Lights, camera, action . . . The eyes of the film community will be on Hofstra University this weekend, as the University rolls out the red carpet for its first film premiere.The University finds itself in the spotlight as it presents "Spin," the directorial debut of James Redford and the product of Hofstra's Trustee Emeritus Donald Axinn.The emotional coming-of-age tale is based on Axinn's first novel. Set in the '50s when Eisenhower was President, it deals with the themes of abandonment, family values and flying. The bittersweet story centers on Eddie (Ryan Merriman), who at age 8 loses his parents in a plane crash. He is sent to live with his emotionally distant Uncle Frank (Stanley Tucci) who is also a pilot. Frank takes a job abroad and leaves his nephew with the ranch foreman (Ruben Blades) and his teacher wife (Dana Delaney) who raise Eddy. Growing up, Eddie is faced with difficult emotions about the loss of his parents, his distant relationship with Frank and the love he has for the couple who cared for him. Eddie is also dealing with falling in love for the first time with Francesca (Paula Garces), a young women who is facing her own demons.The film unfolds in two parts. In the first, we are introduced to Eddie as a young child. When wanderlust drags Uncle Frank to Guam, he hands Eddie over to his ranch workers to act as surrogate parents. Then time jumps 10 years ahead. Eddie has grown into a rebellious teen living the life he's been dealt in a cross-cultural outback in southern Arizona. He's attracted to a local Mexican girl, who has issues with her widowed, overprotective father. Eddie's life turns again when his uncle returns to assume custody, Uncle Frank uses the passion he knows best - flying - to win the boy over. Suddenly, Eddie is forced to reconcile his past with the present and embrace an uncertain future.According to Redford's director's statement," . . . Spin affirms our ideas of America in the 1950s while simultaneously challenging them. . . It dares to explore complex relationships in a subtle way and (even more daring) without irony."Spin had two sold-out screenings at the Mill Valley Film Festival and was also screened at the American Film Institute Film Festival in November 2003 in Los Angeles. It won two awards, including a Crystal Heart, at the Heartland Film Festival in Indianapolis. Axinn served as a producer on the film, based on one of three novels that the real estate developer turned author has published. His works also include eight collections of poems. He has been the director of Hofstra University's Institute for the Arts, an executive in residence for Middlebury College and poet in residence at the University of Maine."I am very proud of this film," said Axinn. "Jamie (Redford) and I share a similar aesthetic that is reflected in our film."Spin is expected to be in Long Island theaters within two weeks.
