The owner of the New England Patriots American football team, Robert Kraft, is one of the richest men in America and a political crony of Donald J. Trump. In 2019 he was arrested for visiting a day spa in Florida where he paid sex trafficked women for illegal sexual services. The police had video evidence of the transaction and services. Yet somehow the footage of Kraft was ordered destroyed by a Florida judge and it was declared that Kraft had his constitutional rights violated by the fact that the criminal behavior was recorded in the first place. The sex trafficked women working at the day spa were arrested, charged and convicted of prostitution.

A privileged white man gets away with breaking the law while accepting no responsibility for his actions or choices and is then allowed to proceed in all of his ways with impunity. While the real victims were punished. Because that’s America and America is broken.

BLOOD FOR DUST is a creative reflection of this truth and a film for our current moment about the desperation so many of us face as we struggle to provide for the ones we love and change our stars in the face of systems, institutions and power structures all designed to disenfranchise and beat us down. It’s hard to do the right thing when people see the ways that the “haves” get away with breaking the rules and laws. Work hard, do right and you’ll be rewarded. That should be the way things work, but the universe constantly reminds us that it’s not. We’ve all been sold the myth of the American dream.

Wrapped up inside of these understandings is a hyper realistic dramatic and thrilling tale of one flawed man, Cliff, which offers audiences a chance to look in the mirror and consider that regardless of what we experience throughout our lifetime, we are only as broken and damaged as we choose to be. Yes, we can be overwhelmed. Yes, we can give into the darkness for a time. But we always have another chance. We always have another choice. We, and we alone, get to decide whether to stay defeated, to overcome, or to give in yet again to the darkness.

It’s easy to point to people like Robert Kraft and say “well if he can get away with it, maybe I can too”. We all know it is a lot harder to be a good person when the scales are tipped against us. To exist in an inequitable world where no matter how hard you work you can’t get ahead. And to exist in a world and time where the people who are the baddest, get ahead easily, unapologetically and confidently with impunity.

So while at face value BLOOD FOR DUST is a film about family, corruption, cocaine, crime and mobile defibrillator units - through the lens of one man’s experience and choices - behind that entertaining and thrilling facade is a potent piece of commentary on contemporary America, dreams, bullshit, personal responsibility and the failure of men. Whether or not audiences want to access that commentary is up to them. You can lead someone to the water of truth - but you can’t make them drink.

Hopefully this film will remind them that they’re thirsty.

That’s a pretty good line.

As Ricky says, “Maybe we should get that engraved in brass and put it on our desks.”

Yours,
Rod Blackhurst
Nashville, TN
April 24 2023

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

BLOOD FOR DUST l Official HD Trailer l Starring Scoot McNairy & Kit Harington l Watch it On 4.19

Video courtesy of The Avenue.

Scoot McNairy (L) and Kit Harington (R) star in The Avenue's upcoming action-thriller BLOOD FOR DUST.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Blood runs thick in The Avenue’s action-thriller 'Blood For Dust' which will be screening in competition at the Deauville American Film Festival! The film will be screened on September 3 for competition, with more showings throughout the festival. ‘Blood For Dust’ stars #KitHarington (#GameOfThrones, #Eternals), #ScootMcNairy (#Wonderland, #Argo), and #JoshLucas (#FordVFerrari, #Yellowstone).

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Kit Harington as Ricky and Scoot McNairy as Cliff in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Scoot McNairy as Cliff and Josh Lucas as John in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Ethan Suplee as Slim and Kit Harington as Ricky in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Scoot McNairy as Cliff in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Amber Rose Mason as Rebecca in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Kit Harington (L) and Scoot McNairy (R) star in The Avenue's upcoming action-thriller BLOOD FOR DUST.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Travis W Bruyer as Don and Scoot McNairy as Cliff in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Ethan Suplee as Slim in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Kit Harington as Ricky in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Josh Lucas as John in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Scoot McNairy (L) and Kit Harington (R) star in The Avenue's upcoming action-thriller BLOOD FOR DUST.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Scoot McNairy as Cliff and Amber Rose Mason as Rebecca in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

(L-R) Ethan Suplee as Slim and Scoot McNairy as Cliff in the crime thriller film, BLOOD FOR DUST, a release by The Avenue.

Photo courtesy of The Avenue.