‘Donald Cried,’ An Absurd Warwick Homecoming Tale, Premieres at Avon Friday

WARWICK, RI — Indy comedy film ‘Donald Cried,’ released March 3 in New York City, has won warm reviews, a 92 percent rating on Rottentomatoes.com, and the start of a movie career for Warwick’s Kris Avedisian, who wrote, directed and co-starred in the movie, most of which was shot in the city.

The film premieres in Rhode Island at Avon Cinema Friday with four showings starting at 2:30 p.m., but Kris will attend the 7 p.m. show and participate in a question and answer session after, and advance tickets for that show are available for $12 online.

Kris, (no relation to Mayor Scott Avdesian), a 1997 Pilgrim High graduate with a design certificate from Toll Gate’s vocational program, shot 98 percent of the film in Warwick in 2015. He used skills mostly self-taught following a film course in editing, developed over the process of a brief move to the Bay area in CA, then east to New York, finally settling back in Warwick in 2005.

The film begins with its own homecoming for Peter (Jesse Wakeman), who works in finance, returning to Warwick, RI to settle the estate of his grandmother after her death. He loses his wallet, and leans on Donald, an old friend, for help that leads to what some have described as equal parts absurd and enjoyable.

Locals will recognize Timmy’s Restaurant on West Shore Road and the Thomas and Walter Quinn Funeral Home on Warwick Avenue.

Kris said he started working on his movie writing about seven years ago. He and his friends created a short film of the same name, “Which is what gave us our idea to do a feature,” on the concept, he said.

In 2015,  Donald Cried was accepted to the Independent Filmmakers Project in New York. After its release March 3, the film was shown at South By Southwest in Austin, TX March 12 before getting picked up by The Orchard film distribution company.

If you miss the movie at the Avon this week, you will still be able to buy it on ITunes within the next 90 days, then the movie will be released on Netflix in September, Kris said.

Kris, who lives not far from where he grew up in the Gaspee Plateau area of the city with his wife, Melissa and their children, Reed, 6 and Senna, 3, is enjoying the fruits of the film’s success, which means a more solid future as a filmmaker than he’s experienced over the years that have been spent supporting himself and his calling waiting tables, as a social worker, and in painting and construction.

He said Donald Cried has opened doors and created connections that will help him spend his full time as a filmmaker.

“It’s making it possible,” Kris said, “Kinda the curtain has been pulled back a little bit.”

Donald Cried pemieres Friday, April 7, at Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer St, Providence, RI  at 2:30, 4:25, 7:00 and 9:25 p.m. and runs throughout the week.