FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “BUNOHAN” DIRECTOR DAIN SAID

It’s tempting to refer to Dain Said’s Bunohan as the Malaysian director’s debut film, but Said rides to Toronto on the tailwinds of notoriety stemming from the banning of his proper debut, Dukun. That film dealt with black magic and murder — the latter word being one meaning of his latest film’s title. (“Bunohan” also refers to a local village.) A violent tale involving three estranged brothers, the film is set within the worlds of kickboxing, murder-for-hire, and real estate, and it weaves brutal realism with elements of mythological fantasy. We talked to Said about Malaysian cinema, fight scenes and that first feature.

Filmmaker: Since your first film has quite notoriously been little seen outside of Malaysia, do you consider this film your debut? Or is it a progression, or change of pace, from that previous work?

Said: My first film was not shown in Malaysia, thus no one there has seen it. So by that token I guess you could say Bunohan is my feature debut. Especially since the seed of the idea for Bunohan, and the story flow was written way before I started on the other film. So Bunohan, was close to me, and I kept working at it, albeit in between other jobs to make a living and pay the bills. It’s a familiar story for most independent filmmakers around the world. Then I took a couple of months out in 2008 and wrote the first draft, and a year later taking betwen 3-6 months to the final draft.

There is a change in terms of the pacing and approach, for the obvious reasons that the story is very different, but I do think both films share a kind of darkness, in their themes and concerns; the primordial elements, such as the belief in magic and/or supersttion that pervades and exists in our culture and society, however modern we seem to be. I see it as a kind of underlying seepage that works through both films. LIke the black water swamp in Bunohan, that seems to flow and bring these lives together but … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “RAMPART” CO-WRITER-DIRECTOR OREN MOVERMAN

The Rampart scandal, which caused a huge black eye for the LAPD in the ’90s, has been sensationalized on TV shows like The Shield and movies like Training Day, but if The Messenger showed us anything it’s that Oren Moverman is not interested in embellishing anything in his films, so his latest, Rampart, should be no exception. For the film he reteams with The Messenger star Woody Harrelson who plays a corrupt LAPD cop who must come to terms that with the scandal the fun is now over. And if having Moverman and Harrelson making a film together again isn’t exciting enough, try this on for size: Moverman shares screenwriting credit with legendary L.A. pulp novelist James Ellroy.

Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about?

Moverman: Rampart is the story of Dave Brown, a dirty LAPD senior lead officer who refuses to change his cowboy ways around the time of the Rampart scandal (1999) in Los Angeles when police officers were accused of serious crimes and change was inevitable. The film is an interior, strict point-of-view exploration of Brown’s relationships with his daughters, colleagues and enemies as the sins of his past actions start catching up with him and he is forced to face himself in the mirror.

Filmmaker: What’s the most shocking thing you learned about the Rampart corruption scandal?

Moverman: Sadly, there is very little left that is shocking about the Rampart scandal. We have grown used to these outrageous stories, some true some false, but all on record and therefore a reality. A lot of people were hurt, families were ripped apart, friends were at each other’s throats. Lies were told on all sides. Crimes were committed. Race relations heated up. Communities took up arms. What interested me most about looking at one character who lives in the world of the scandal is exploring male behavior, behavior that is infused with a sense of power and sexuality and superiority, and then picking it apart and watching the consequences unfold with compassion and humanity. It’s quite a challenge. But the scandal itself … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “YOU’RE NEXT” DIRECTOR ADAM WINGARD

With his features Home Sick, Pop Skull and A Horrible Way to Die, Adam Wingard is carving out a reputation as one of the most imaginative and visually sophisticated directors working in modern horror. His films are mindful of genre conventions, finding ways to subvert them through unexpected characterizations that have real psychological depth. His latest movie reinvents the home invasion thriller. We spoke to Wingard about blood, style and directing other directors.

