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Daily Voice: "White Plains Director Lands 2nd YoFi Film Festival Invite With 'Wacky Man"
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- What comes to mind when someone mentions the color purple? A Pulitzer Prize -winning novel? The Artist Formerly Known as Prince? Or Barney?
In Anthony Desiato's case, purple equals "Wacky Man: The Rise of a Puppeteer" and the White Plains film director's second invitation to screen a documentary at the Yonkers Film Festival -- best known as YoFi -- at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 22.
"Wacky Man" is Desiato's third documentary. This year, there were more than 1,000 submissions to air at YoFi -- narrowed down to about 100 films invited. "I'm really honored I made the cut,'' Desiato said.
His newest documentary chronicles a young Bronx man's struggle to break into the puppetry industry. The first word Zach Woliner ever spoke was "Ernie" -- the orange half of the famous Sesame Street duo Bert and Ernie. Over the next three decades, Woliner's childhood affinity for the Muppets became a lifelong passion, hobby, and, if Woliner attains his dream -- a career.
In 2008, Woliner created his own purple puppet named Wally Wackiman, a Jewish, self-aware character who advocates puppet freedom and equality with humans. "He knows someone is controlling him," Desiato explained. (Wally even thinks the hour-long documentary should have been named after him!)
By day, Desiato, 29, works at Pace University Law School's admissions office in White Plains. His website, www.flatsquirrelproductions.com includes Desiato's biography as well as a link to his first film, "My Comic Shop DocumentARy."
