Amanda Kramer
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“What Does a Thing Provide You With?”: Amanda Kramer on the Props and Interiors in By Design
“I have never seen the problem with fetishizing objects and fetishizing people as though they were objects,” director Amanda Kramer tells me in a conversation ahead of the release of her latest film, By Design. “It doesn’t mean we don’t also see the person for their soul…They elicit romance. They elicit seduction. There’s something drawing you in, compelling, alluring, and the object itself is not necessarily lesser-than because it’s looked at in this way.” Kramer’s provocative theory is instructive. Her latest film, By Design, about a lonely woman named Camille (Juliette Lewis) who swaps bodies with a beautiful chair and […]
by Chris Cassingham on Feb 18, 2026 -
“Set is a Pretty Box That Holds Me” | Amanda Kramer, By Design
Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why? There’s a moment in the Cameron Crowe film We Bought A Zoo where the little girl who plays Matt Damon’s daughter says, “We bought a zoo!” and then Matt Damon confirms by saying, “Yes, we did. We did buy a zoo.” These are lines I’ve never forgotten. The plainness alone is too wild to […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2025 -
“Part Emulation and Part Making Shit Up”: Amanda Kramer on Give Me Pity!
A woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Sissy St. Claire (Sophie von Haselberg) appears on a soundstage for her Saturday night television special. Like the tireless performers who came before her, St. Claire will spend the duration of the broadcast showcasing elaborate outfits, dramatic monologues, groan-worthy jokes, peppy musical numbers and an assortment of special guests (some human and others canine). Tonight is either her big break or the conclusion of a descent into madness—either way, don’t dare change that channel! Give Me Pity!, the latest film from director Amanda Kramer, is a warped take on variety show […]
by Erik Luers on Feb 27, 2023