Filmmaker: Your previous film, A Horrible Way to Die, tweaked the serial killer genre by setting it within the world of addiction and recovery, and exploring those emotional dynamics. Your new film takes up the “family under siege in their home” genre. What sort of twists have you incorporated this time?

Wingard: I think it’s always best when approaching a specific sub-genre to imagine what do I not like about what these movies do. When [writer] Simon [Barrett] and I asked that question about home invasion films we both concluded that there seemed to be too often an emphasis on simply punishing characters with pain, murder, and rape. The horror world has been totally sodomized by shocking scenarios, and we decided to make ours more of a fun ride, one that doesn’t punish its audience or take itself too seriously.

Filmmaker: What’s the secret to depicting intense violence without creeping out your cast and crew? Or, do you like to creep them out?

Wingard: Anyone that has to get bloody and wear appliances knows they have my sympathy. I hate asking someone to do something I would never want to do. Sticky things freak me out. As a matter of fact I hate everything about fake blood, the way it smells, the way it slimes around and sticks to things. I wish CG blood was better so I wouldn’t even have to associate myself with it, but such is the way things are. Unfortunately I like things of a certain quality these days and I would hate to rely solely on VFX to take care of gore; however they have contributed a few times … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “URBANIZED” DIRECTOR GARY HUSTWIT

With Urbanized, filmmaker Gary Hustwit brings his celebrated documentary trilogy to a close. Beginning in the world of typography by exploring a single font in Helvetica, the series gained weight by moving to the world of objects in Objectified and now telescopes miles overhead to examine contemporary urban design. We spoke to Hustwit about what’s changed and what’s stayed the same as he has produced — and distributed — these stylish and intellectually engaging films.

Filmmaker: Your previous two design oriented docs have wound up dealing with subjects other than the the explicit ones of their titles. For example, Helvetica deals in part with corporate messaging, and Objectified about commodity culture and the future role of the object. What areas of discussion does Urbanized lead the viewer into?

Hustwit: I’m always fascinated by how design affects our daily lives, and how a lot of people are oblivious to it. When you walk out your front door, the path of your life that day is controlled by the design of your city: where you work, how you get there, what you do after work, the conditions you live in… it’s all determined by design. So I guess the main area of discussion is why do cities look and work and feel the way they do, and how does it affect all of us, every minute of every day.

Filmmaker: The subject of your film — the design of cities — seems almost a utopian one given the levels of dysfunction in our current political and economic landscape. Is progressive, intelligent city planning a realistic possibility today?

Hustwit: There’s so much political and commercial influence on the shaping of cities, versus really designing them for a better quality of life for citizens across socio-economic lines. Cities can be designed to make peoples lives better, and that’s what we look at in the film, creative solutions to universal issues that face all cities today. I think if citizens demand smarter approaches to urban issues, and get involved in the public discourse, better cities are definitely possible.

Filmmaker: Along with big conversations … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “GOD BLESS AMERICA” WRITER-DIRECTOR BOBCAT GOLDTHWAIT

After building a career as one of the wackiest comedians of the ’80s, Bobcat Goldthwait has spent the last decade redefining himself as a director making awkward satires like Sleeping Dogs Lie and World’s Greatest Dad while directing episodes of Chappelle’s Show. For God Bless America, his latest feature directing effort executive produced by Richard Kelly, Goldthwait looks at our obsession with Reality TV. Screening in TIFF’s Midnight Madness section, a 45-year-old man (Joel Murray) and a teenage girl (Tara Lynne Barr) go on a Bonnie and Clyde-esque rampage after the country unites in the ridicule of a simpleminded contestant on a television singing competition.

Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about?

Goldthwait: I feel like the American Empire is starting to crumble, and we’re using Reality TV as the new Roman coliseum. This movie is about a man who doesn’t want to be a part of that anymore.

Filmmaker: What motivated you to tell this story?

