Photo Courtesy of Compound Pictures

Credit: Ron Soltys

“In this city delivering pizza is more than a job . it’s an adventure.”

Taking a turn from their previous movies’ themes, Kent State graduates Andy and Luke Campbell’s latest film, Cordoba Nights, is all about the adventures that Finn, a pizza delivery guy, and Allie, a mysterious woman who asks for a ride, encounter in one night in the city of Bronston. Allie, the girlfriend of a dangerous thug, accompanies Finn on his outlandish pizza deliveries before they encounter thugs in a pursuit to bring her back to her boyfriend, Darren.

The local directors’ previous films include horror favorites Teenage Zombie House Massacre, Midnight Skater, Demon Summer and The Red Skulls. But in 2005, the brothers steered their filmmaking away from the horror genre and started shooting Cordoba Nights.

Because the brothers have always liked to support Ohio musicians, bands like Kill the Hippies and Lords of the Highway have made appearances in their films. And for Cordoba Nights, familiar faces like Duane Whitaker (Pulp Fiction, The Devil’s Rejects) and Joe Estevez (Martin Sheen’s brother) make their way into the film.

Another interesting fact: the brothers shot most of the film on a 16 mm camera in Cleveland, with a few shots filmed in Kent and in Detroit’s General Motors building — because it was the closest building that had a glass elevator looking over the city.

According to their Web site, the music selection was as important as the plot, characters and setting in “establishing the mood of left-behind industrial America.” For instance, the film’s theme, “Desperado” by Ohio artist James Derreberry, was discovered by the Campbell brothers in a pile of trash in Akron.

“The song had been abandoned and was about to be lost forever,” director Luke Campbell said.

The salvaged tape is used at the opening and closing of the film.

But it’s not a discovered song or a specific actor that makes or breaks this film —ÿit’s the plotline.

“To me, the storyline is what stands out the most because it’s not a modern type of film,” Campbell said. “What I mean is, what we’re trying to do isn’t melodramatic — we aren’t searching for an answer to life — but instead we’re showing a slice of a guy’s life, one moment.”

For more information, visit www.compoundpictures.com and www.cordobanights.com.

Cordoba Nights

Presented by the International Film Society

Where? The Kiva

When? Saturday, April 7, Screenings at 7:30 and 10 p.m.

How much? $7

Contact ALL correspondent Jenna Gerling at [email protected].