We asked Sundance directors five questions about their films
THE COMEDY DIRECTOR RICK ALVERSON

By Dan Schoenbrun

Director Rick Alverson is nothing if not prolific. After putting out six albums over eight years with his band Spokane, Alverson turned his attention to film, directing The Builder in 2010 and New Jerusalem last year. Continuing this productive streak is The Comedy, a dark exploration into the insular, self-destructive lifestyle of the affluent white male. Set against the backdrop of Brooklyn's ultra-hip Williamsburg, The Comedy stands in contrast to Alverson's previous two films, films that focused mainly on the stories of working class immigrants. Read the Interview

FOR ELLEN DIRECTOR SO YONG KIM

By Alexandra Byer

After winning over half a dozen festival prizes for her first two feature films, So Yong Kim has spent the last few years producing for her husband, Bradley Rust Gray (The Exploding Girl), and developing her newest movie, For Ellen. Similar to her previous films, For Ellen's narrative derives from Kim's own experiences growing up. Brought together through the character of a young man traveling to see his daughter for the first time, Kim's personal style of filmmaking not only forces the audience to question their own decisions, but has also allowed the filmmaker a cathartic way to view her own life.Read the Interview

SUNDANCE RESPONSES

We posed the question, "Why are you a filmmaker?"
UNDER AFRICAN SKIES DIRECTOR JOE BERLINGER

I am as surprised as anyone that I have actually been able to raise a family by doing nonfiction work for the past 2 decades. In that time, I have witnessed a lot of change - in technology, in distribution, in audience appetites and in the maturation of nonfiction as an industry - and we can certainly have a healthy debate about whether it is easier or harder to make a living these days as a nonfiction film and television maker than it was 5, 10 or even 20 years ago. But while we can debate whether or not it is easier or harder to be a documentarian today, I would argue that being a documentarian today has never been more important.Read more

NOBODY WALKS DIRECTOR RY RUSSO YOUNG

When I was a teenager I would wear sexy clothes to school that didn't fit me. My mother would see me before I left the house and was horrified that her awkward, fourteen year old daughter was planning to walk the New York City streets in a tight pink baby tee shirt and red denim miniskirt. She said I looked like a hooker clown and she was probably right. But at the time, I was just beginning to understand that my body could communicate something sexual and powerful to others. Almost every woman I know went through a time in her life when she tested the boundaries of her own sexuality, struggling with what it meant to have both freedom and self-respect at the same time. Read More

V/H/S DIRECTORS MATT BETTINELLI-OLPIN, TYLER GILLET, JUSTIN MARTINEZ, CHAD VILLELLA

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin:
For our segment of V/H/S ("10/31/98"), we spent an entire night searching for a train. After hours of driving around, we still couldn't get what we needed, so we decided to park near some tracks and wait. It was a little after midnight on a Tuesday and there we were: four friends, grown men sitting in a parked car with lights off, down a dark alley somewhere in South Los Angeles, dressed up as a pirate, a Marine, a life-sized teddy bear & the Unabomber. A woman walking by caught a glimpse of us and quickly picked up her pace-and I'm sure our awkward attempts to look as nonthreatening as possible only made it creepier (Sorry!). Read More