Festival, and a finalist for Best Comedy Series in the Austin Comedy Film Festival (2023), as well as for the Audience Award in the Raindance Film Festival satellite event, the Japan Indies Film Festival (2022). It also screened in the Coney Island Film Festival, the Lighthouse International Film Festival. Its next Philadelphia screening will be as part of the FirstGlance Film Festival Philadelphia on October 7.
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED by Joe Kramer, director of the locally shot and internationally celebrated RUNNING THE GAMMATAR, a viral Vimeo Staff Pick featured on Funny or Die and Film Shortage.
WRITTEN AND PRODUCED by Christian Sarkis Graham, local filmmaker most known for collaborations with Philly’s own Barrymore Award-winning hip-hop collective, ILL DOOTS, with whom he has produced multiple acclaimed music videos and an award-winning documentary, 20|20_REVISION. (Members of ILL DOOTS appear on the HIGHER GROUNDS soundtrack.)
SHOT by Daniel Brennan, homegrown cinematographer, and director of “Stand Up,” the new single from groundbreaking, Grammy-nominated hip-hop artist and North Philly native, Tierra Whack.
PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP with the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, Boathouse Pictures and leading Philadelphia rental and studio house, Resolution Rentals / Lightbulb Rentals.