Spotlight On: 'Land Of The Blind'

Writer-director Robert Edward is making his feature film debut at the Tribeca Film Festival with "Land of the Blind" starring Ralph Fiennes, Donald Sutherland, and Lara Flynn Boyle.

Fiennes stars in the political satire as a soldier and family man who befriends a prisoner while working at a downtrodden prison in a fictitious city. Donald Sutherland, in a turn from his political role on TV's "Commander In Chief," is the man behind bars for writing a controversial book, an act that the insane and repressive monarch in power (Tom Hollander) deems as treason. Sutherland is treated harshly by guards at the jail, but Fiennes secretly reaches out to him because he's a fan of his written work. Soon the pair organize a grand plot to free Sutherland from jail and overthrow the evil dictator who put him there.

Lara Flynn Boyle makes an appearance as the First Lady of this politically volatile city facing a revolution led by Sutherland and his militia. The film touches on themes of terrorism, corruption, and how the memory of power hungry human beings can be all too short.

Mackenzie Crook, familiar from "Pirates of the Caribbean" and the British version of "The Office," makes a brief appearance as a prisoner who helps the dictator with his ridiculous filmmaking hobby.

"Land of the Blind" debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival on May 1.