Sundance Responses
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“The Rest of the Shoot Was Just as Unpredictable”: Director Alexandria Bombach | On Her Shoulders
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your work? When I packed my bags to meet Nadia Murad for the first time, I thought we were heading to Kurdistan. I was going to film the displaced Yazidis in camps north of Sinjar and possibly the mass graves where ISIS had murdered thousands of Yazidi people in 2014. It was July, so I packed for 120-degree […]
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“One of the Most Chaotic and Stunning Moments of My Life”: Director Jeremiah Zagar | We the Animals
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? My wife became pregnant just before I left for the Sundance Directors Lab and I knew even then that I wanted the birth of our child to be part of the movie. On March 12, 2015 at the crack of dawn her water broke. That morning Jeremy Yaches and Christina King (my producers) dropped a camera […]
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“My Own Feeling of Unease in Living with and on the Internet”: Director Bo Burnham | Eighth Grade
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Chaos was pretty much the name of the game for our film. Our film concerns two very specific and incredibly chaotic times: eighth grade and right now — and we wanted to portray those times honestly. Not to interpret what was happening and provide answers, but to capture what’s happening and pursue the feeling of not […]
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“Chaos Was Our Mantra”: Director Daryl Wein | White Rabbit
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Chaos was our mantra for White Rabbit. We decided early on we wanted to embrace the unknown. To literally and figuratively go down a rabbit hole. This meant, that even though we knew the basis for our story, which was an exploration of Asian American identity, LGBTQ issues and female gender dynamics, anything was possible. Invention […]
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“The More I Embrace Chaos, the Better”: Director Narcissister | Narcissister Organ Player
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? I have always employed and celebrated capital-C Chaos in my work, perhaps it’s a reflection of the world I find myself in, perhaps it’s a result of Chaos on many levels, both good and bad, being a constant in my family life. In specific terms, Chaos was my muse and my guide in the documenting of […]
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“It Must’ve Driven My Family Insane”: Reinaldo Marcus Green | Monsters and Men
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? I’m a zero-inbox kind of guy. I can’t have widget notifications on my phone, they drive me insane. So, in general, I like to get ahead of things before they get ahead of me. As Negro Leagues pitcher Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.” I’ve always attributed that quote to […]
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“Making a Film Is Always a Chaotic Experience”: Director Craig William Macneill | Lizzie
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Making a film is always a chaotic experience; chaos is inherently just part of process. The key is to always think positively, staying focused on the finish line and receptive to change. Our film takes place in New England, but for financial reasons we had to shoot the film in Savannah, GA – which does not […]
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“How the Hell Do We Make this Watchable for 78 Minutes?” Director Maxim Pozdorovkin | Our New President
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Our New President tells the story of Donald Trump entirely through Russian propaganda. As such, it is a film that was edited “live” as Trump’s first year in office unfolded. Unlike most films, this one could not be thought through in advance. We had to roll with the headlines. The storytelling adjusted to the events and […]
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The Sundance Question: What Roles did Chaos and Order Play in Your Films?
Each year Filmmaker asks all the incoming feature directors at Sundance one question. (To see past years’ questions and responses, click here.) This year, our question involves an issue that might be appropriate given the dramas of the previous year: chaos and order. This year’s question: As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? “We Used Chaos to Clarify Our Senses and Capture True […]
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“The Film of a Drunken Monkey”: Directors Nico Casavecchia and Martin Allais | BattleScar
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? Nico Casavecchia: In Drunken Master (Jackie Chan, 1978) young Wong Fei-Hung meets Beggar So, an old drunkard picking a fight in a bar. Beggar turns out to be the famous drunken master who uses fighting techniques resembling those of an intoxicated monkey that stole wine and drank it all. Wong reluctantly enters training with Beggar and in […]
