ENCINITAS — Encinitas filmmaker Roman Koenig’s evocative short film, which explores themes of school board division, bullying and empathy, has garnered over 40 awards and nominations on the festival circuit and will be screened as part of this year’s San Diego Film Awards.
“Red Blooded” picked up five nominations from the 10th annual San Diego Film Awards, including Best Narrative Short Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Lead Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Ensemble Cast. The film will be screened at 6 p.m. on June 19 at the Digital Gym CINEMA in San Diego.
The dramatic film follows school board president Lois Green, who is deeply intolerant toward immigrants and other marginalized groups and whose son and husband are involved in an on-campus “civil rights protection” group, and her interactions with a student journalist seeking to uncover the group’s bullying behavior.
An independent filmmaker, publisher of the North Coast Current, and teacher of journalism and cinema at several local colleges and universities, Koenig said the film took shape over several years as school boards began to become a stage for national controversies.
“The script goes back to 2015. I was already worried about what I was seeing in terms of vitriol, as the 2016 election was ramping up. School district issues were sort of bubbling up and percolating at the time, but it wasn’t until 2019 that we started to see where we’re at now,” Koenig said.
He pulled the screenplay off the shelf around 2021 to incorporate elements from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the film went into production and filming in the summer of 2022.
Koenig said “Red Blooded” tackles his concerns about the current political and educational climate and how individuals treat each other. In her backlash against students raising concerns about her antics, the film’s school board president is finally forced to reflect after she inadvertently reveals a secret about her son.
While the events of the film could be considered more extreme than what happens in everyday school districts, Koenig said he believes they are not far from reality.
“I wanted this film also to be a message of where this kind of behavior could take us, and how it could take us places we might not want to go. So, a lot of it is theoretical, but there were places at other school boards around the country where things were coming to this level,” he said.
Riddle, a San Diego native who received a nomination for her portrayal of the film’s flawed lead character, said she was instantly drawn to the role and the screenplay, especially as several California school boards find themselves in the spotlight for their overreaching policies regarding transgender youth and other deeply politicized topics.
“I read the script and knew I had to play that role. It was something that was challenging and very well-written. I wanted to do it justice and do it well,” she said. “It just amazes me that school districts are politicizing things and taking things into their own hands.”
Certain scenes from the film will be recognizable to local residents, as filming locations include Palomar College, San Diego City College and the now-closed Ascend Coffee Roasters location at San Marcos Restaurant Row.
The film also earned an Honorable Mention Humanitarian Award from the Accolade Global Film Competition and received praise at international festivals, including Filmhaus in Germany and London’s Lonely Wolf Film Festival.
“Red Blooded” is a Mercury Cinema film produced by Koenig, Jennie Olson Six and Rhianna Basore. Rob Gironda is the music supervisor, and Garrett Glassell is the film’s director of photography.
Tickets for the June 19 screening of “Red Blooded” at the Digital Gym CINEMA in San Diego are available for $20 via the Film Consortium’s events page. The 10th annual San Diego Film Awards ceremony will occur from 5 to 10 p.m. on June 22 at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park.
