MOUSE - Director Kenny Riches

Between stealing bicycles and breaking into cars, Denny’s only social outlet is spending time with his mother who loves reading correspondence from their Japanese family overseas. Denny’s loneliness pushes him to sign up for a penpal service from a classified-ad. He begins writing letters to a woman named Tess, whom he develops feelings for, but lies to about his nonexistent wealth and success. Unbeknownst to Denny, the penpal service is a scheme Tess and her real-life boyfriend, Maury, run to take advantage of the lonely. Tess and Maury find themselves in financial trouble of their own and decide to travel to Denny to take him for all he’s worth. Upon arrival they find that things aren’t what they seemed in Denny’s letters. About the filmmaker - Kenny Oiwa Riches was born in Toyota City, Japan; raised in Salt Lake City, Utah; and currently resides in Miami, Florida. He holds a BFA in Painting and Drawing. His first feature film, Must Come Down, premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in 2012. His 2015 feature film, The Strongest Man, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released by AMC International and Kino Lorber. His follow-up film, A Name Without A Place, premiered at the Miami Film Festival in 2019. Mouse marks his fourth feature film. He has received generous support from the Sundance Institute, Sun Valley Film Lab, US in Progress, the Knight Foundation, and PBS. His producer credits include My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To (2020, Tribeca Film Festival) and Sanzaru (2020, Slamdance Film Festival). He is a co-founder of The Davey Foundation, a grant-giving organization for filmmakers founded in memory of David Fetzer. He is also a partner in the production company, Dualist.