What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie?

At first the familiar gnawing fear that the film just won’t be good enough. But nothing ever is, so I negotiated my way past that one. But then arose a far more specific concern in this instance – that the finished film would not do justice to the experiences of the countless thousands of emigrants that crossed the Atlantic to find a new life in the US. Brooklyn is a small story on one level but I hope it truthfully captures the split that occurs when you no longer belong in the country you left but don’t belong in your adopted homeland either – which is the state of being an exile. Attempting to capture this reminds one that artistic fears diminish somewhat when compared to the fears of a young girl stepping on a boat to cross an ocean alone…..

[PREMIERE SCREENING: Monday January 26 at 6:30 pm — Eccles Theatre]

Sundance 2015 Responses