A black comedy version of the classic tale.

David Kaplan's short film LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, starring Christina Ricci and narrated by Quentin Crisp, has played at over fifty international film festivals. His other short films include LITTLE SUCK-A-THUMB and the recently completed documentary WHAT IS THE CITY, to be aired on Channel Four in the UK. Kaplan was a fellow at the Sundance Institute's 1995 Directors' Lab and the 2000 Screenwriters' Lab. He has also worked as a freelance illustrator.

" I have been interested in fairy tales for a long time. For me, they are like myths: rich, dark, and saturated with human experience. Often when they are adapted for film, they are made only for children, cleansed of anything dangerous or disturbing. This process robs them of something vital.

I wanted to make a version of LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD that delved full-on into the provocative subtext. As with all fairy-tales, there are many different versions of the story floating around. This particular one comes from the Brittany region of France and is considered by many folklore scholars to be closest to the oral story before it was translated into literature by men like Charles Perrault or the Brothers Grimm. What appealed to me about it was that instead of the usual story about sexual punishment wherein a little girl strays from the path and gets eaten up, this is a story about adolescent sexual flirtation and experimentation. It's fun and scary and sexy. "

"There is a very famous 1862 illustration by Gustave Dore of Red Riding Hood in bed with the wolf. Strangely, Christina Ricci is the spitting image of that girl in the drawing. She was the perfect actress for my film because her face is so expressive and her remarkable intelligence shines through her eyes. "

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