Tom Wolfe Gets Back To Blood

*Also screening at O Cinema Miami Shores @ MTC on Sunday, Oct 14th @ 5pm & 7pm.Get tickets for that location hereIn Miami, Cubans would call Tom Wolfe “una pata caliente” — which translates directly to “hot foot” but really means “has get-up and go”.

It might not be obvious from the look of his spotless vanilla suit and matching fedora. But Tom Wolfe likes to — no, needs, must — hit the streets, get his nose to the ground, immerse himself in a culture head-first, to feed his almost insatiable appetite to extract the story at the source, and from it, weave an intricate tale about the place and people he is discovering.

Now, for the first time, his mysterious methods and singular style are revealed in Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood, directed by award winning journalist Oscar Corral. The hour-long documentary marks two important milestones: It is the only film ever made about America’s most iconic living author; and it is also the first time that an independent, full-length documentary has accompanied the release of a major novel. For his fans and admirers, Tom Wolfe Gets Back to Blood opens a window into the mind and matchless creative process used by Wolfe to carefully craft his newest novel, the immigration-themed “Back to Blood.”

Even as he neared his 80s, Tom Wolfe could have coasted on his half-century reputation, Googling his way through a novel about Miami. But instead, he stayed true to form. Notebook in hand, he ditched his desk to embark on what turned out to be five frenzied years of hands-on research about the mechanics of the nation’s sultriest and most exotic city. In the process, he was toasted by Miami’s elite, cannonballed by a drunken pirate and had his aura read by a Santero priest, all of it captured in this unusual documentary about the the birth of a great literary work.

Director Oscar Corral will participate in Q&A's after most screenings.