Director Interviews
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“The Arrival of a Massive Pod of Dolphins Mid-Shot” | Robert Connolly, Blueback
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Blueback filmed in remote Western Australia at the height of the pandemic. Quarantine requirements for cast and crew were significant and the border was closed many times. Once in the extraordinary Bremer Bay where we filmed though, the local community were so supportive and appreciate of the lengths we had gone to to protect their community. Filming with young children […]
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“Little Editorial Magic Tricks Happen in the Cutting Room” | Elijah Bynum, Magazine Dreams
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? It’s tricky to pick a single moment because when you’re making a movie these unexpected obstacles happen—for better or worse— every day. Some days it was a piece of equipment that broke, other days it was losing a location at the last minute. Sometimes an actor doesn’t feel well or decides they no longer like their dialogue, or there’s some […]
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“We’re Making Cinema Now, a Universal Language”: Kenneth Dagatan on In My Mother’s Skin
Antonio (Ronnie Lazaro), a Filipino comprador for the Japanese Imperial Army, harasses a well-to-do family for the whereabouts of gold bars. He suspects the patriarch, Aldo (Arnold Reyes), a “great merchant importer,” of stealing some from the kōgun (Imperial Army) and hiding them somewhere among their cavernous colonial home or surrounding property. Flanked by two armed Japanese soldiers, Antonio leaves the family with a threatening impression and suggests his patience will wear thinner upon subsequent visits. Left alone, Aldo’s wife Ligaya (Beauty Gonzales) asks her husband whether he took the gold. “I will never do anything to put the family […]
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“The Need for More Available and Affordable Editors” | Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? There were many unforeseen obstacles in the making of Going To Mars, too many to recount. However, the most pressing and disturbing obstacle we encountered was the need for more available and affordable editors. We responded with a very effective strategy that may change our work in the future. We collaborated with multiple editors (in Canada and the USA) who possess […]
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“We Had To Have All Hands on Deck To Finish the Film in Time for the Festival” | Laura Moss, birth/rebirth
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Getting into Sundance was tremendously exciting, but we had to have all hands on deck to finish the film in time for the festival. We wrapped principal photography in New Jersey in September, and once we got accepted into Sundance, learned we had to turn in our print on January 13th. With so many holidays falling in that time period, our […]
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“I Had to Start From Scratch and Find the Financing in Europe” | Sophie Barthes, The Pod Generation
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Well, the pandemic! We were supposed to shoot this film in New York in July 2019. The pandemic made this impossible. I tried to set up the film in Australia for a while, but that didn’t work out. Finally, I had to start from scratch and find the financing in Europe—and shoot New York in Europe! We brought a New […]
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“I Had To Be Very Vigilant With My Self-Care” | Noora Niasari, Shayda
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Given the material was personal and digging into my childhood trauma, every day was an emotional and psychological challenge. Much more than I could have anticipated. It is one thing to be a writer-director-producer on your first feature with an ensemble cast and a large crew, but it is another to do it whilst being triggered from the very material […]
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“Initially, I Didn’t Intend to Film or Record My Efforts” | David Redmon and Ashley Sabin, Kim’s Video
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? The biggest obstacle was whether to trust the voices that told me, David, to go to Salemi, Sicily, and rent a movie. Ashley suggested to listen to them and said, “Go for it! See what happens.” Initially, I didn’t intend to film or record my efforts to find Kim’s Video in Salemi and rent a movie. But the voices continued […]
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“The Weather Compelling Us to Pivot and Create Something New” | Rachel Lambert, Sometimes I Think About Dying
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Mother Nature always likes to dip in and remind a filmmaking team that while they might be staging and capturing life, they cannot be fully in control of everything. When weather imposes itself, either in the moment or in a forecast, it’s not often been available to me to push production. Instead, I’ve had to embrace the unforeseen and innovate […]
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“I Found Out That the Interview Was to Be Broadcast on NASA TV” | Ido Mizrahy, The Longest Goodbye
Every production faces unexpected obstructions that require creative solutions and conceptual rethinking. What was an unforeseen obstacle, crisis, or simply unpredictable event you had to respond to, and how did this event impact or cause you to rethink your film? Toward the end of our shoot, I was given the green light to conduct a 20 minute interview with astronaut Kayla Barron—one of our main subjects—while she was on the space station. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous about an interview (also, it kinda felt like I was going to space). Following up on an interview I did […]
