This year's hot road movie.  Two buddies on a fishing trip stumble onto an apparently unmarked grave and it's not long before the sensitive one is insisting they find a name to put on it.  Thus begins a long and necessary trip for both of them, where the real discovery is that the truth is not always the most important thing.  This often wacky film manages to throw in a kleptomaniac, a shaman and a misfit trying to find a rocketship with a pot of gold.  Zacharia boasts a really strong cast.  Look in particular for the mystic who is HILARIOUS.

Part of this movie's great charm is to keep you guessing while keeping you guessing if the guessing really matters. The other part of its great charm is in that it manages to maintain a fantastic and fascinating universe. Too often, independent film can find itself ruled by the limitations of its budgets. Zacharia Farted instead gives you a feel that you could just leave the frame and walk around into some other part of the world and have an interesting story of your own.

-- The Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival

When the spiritually minded Brian takes it upon himself to seek out the identity of an unmarked grave, he's met with everything but applause from his unlikely best friend Michael. Brian feels that the search could be a chance to make a real difference in the world, whereas Michael's just bought a new fishing lure.

What starts off as a quick inquiry into town becomes a seven-day safari through the American Southwest. Along the way, the two encounter religious fanatics, hostile motorists, a mysterious shaman, Wayne Newton (not the Vegas Newton, just a guy Newton)--and love, in the form of a beautiful sweet-spirited waitress named Cory. As fate would have it, the road less travelled becomes a little more forgiving and guides them to the home of Jean Wishart, a solitary, feisty old woman who might just shed some light on their quest... and, more importantly, their lives.

-- Téléfilm Canada

If the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, then the shortest distance between a series of points must be several straight lines, right? At least that's what can be deduced from Zacharia Farted, a quirky, humorous, insightful and endearing independent movie making its Las Vegas debut at CineVegas.

Part comedy, part mystery and part drama, the film avoids wholehearted commitment to any of these genres, instead delving into each with equal aplomb.

First-time screenwriter, producer and star of the film, Colin Cunningham, admits he deliberately tackled a big project. Cunningham says that when the original rough cut of the film was finished, some of the initial criticism he heard was that he had two different films trying to be one. But, says Cunningham, "I love when I go into a film, even when I'm expecting to see a comedy, and I get something more."

Judging by the title, it's easy to assume that a comedy is what you'll get.

But Zacharia Farted, the directorial debut of Michael Rohl, is the story of a journey into self and friendship; into trust and the existential nature of living. In short, it's about two buddies, Cunningham as Michael and Benjamin Ratner as Brian, who set out on a road trip to discover the origins of a single key they find near an unmarked tombstone while on a fishing trip. The key, stamped with the imprint, PUMZACH, leads the pair on a journey during which each comes to discover more about the other, themselves, and the real meaning of the key.

At the center of the film is Martin Yellowcrow, played by Willie John Hanna. The 63-year-old Hanna, a one-time Hollywood stuntman and bodybuilder, plays an Apache shaman whose Irish father has endowed him with a strong accent and his dog, Zacharia.

As far as the title is concerned, Cunningham has already worked out a pat answer. "[It's] a metaphor for not judging a book by its cover. I once read a Zenlike parable that said something to the effect of, 'The most noble pursuits in life can be equated to that of a fart of a dog,'" says Cunningham. "People can get so self-important and all that kind of stuff. But as you can see, it's definitely not a fart movie. But it's about not taking your life so damn seriously."

It was a deliberate title, designed to help the movie stand out in a sea of independent films. What's amusing, and perhaps a bit disturbing, is the reaction that can be generated by such a word, says Cunningham. Had they named it Bloodbath VI or advertised it as having gobs of violence, murder or mayhem, he says, no one would have batted an eye. "Yet you throw the word 'fart' into a title, and it's like you're stopping traffic."

But while the film is long on humor, gastrointestinal references play a minor part. And ultimately, Zacharia bears little resemblance to a typical Hollywood comedy, or really much coming out of Hollywood for that matter.

"You have a film that definitely starts off as a comedy and definitely ends up as a drama," says Cunningham, but the move isn't just a simple switch from one genre to another.

"The amazing thing about it," adds Hanna, "is the timing and the development of the film and the editing brought that to more of a conclusion."

