Gil Freston will unveil Paladar, his debut feature documentary about an underground Los Angeles supper club, at a private, invite-only screening April 19 at the Tribeca Film Center in New York.
The film, which Freston began as a junior at USC, was produced by Eric B. Fleischman and executive-produced by Gil Freston’s father Tom Freston and Sean Fowler.
The doc follows Alex Chang and Robert Kronfli, who were both college students at USC when they decided to open Paladar in their apartment. The restaurant, which the two ran out of their home while concealing the operation from the authorities, not only offered innovative dishes for reasonable prices, it also influenced the students’ social circles and entrepreneurial enterprises.
“I made this film to explore a moment in time where the pursuit of one dream had inspired others to do the same,” Gil Freston said.
Chang now works at the Los Angeles restaurant Animal, and Kronfli runs the wine bar Bacaro L.A. with his brother Danny.
Freston recently founded the creative agency and production house, Pablo Escargot. Fleischman founded EBF productions in 2009 and has produced such films as Mickey Keating’s Ritual and Clara Mamet’s Two-Bit Waltz.
Paradigm is handling North American sales of Paladar.
