Movie filmed in Lewiston to debut

LEWISTON – A low-budget movie filmed in Lewiston’s streets and bars will make its New England premiere later this month.

“Shadow Glories” was filmed in July 2000 and tells the story of an aging kickboxer and how he mentors a young ambitious woman. Opening night will be Sept. 28 in Maine and elsewhere in New England.

Marc Sandler, the movie’s writer, star and producer, said if the premiere goes well, then the movie will probably show in New York and Los Angeles. Large movie companies may compete for the distribution rights, he said.

But if the movie doesn’t draw crowds, it may go to cable TV and video, he said.

“Everything pretty much pivots on this,” he said.

Sandler, though, is confident “Shadow Glories” will fare just fine.

It’s been well-received at film festivals and has received a couple of positive reviews – including one from the Los Angeles Times.

“‘Shadow Glories’ is a powerful and distinctive commentary on the addictiveness of violence,” film critic Kevin Thomas wrote.

It is likely the movie will draw good crowds when it opens in Lewiston.

The Flagship Cinema will hold an invitation-only party and screening the night before the official premiere. Cinema manager Doris Davis, who had a bit part in the film, said her theater has been showing the movie’s trailer for the past week, and she has viewed the movie three times.

The Cage, a bar where one scene was filmed, plans to have its second annual pig roast that Saturday where people can get admission to the movie and a meal at the bar afterward for $12.

Denis Webber, a co-owner of the bar, said he can’t let the movie’s opening pass without a celebration. After all, his place was a regular hangout for the cast and crew during the filming, and the bar is featured in one scene – with Webber as the bartender.

“They filmed here for a whole day,” Webber said. “I need to see what it looks like.”