"It's a big movie. We definitely set out to do a lot," says Cunningham. "It's not Lawrence of Arabia. It's an independent little film, but the themes are big."

So has been the recognition. Winner of three audience favorite awards in Palm Springs, Calif.; Victoria, B.C.; and Sedona, Ariz.; the film has also been nominated for five LEO (British Columbia) Awards.

All of which pleases Cunningham, but, he explains, "My goal with it was to never go out there and become a celebrity or for it to even be a huge hit or anything like that. My goal, and it's the only goal that you can truly have, is to make the best movie you possibly can. And if I could get half of what I wanted to get on film, if I could succeed in that, well then it would be a life worth living."

But making the decision to create that life was an idea Cunningham says eluded him for a number of years. The 33-year-old actor, a Los Angeles native, recalls the time when he had to make some hard decisions regarding his life; a theme he says is certainly echoed in Zacharia Farted.

As a struggling actor in his late 20s, living in Hollywood, he reached a point where he couldn't stand another day of hounding people to get noticed. "I woke up one day and realized I was putting my entire destiny in other people's hands," says Cunningham.

Sick of complaining about casting directors and trying to subsist on bit parts, "I kind of decided to build the house myself," he says.

A move to Vancouver and a stint in film school, coupled with his background in front of and behind the camera in L.A., provided Cunningham with the direction he needed.

"My goal was to write and produce and star in a feature film. I figured that if I do that, it might take 10 years, but it would be one more feature than I would have done had I stayed in L.A.," he says.

And the further he got into the project, the more he realized he'd also have to produce it if he wanted the film to retain its integrity.

"There's not a voice in that film that's not in my head," says Cunningham. "When I look at it solely as the writer, everybody in it is me. And it was just kind of fun to be able to give them all a different face."

It became, he says, a question regarding his personal ethics and morality. "The whole film is just a bit of a debate in terms of my head," says Cunningham.

And, says Hanna, the theme of the movie is applicable across the board. "In realistic terms, I think that relates to an awful lot of people on the outside. I think that there's that heart within ourselves and sometimes we're not able to bring that out. We need help from someone else to maybe bring it out in us."

-- www.lasvegasweekly.com

Zacharia Farted is a warm & spirited comedy about two best friends who, while on a long awaited fishing holiday, stumble upon a blank headstone out in the middle of nowhere. With nothing more than a spirit for adventure and a tank full of minimum wage, they set out on a seven day safari throughout the Southwest in search of a ghost, a locksmith and themselves.

--  Victoria Film School

Uptight Michael and his new age buddy Brian take off on a road trip after Michael breaks up with his girlfriend and Brian loses his job. They find a mysterious unmarked headstone, with only a strange inscription and a key as clues. Brian instantly decides it is his life's mission to discover who is buried there, and the pair change plans. They find an Indian shaman who may be able to help with the inscription -- but he turns out to be a half-Apache from Belfast. Further adventures turn up a kleptomaniac waitress and, eventually, an old lady looking for her missing son. The group return to the gravestone.

-- www.hollywood.com

Two fishing buddies from San Francisco – Brian, a sensitive New Age guy with a crystal around his neck, and Michael, who’s trying to escape from the fact his wife is a bitch, set off on a road trip after finding a key and an unmarked grave. This is not your average road movie, however, because sometimes Zacharia Farted actually feels like one of your very own road trips, thanks to a fair bit of ponderous directing.

As dreadful as this might sound, it rarely hampers the film. Instead, you realize these events could happen to you, if only you were as open to new experiences and new people as these two guys are. Not that you’d want these events to happen – all they end up accomplishing, through days of bumbling around back roads, is being mistaken for anti-Semites, paying bail for a waitress who joins their party, and buying a bus ticket for a guy from Idaho named Wayne Newton.

Why the car never gets dirty from criss-crossing the state is another question, but all is forgiven as the film succeeds in other ways.

