Rob NilssonFilmography

Opening

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Rossana Jeran, Lucia Alvarez, Mary Gay Rogers, Vickie Lynn, Larry Peterson

Synopsis: A handful of self-styled bohemians reveal their less attractive sides in this improvised drama from filmmaker Rob Nilsson. Martha (Elisabeth Kirsch) runs an art gallery in a shabby but fashionable section of Kansas City; the gallery is having money troubles, and with property values on the rise in Read More

Cine Manifest

Actors: John Hanson, Judy Irola, Stephen Lighthill, Peter Gessner, Gene Corr

Synopsis: Filmmaker Judy Irola chronicles the 1970s film movement known as Cine Manifest in this 2006 documentary. Comprised of San Franciscan Marxists, the film collective ambitiously sought to produce several cutting-edge politically-relevent movies. Irola herself was a member of the group and in the film Read More

Used

Crew: Director

Go Together

Crew: Director

Need

Crew: Director

Actors: Diane Gaidry, Marianne Heath, Gabriela Maltz Larkin, Brette McCabe, David Fine

Synopsis: The desperate lives of a handful of denizens of San Francisco's Tenderloin district are chronicled in this independent drama from filmmaker Rob Nilsson. Lou (Brette McCabe) is an aging street prostitute who wants to get out of the life, but she lacks the temperament for the straight life, and has Read More

Samt

Crew: Director

Actors: Suha Najjar, Jihad, Mohammed Hoshky, Dima al Sharif, Alia Kheifat

Attitude

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Michael Disend, Robert Viharo, Edwin Johnson, Selena Allen, Marion Christian

Synopsis: Coming as part of a spate of interrelated films made in collaboration with San Francisco's experimental theater troupe the Tenderloin yGroup, venerable indie filmmaker Rob Nilsson delivers this Cassavetes-style meditation on a group of desperate, homeless, or otherwise downtrodden characters who Read More

Noise

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Robert Viharo, Paige Olson, Erich Sargeant, Angela, Jen Shih-kuan

Synopsis: Coming as part of a spate of interrelated films made in collaboration with San Francisco's experimental theater troupe the Tenderloin yGroup, venerable indie filmmaker Rob Nillson delivers this Cassavetes-style meditation on a group of desperate, downtrodden characters who try to find connection Read More

Scheme C6

Crew: Director, Producer, Screen Story

Actors: Cory Duval, Monica Cortes, David Fine, MC Mars, Bruce Marovich

Bill's Gun Shop

Crew: Co-producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Scott Allen Cooper, John Ashton, Victor Rivers, Tom Bower, James Keene

Synopsis: A young gun enthusiast longing for a permit to carry soon finds that wielding a firearm can be a weighty responsibility in a chilling thriller that follows in the tense tradition of Elmore Leonard. Twenty-three year old Dillon McCarthy would like nothing more than a chance to work at Bill's Gun Read More

Stroke

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Robert Viharo

Synopsis: Directed by video-to-35 mm filmmaker Rob Nilsson, this largely improvised drama is set in, and populated by, real-life residents of San Francisco's notorious Tenderloin district. Three months after suffering a debilitating stroke, Phil (Teddy Weiler), a 55-year-old poet, is cared for by his Read More

Clouds

Actors: Michael Patrick Gaffney, Jennifer Jordan Day, Richard Barrows, Patricia Ann Rubens

Singing

Crew: Director, Producer

Synopsis: Sullen yuppie scientist Perry (Jim Carpenter) returns home from work one night to find his opera-singer wife (Barbara Jaspersen) wearing only scanty lingerie and a naughty grin, apparently in an attempt to inject some much-needed life into the couple's flaccid marriage. Perry rejects her and takes Read More

Winter Oranges

Crew: Director, Producer

Synopsis: A man about to become a father ponders the notion of leaving his wife behind in this drama. Ryuki (Ryuki Tenmaya) and his wife Kaori (Naori Nakata) live in Sagi, a small island off the coast of Japan near Hiroshima. Kaori is soon to have a baby, and Ryuki is unhappy with his life -- he feels tied Read More

A Town Has Turned to Dust

Crew: Director

Actors: Ron Perlman, Stephen Lang, Judy Collins, Barbara Jane Reams, Gabriel Olds

Synopsis: Based on a teleplay by the late Rod Serling, this drama is set in a far-off and arid future. The tale follows the growing racial tension and conflicts within a mining town gripped by a terrible drought. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Tell Me No Secrets

