"The Mojave Experiment" Stars Cindy Chiu In Sci-fi Western

Sept. 28, 2008 - PRLog -- Los Angeles, CA –  Rarely granted prominent parts in the Western genre, Chinese-Americans have a rich and fascinating role in the history of the American West. These experiences are illuminated in a film that makes an unlikely merger of the Science Fiction and Western genres.

Set in 1862, THE MOJAVE EXPERIMENT -- currently in post-production and due to hit the film festival circuit in 2009 -- stars Cindy Chiu (known from BRING IT ON 3) as Virginia Wales, a young and resourceful Chinese-American woman on a mission to rescue her long-lost sister from a brothel in Arizona. As the women ride home across the desert, they stumble upon the smoldering wreckage of an alien spacecraft and are compelled to rescue the baby creature they find inside.

"The idea of a UFO crashing in 19th century America was inspired by an actual news story from 1897 about an alien spacecraft crashing into a windmill in Texas," says THE MOJAVE EXPERIMENT's writer-director Carly Lyn. "Part of what makes this incident so fascinating is that the article talks about the townspeople holding a funeral for the departed pilot of the craft. This leads to a fantastic starting point for an original plot – what if the alien didn't die?"

Lyn sets her film not in Texas but in the Mojave Desert (in what is now San Bernardino County, California). This location serves as a rich backdrop of inter-cultural meshing. "In this region during the middle of the 19th century, you have Mormons, Chemehuevi Indians, and Chinese all making a home here. Virginia is a character who has a relationship with all three of these cultures," Lyn states.

THE MOJAVE EXPERIMENT has completed principal photography and is now in post-production. Trailers for the film can be viewed at http://www.themojaveexperiment.com. THE MOJAVE EXPERIMENT was produced by Charming Films, LLC with Richard J. Dubin and Colin Barton serving as producers.