Some people do the right thing for the wrong reason. Counterfeiters, an award-winning independent film, is about a man who does the wrong thing for the right reason. And despite his criminal behavior, we feel empathy for him as we watch his misadventures unfold on the screen. Bryce Hirschberg wrote, directed, edited, produced and stars in this intriguing offering that has already won many laurels on the film festival circuit, including Best Actor recognition. Do we have another Orson Welles in the making?

Counterfeiters held my interest from beginning to end, mostly because of Hirschberg's wonderful lead performance. He’s on camera in practically every scene and never bores us. One particular sequence involves a long phone conversation that not many actors could carry off without losing the audience. But by this time, Hirschberg’s character has drawn us in and we don’t want to miss a word. Hirschberg makes the guy such a charming manipulator, particularly in a bar scene with lovely Annie Newton.           

This man can sense right and wrong.

But temptation is very strong.

He chooses wrong instead of right

to help his mom out of her plight.

Like Jean Valjean in the great play,

he takes a risk for which he’ll pay.

It’s fake money instead of bread

that causes this man so much dread.

“Counterfeiters,” the movie’s name.

A riveting film frame by frame.

Director plays the starring role

and gives it all his heart and soul.

I’m amazed that this independent movie was shot in 15 days with a budget of only about $8,000. How did Hirschberg do it? “I used my friends and family as my cast and my best friend David Klassen provided the camera and lighting as well as his cinematography,” he explains.

Hirschberg also adds that he financed the film with his own money and almost everyone worked for free. “I figured the catch 22 of this business is no one would give me a feature directing job until I made a feature film, but no one would pay me to make a feature film unless I’ve already done one.”

All the hard work put into Counterfeiters is paying off. The film has received numerous accolades from various film festivals worldwide and  is available now on on iTunes and Amazon Prime.

I want to see more movies by Bryce Hirschberg – and, hopefully, he won’t have to finance them himself.  

(Production Company: Call It Pictures. Not Rated by MPAA)

NOTE: Counterfeiters will be playing at the Arena Cinelounge Hollywood, Los Angeles, from June 15-21, 2018.

For more information about Counterfeiters, please go the IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes website.