Opening today in New York at the Cinema Village is Jeremiah Zagar’s documentary In a Dream, which is a fascinating story of artistic obsession and its effects on an entire Philadelphia family. In our current issue, which is just coming off the newsstands, Lauren Wissot interviewed not only Zagar but his longtime producer Jeremy Yaches and their executive producers Pamela Tanner Boll and Geralyn White Dreyfous.

Here is a brief excerpt:

Filmmaker: I know that Jeremiah is a big fan of Errol Morris, and that definitely comes through in In a Dream. Are there other films or books or works of art that have guided or inspired you as you have worked out the themes and forms of your films?

Jeremy: Tarnation is actually a really huge influence on this film. The first trailer that we made was tremendously influenced by Tarnation.

Jeremiah: We have a long list of influences. Errol Morris and Werner Herzog — we love what they do with documentary form. We love the idea of making the real surreal. Also, Lynn Ramsey — she is an enormous influence. She composes shots in a way that I think nobody else in the world does. But Jeremy and I have been working together for almost 13 years, and all we used to do was sit and watch movies. I mean, it’s incalculable how many influences we have…. You want to hear a really funny story? So the first movie I ever saw that made me want to make movies was The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen. It was an inspiration for one of our shorts. So we went to London to show the film, and we were watching another movie, and it was so bad we started drinking at this little bar near the theater. All of a sudden this guy walks in wearing a kimono, and he has a rat-tail, like little kids do – and it’s Terry Gilliam. I couldn’t believe it. The whole night I’m sweating bullets, drinking, thinking of how I’m going to approach Terry Gilliam. Finally, Jeremy and I go up to Terry Gilliam, who’s with his wife and his best friend, and I was like, “Look man, you made us want to make movies. I love you so much. I have a film in the festival.” And he looks at me and goes, “I’m so sorry.”

IN A DREAM: Theatrical Trailer from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.