-- www.greatwest.ca

Brian (Benjamin Ratner, Dirty, Moving Pictures 1999) is a spiritually minded, "holistic mechanic" who recognizes that things are not always what they seem. The problem is, he has been diagnosing his client's psychological problems based on what needs repairing on their cars. Neither they nor his boss are impressed... When he's fired he heads off on a fishing trip with his best friend Michael (writer/producer Colin Cunningham). Their fishing trip is soon cancelled when they discover an unmarked grave in the forest and, nearby, a key marked "PUMZACH." For Brian, discovering who is in the grave is a chance to make a difference in the world. When a waitress suggests they visit a shaman in Nevada, they head off on a seven-day road trip in search of the truth. On the journey both Michael and the audience discover that, ironically, it is not always the truth that is important. Nothing in Michael Rohl's feature debut is what it seems. This is, after all, a film about not judging a book by its cover (or a film by its title). For example, Canadian audiences will notice that Vancouver becomes San Francisco while Cache Creek and Ashcroft stand in for Nevada. Thankfully, cinematic pleasures are not always about verisimilitude, and this indie cast and crew make the most of what they have. This is an engaging, quirky and remarkably well-crafted film which offers plenty of laughs and a few life-affirming tears. It is a journey not to be missed, full of wonder and surprise, not to mention strong performances from a first-rate cast.

-- movingpictures.nisa.com

Don’t let the title scare you – this is an amusing comedy by bright young Canadian filmmakers which features, amongst many other things, refreshing takes on the road movie form, pseudo-Native mysticism, relationships – just about anything. Michael and Brian are unlikely best friends who stumble, while in the woods, upon a blank headstone. They venture out over three states in search of a name, a ghost, an adventure, and themselves.

-- www.sedonafilmfestival.com

British Columbia director Michael Rohl’s film follows the voyage of a pair of buddies on the trail of some rare buffalo nickels. The film is named for one character’s flatulent dog.

-- www.seemagazine.com

Michael Rohl made his directorial debut with this Canadian comedy-drama in which Brian (Benjamin Ratner) loses his San Francisco garage job and talks pal Michael (Colin Cunningham) into joining him on a fishing trip. At an unmarked gravesite, they find a key inscribed "PUMZACH." This prompts them to cross the border into Nevada in search of a shaman who can translate the enigmatic inscription. After meeting medicine-man Martin Yellowcrow (Willie John Hanna), owner of flatulent canine Zacharia, they are joined by winsome waitress Corey (Madison Graie) and nerdy numismatist Wayne Newton (C. Ernst Harth). The group arrives in a small town where the locksmith finds a match for the key with lonely Jean (Betty Linde), mother of a missing son. Minus Wayne, they head back to California. Shot in Vancouver, this film was shown at the 1998 Vancouver Film Festival and the 1998 AFI Festival.

-- www.blockbuster.com

Zacharia, a road-movie comedy about two friends searching for the name of the person in an unmarked grave, starts July 2 and shoots until July 29.

Produced by locals on a micro budget, the show has no distributor yet in the place. In charge are producer Damon Vignale, coproducer and costar Madison Graie, director Michael Rohl and stars Colin Cunningham (also writer and coproducer) and Ben Ratner. The show will be shot in the Lower Mainland and Cache Creek areas.

Post-production will be completed in November and producers hope to have it shown at the Sundance Festival next year.

Says Cunningham: "With the recent success of other local filmmakers and knowing what's on the horizon, I have no doubt that Vancouver is going to be to independent film what Seattle was to grunge [music]."

-- www.playbackmag.com (June 30, 1997)

According to Colin Cunningham, the impetus to create the feature Zacharia Farted was to get the chance to do some different acting than that usually offered to locals by the series regularly shooting here. The result is a world premiere for a new feature at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Zacharia Farted, a colorfully titled comedy about two friends who are sidetracked during a fishing trip to investigate the inhabitant of a grave they found, is a comedy that puts Cunningham in the lead with Vancouver acting friends Ben Ratner and Madison Graie, who also serves as a coproducer. Damon Vignale serves as executive producer for the privately financed film that was shot a year ago and is still looking for a distributor.

An actor for 10 years, Cunningham has an array of performance credits including notable shows such as The X-Files. He recently completed filming on an episode of Dead Man's Gun in which he played a minister accused of raping and murdering a girl.

Quote: "There are a lot of actors out there who bitch and moan about how all the good parts go south of the border. I'm too busy to think about it."

-- www.playbackmag.com (September 21, 1998)