Lumina : A terrifying sci-fi thrill ride, Lumina follows four friends desperately searching for their abductee friend in a DUMB — DEEP UNDERGROUND MILITARY BASE. Whether they find their friend or not, what they find in the desert of the US to the sands of the Sahara, will change their lives forever. PATRICIA, a free-spirited Nubian hippie and amateur videographer, is staying at the house of her rich friend, ALEX who decides to throw a party that will reunite old friends and introduce them to his new girl, TATIANA.
The night seems destined for drama when he invites DELILAH, an old girlfriend who doesn’t hide her feelings for him. Despite the tension running through the celebration, the night goes off without a hitch. Everything changes with the sudden appearance of blinding lights from the sky. One second they’re there, the next they’re gone, and the only thing for sure is that Tatiana has disappeared. Months go by, during which Alex’s mental state deteriorates.
He’s joins an online community of conspiracy theorists and UFO watchers and has even reached out to GEORGE, an old acquaintance whose beliefs demand a matching tin foil hat. Worried about him, Patricia calls Delilah. After a recent falling out Delilah has been reluctant to come by, but jumps at the opportunity to worm her way back into his life. Alex is convinced he must find Tatiana and he believes she’s in a DUMB.
After an intensely vivid dream about Tatiana being held captive there. The four friends set out on a trip that will change some lives and take others. After being hunted by alien menaces, tracked by the government, and chased by lights in the sky, they quickly realize that they have gotten themselves in too deep.
Director : Gino Mckoy
Producer : Gino Mckoy, Hudson, Mckoy, Linda Mckoy, David Seychell
Screenwriter : Gino Mckoy
Distributor : Goldove Entertainment
Production Co : Goldove Entertainment
Rating : R (Some Language|Violent Content)
Genre : Sci-Fi, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language : English
Release Date (Theaters) : Jul 12, 2024, Wide
©Courtesy of Goldove Entertainment
Exclusive Interview with Actor Eric Roberts and Director Gino Mckoy
Q: It was more than 70 years ago when the Roswell incident happened. What attracted you to alien abduction stories that prompted you to make this film?
Eric Roberts: I wasn’t here 70 years ago. LOL. I’m only here now and what we’re talking about is now. I find it more than fascinating. I find it real. I believe we’ve had lots of visitors. We have tens of thousands of photographs of alien spacecraft. Why can’t we accept the fact they’ve been here, are here and are going to be here again? it’s just a matter of fact. Just because it’s unknown, it scares us but so is tomorrow. I’m not scared about tomorrow. I want to find out about these guys.
Q: How about you, Gino?
Gino Mckoy: What inspired me was that I grew up watching Star Wars. I’m a big fan. So I think what inspired me as well was to take that human journey and apply it to people who are under a certain amount of adversity where they lose someone and want to go and find that person. How far are they willing to go to find that person?
What I was saying is, “How much risk are you willing to take to save the one you love?” Tying that into the whole alien abduction theme, I think is intriguing. It’s different, unique and stands out from other movies because we actually get to go through the journey and learn about these characters.
Q: You guys shot this film entirely in Morocco. How did you prepare to shoot there? Are there studios there lending the help from local filmmakers?
Gino Mckoy: Morocco is a film country. A lot of movies have been shot in Morocco from Gladiator 2, Troy, Scorsese stuff, like everything. So there were a lot of people who are experienced shooting movies there. It was beautiful shooting in Morocco because we got different landscapes, mountains, beaches and the Sahara desert. The movie looks beautiful with its cinematography.
©Courtesy of Goldove Entertainment
Q: Talk about assembling this group of talent to play Alex, George, Tatiana, Patricia and Delilah. And, for Eric, talk about working with those young actors. You’ve been working in this industry for almost 45 years, so did you give them any acting tips?
Eric Roberts: Actors don’t want tips from old actors. Rupert Lazarus [Alex] is one of the coolest actors I’ve ever worked with. He’s a cool cat and I learned as much from him as he will ever learn from me. Just because I have age, doesn’t mean I have intelligence for Christ’s sake.
[In the cast] were Sidney Nicole Rogers [Patricia], Eleanor Williams [Tatiana], Ken Lawson [George] and Andrea Tivadar [Delilah]. It was a great cast and everybody acted their asses off. I didn’t have to show anybody anything. Everybody was ready to go and it was a great experience. And if you ever get a chance, shoot in Morocco. You can’t beat it.
Q: The budget for the film was modest considering the car chase scenes in this film —which are wonderful. Talk about those making challenging scenes?
Gino Mckoy: It was also difficult to accomplish because we shot during the height of the COVID pandemic — from 2020 December to January. We were shooting and they were long days. It was a lot of testing as I pointed out.
There were all these different obstacles that came [into making the film]. It was the hardest period in Hollywood history to shoot a movie. And we did it. We’re here now and Eric is that dangerous space cowboy that everyone’s going to love.
Q: Here’s a curveball question. If the government is already engaging with aliens, what advanced technology would we have right now?
Gino Mckoy: We’re not seeing that technology. The technology that a lot of people have spoken to me about in terms of foreign military guys and everything else, a lot of technology is not being disseminated to the public. It’s in black op programs. Everything is being kept by government authorities for black projects. A lot of this stuff is technology that we would hope to see.
©Courtesy of Goldove Entertainment
Q: It’s not the technology that we have.
Gino Mckoy: That’s part of it. It comes from the military. The Internet came from the Navy. The deep web came from the Navy. Those were US Navy inventions. A lot of the stuff that’s being commercialized comes from the military and the navy. AI is a small portion of it. There’s this technology that I’ve talked about to some that is far advanced from the AI that you’re seeing right now. It’s beyond what we have been exposed to.
Q: Eric, which films were turning points in your life that changed your view about acting?
Eric Roberts: There’s a movie I made called “Star 80.” It’s the story of the death of the Playboy Playmate of the year 1980. I played a guy who’s not very likable but it’s very common in our society. He’s not unusual at all.
And to play him in a way that was identifiable as a very common person, but also stay within the boundaries of making it feel real. It was a docudrama, so I had to play a real person. I didn’t have any choices to make. I had to play him a certain way.
That taught me more about the human condition than I’ve ever learned anywhere else or since. Playing a character who is very unlikable taught me more about human frailty than anything else I’ve ever learned.
©Courtesy of Goldove Entertainment
If you like the article, share your thoughts below!
Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles.
Here’s the trailer of the film.