Actors: Lori Loughlin, Bruce Greenwood, Tracey Walter

Synopsis: Los Angeles district attorney Jess Kostner (Lori Laughlin) inaugurates her own personal descent into hell when she agrees to prosecute an accused rapist named Sean Ferguson (Tracey Walter). Having just recovered from a nervous breakdown brought about by the mysterious death of her mother, Jess is Read More

Chalk

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Synopsis: With a cast comprised of a few professional and many more non professional actors and a realistic, earth setting, this independent drama of a young pool shark's decision whether or not to turn pro rings convincing and true. Most of the tale is set at the Crab Tree, a funky East Bay, San Francisco Read More

Copycat

Actors: Sigourney Weaver, Holly Hunter, Dermot Mulroney, William McNamara, Will Patton

Synopsis: A serial killer stalks the streets of San Francisco; unlike his many predecessors does not choose a distinctive, identifying pattern. No, this killer prides himself on his unoriginality: he is a copycat, recreating the violent murders of some of the country's most notorious serial killers, his Read More

Naomi & Wynonna: Love Can Build a Bridge

Actors: Ashley Judd, Kathleen York

Synopsis: The struggle of country music's mother-daughter duo The Judds is told in this made-for-television drama. Kathleen York stars as Naomi Judd (then known as Diana Judd) a single mother of two daughters, who turned to music as way to help positively influence her increasingly belligerent and Read More

Rainbow Drive

Actors: Peter Weller, Sela Ward, Bruce Weitz

Synopsis: In this made-for-cable adaptation of Roderick Thorp's crime thriller, Peter Weller stars as a Hollywood cop whose murder investigation runs into a wall of police corruption. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More

Words for the Dying

Crew: Director, Producer

Actors: John Cale, Brian Eno

Synopsis: The documentary Words for the Dying follows director Rob Nilsson as he attempts to capture the working process between collaborators John Cale and Brian Eno while they record an album consisting of songs inspired by the poetry of Dylan Thomas. Everyone goes to Russia to record, but things grow Read More

Dead Solid Perfect

Synopsis: A cocky, irresponsible professional golfer discovers that he will have to clean up his act if he wants to compete in the PGA tour. Based on a novel by Dan Jenkins, this drama originally aired on cable television. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

Heat and Sunlight

Crew: Director, Screenwriter

Actors: Rob Nilsson, Consuelo Faust, Don Bajema, Raven de la Croix

Synopsis: Rob Nilsson both directed and starred in Heat and Sunlight. Nilsson plays a San Francisco photographer who has trouble curbing his obsessions. He falls in love with dancer Consuelo Faust, then is unable to shake off his violently jealous impulses when the ardor cools. The musical score by David Byrne Read More

The Method

Crew: Screenwriter

Actors: Richard E. Arnold, Anthony Cistaro, Bob Elross

Synopsis: Anna Beringer (Melanie Dreisbach) is a 40-year-old housewife who leaves her family to study acting in San Francisco in this drama. She takes classes from Vincenzo (Robert Elross), a celebrated method-acting coach who does not shy away from the cold realities of her chances of success. Tony (Anthony Cistaro Read More

On the Edge

Crew: Director, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Bruce Dern, Pam Grier, Bill Bailey, Jim Haynie, John Marley

Synopsis: Looking none the worse for his age, Bruce Dern convincingly plays an amateur long-distance runner in On the Edge. Banned from American competition for violating his amateur status, Dern decides to prove he's still got what it takes. The middle-aged athlete enters the grueling Cielo Sea race, which Read More

Signal 7

Crew: Director, Screen Story, Screenwriter

Actors: Bill Ackridge, Dan Leegant, John Tidwell, Herb Mills, Don Bajema

Synopsis: Signal 7 is cab-driver jargon; if you want to know what it means, please treat yourself to this breezy low-budget effort. Shot on location in San Francisco, the film concentrates on the exploits of cabbies Speed (Bill Ackridge) and Marty (Dan Leegant). Their day-to-day adventures and misadventures Read More

Northern Lights

Crew: Director, Editor, Producer, Screenwriter

Actors: Robert Behling, Susan Lynch, Joe Spano, Ray Ness

Synopsis: In 1915 North Dakota, Swedish-born farmer Ray Sorenson (Robert Behling) organizes the populist Nonpartisan League as a response to the bank foreclosures that threaten the livelihoods of himself and his neighbors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide Read More