Kendall Gazette: Local filmmaker debuts his latest feature movie

By Gary Ruse, Miami's Community Newspapers writer

Area filmmaker Gabriel Rhenals debuted his newest movie at the Kendall Branch Library on Saturday, Feb. 28. All the seats were filled to see a special presentation of Ask Delphi and participate in a question-and-answer session which followed.

A graduate of New World School of the Arts and Florida International University, Rhenals said he appreciates the support of the Miami-Dade Library System, which has previously screened his earlier films For My Sister (2019), State v. Unknown (2022) and Death Cleaning (2023).

When asked what inspired him to make this latest movie, he responded with certainty.

"I was compelled to make my fourth feature-length film Ask Delphi because I wanted to portray themes of parenthood, technology and youthful romance in a narrative that operated as a futuristic, perhaps dystopic, AI-powered simulation.”

This film has a different approach compared to his earlier work.

“Ask Delphi contains several unique formal features that distinguish it from most of my past work,” Rhenals said. “Zero continuity editing, scene lengths limited to one-fourth of a page and a four-part, ‘thread-based’ organizational scheme that alternates between a single perspective, that is to say, Alma’s POV (point of view), and alternating perspectives, Alma and Zooey’s POVs.”

Rhenals said that the most exceptional challenge in making his new film was the sheer quantity of scenes that needed to be filmed. There were roughly 415 in total.

The trailer for the movie, which is not yet rated, can be viewed at: www.gabrielrhenals.com/ad-trailers.

Ask Delphi will be available to stream on Amazon, YouTube and Tubi in the spring.

Ask Delphi has quite a large cast, most of whom are local actors. Sterling Thomas Royston, Loye Hawkins and a few voice actors from the film attended the screening at Kendall Branch Library.

Rhenals’ short films, such as The Promotion (2016), Leo’s Love Letter (2014), Proteus (2013), Semester of Madness (2012), The Nap (2008) and a number of earlier works, have been screened at film festivals around Florida, and even a few in Hungary.

Not resting on his laurels, Rhenals is at work on a number of other projects as well.

“I recently completed production on a trio of episodes for an upcoming, episodic and slightly adult-oriented series, titled Flush, which I’m currently deciding on how to make available to the public,” he said. “I am also writing and illustrating my second book, titled Norstadt.”