Sundance Responses
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“Your Vision or Idea Must Have Stamina”: The Visit | Director Michael Madsen
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? I suppose that fear, a very strong term, when it comes to filmmaking, is if the film you try to make will turn out to be crap. The problem is to keep fresh your own initial fascination and trust that this will also be interesting for other people – simply because you find it interesting. And your idea or vision must have stamina, as when a film — as […]
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“I Look Forward to Finding More Fears to Address”: Z For Zachariah | Director Craig Zobel
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? Trying to name what fear I’ve confronted in making Z For Zachariah is difficult. I am starting to think the entire work of making films is just chock-full of fears to be faced. In my previous film, Compliance, I was honestly afraid of the subject matter; it was a fraught, dark, true story that needed a thought-out approach. But in making that film, I found that those fears created […]
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“Did I Waste Everyone’s Time?”: Songs My Brothers Taught Me | Director Chloé Zhao
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? My biggest fear making Songs was the fact that life doesn’t wait around for us to capture it. We worked with mostly non-actors who are from Pine Ridge. The casting process was endless. However, because it takes time for a narrative film to go into production, we started losing our cast to different life circumstances. That fear forced me to go ahead and make the film without the intended […]
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“The Worst Four Letter Word that Torments My Favorite Four Letter Word: Hope”: Seoul Searching | Director Benson Lee
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? FEAR. The worst four letter word that torments my favorite four letter word: HOPE. I have lots of fears for different stages of my film but I will focus on the primary ones. The biggest fear I had during the entire process of making my film were actually two things. The first is the most common one that most filmmakers have which is the fear that your film doesn’t […]
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“I Want to Direct Films, But Can I Actually Do It?”: Christmas, Again | Director Charles Poekel
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? The biggest fear I had to confront, which I suppose is every first-time director’s fear, was the issue of confidence–simply, “Can I do this?” Can I follow my instincts and make something that actually makes sense, and people find engaging? I’ve wanted to direct films since I was in middle school, and I’ve directed plenty of weird mediocre low-budget films that I was never really proud of. So in […]
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“In Dreams I am Completely Helpless as a Director”: A Walk in the Woods | Director Ken Kwapis
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? Like many directors, writers, and actors, I have a persistent fear of being “found out,” of being exposed as a faker, a phony. The logical side of my brain knows differently: I’m well aware that I have certain skills — a modicum of talent, even! But in my dreams, I often find myself directing a film or television show with absolutely no clue what I’m doing. A recurrent nightmare […]
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“Everyone was Armed in a Nearly Ghost-Town”: Welcome to Leith | Directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker
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? I’m not sure that fear is ever completely absent from documentary filmmaking, but I think that’s part of what makes it so appealing to those who pursue it. Fear of not finding a story, fear of shuttered access, fear of not finding an audience, fear of not being able to pay rent, and on and on – it’s an emotionally bumpy ride where overcoming all your fears can lead […]
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“Working Hard, Hustling, Getting Rejected but Picking Yourself Up Again”: Zipper | Director Mora Stephens
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? The single greatest fear that has kept me up at night was the fear that I would NOT make Zipper, that I might come close and ultimately not get the chance to direct it. I’ve spent the last 6 years of my life getting this movie made and every second of it was worth it, but heading into it when it starts out as just this little ephemeral thing, […]
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“This Fear Wasn’t Based Upon the World’s Obsession with Kanye and Kim”: The Bronze | Director Bryan Buckley
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? What fear hit me on The Bronze? Hmmm. Well, I guess going into a film which a husband (Winston Rauch) and wife (Melissa Rauch) wrote the script, and are both producers. Then toss on top of that Melissa was the star in every scene, and you have something that seemed a little like a formula for disaster worthy of avoiding at all costs. This fear wasn’t based upon the […]
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“It Felt Important to Not Shy Away from the Stories that Scare Us”: The Diary of a Teenage Girl | Director Mari Heller
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? I felt drawn to the graphic novel The Diary of a Teenage Girl because it at once resonated for me and terrified me. It was such a brutally honest depiction of female sexuality and such a brave characterization of a teenage mind, that it shook me to the core a little bit. I was inspired and in awe of Phoebe Gloeckner’s work, by her bravery. Which is why I […]