Goldthwait: I heard about a guy who had a friend who was fed up with kids looking up to the Kardashians, and wished he could blow up the MTV building. No I’m kidding, I am that guy.

Filmmaker: What do you think has been your biggest improvement as a director from when you started?

Goldthwait: I know the difference between grips and lamp ops now.

Filmmaker: What do you hope audiences will take away from your film?

Goldthwait: A healthy disdain for the new American dream of being a reality star, or a “real” person instead of a good person.

Filmmaker: Is there a subject you would never take on in one of your films?

Goldthwait: Diamond heists. Some things are too serious to be made light of.… Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “ALBERT NOBBS” DIRECTOR RODRIGO GARCIA

For almost 30 years a passion project of its star, producer and co-screenwriter, Albert Nobbs , directed by Rodrigo Garcia, offers Glenn Close the role of a lifetime. She plays the eponymous heroine, a withdrawn hotel waiter who has concealed her gender in order to live a sheltered, emotionally circumscribed life. Set in turn-of-the-century Dublin, it costars Janet McTeer and Mia Wasikowska, and it is co-written by the Booker Prize-winning novelist John Banville. We asked Garcia five questions about the challenges of directing a cross-dressing period piece.
Filmmaker: What was the most important quality for you to express to the audience with regards to Glenn Close’s character? And were you concerned that her character would be believable as a man to the audience, to the characters within the story, or both?

Garcia: The foremost preoccupation is the story always: its power, its clarity, its forward movement and what it leaves you. As far as the character of Nobbs, I always found her to be fascinating. A terrific survivor, finding her place and her way in the world as best she could, and eventually becoming a prisoner of her adaptation to that world. That’s what captivated me.

I never felt there was a need to agonize about fooling the audience because most people who would see the movie would likely know that Glenn was the title character. But we worked very hard to make it believable anyway because you should always do so, no matter what — you don’t want to risk making the audience feel disrespected, like you didn’t even bother to try to fool them. And of course it had to be perfectly believable that the people who surrounded Nobbs were fooled. That work started with the hard details on the page and never ended for Glenn: through wardrobe and make-up and hair tests and the voice work and the posture and movements and her approach to the character both thoughtful and intuitive (and her love for her) and the rehearsals and re-writes and the search for specificity in the beats during production — through the many, many intangible … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “THE FORGIVENESS OF BLOOD” DIRECTOR JOSHUA MARSTON

This year in Berlin, seven years after his debut feature, Maria Full of Grace, premiered at Sundance, New York-based writer/director Joshua Marston unveiled his follow-up, The Forgiveness of Blood. Winner of the festival’s Screenplay Award (for Marston and Andamion Murataj’s script), the film sends Marston from the Colombia of Maria to a village in Albania, where local traditions include the protection of family honor through blood feuds. Marston focuses on a teenage boy who is collateral damage in one of these disputes, unable to leave his home for fear of being killed for his father’s dispute. We asked Marston about blood feuds and honor killings, working abroad, and the long gap between his features.
Filmmaker: What interested you in the subject of honor killings?

Marston: What fascinated me most about Albania, from the start, was that it’s a country in transition and thus full of interesting contrasts and contradictions. I was surprised to discover that in a place with cell phones and Facebook blood feuds still go on. Families live stuck inside their houses for years on end. Aside from being a dramatic story, the film is a complicated examination of people grappling with the pull of a deeply rooted tradition versus the desire to modernize. So for me, looking outward –- even to northern Albania –- becomes a way of looking inward, at universal questions like how we carry forward old traditions into new times, and what it means for young people to grow up in the face of a widening generation gap.

Filmmaker: In developing your script, did you draw from specific news accounts, or more from your own imagination? What role did research play?

Marston: The script is rooted in a very intense month of research, spent driving through northern Albania with a fixer (a filmmaker who would go on to become my co-writer and co-producer) and an incredibly loquacious driver (a guy who normally drove for an Assemblyman and had a talent for making conversation with everyone). Together we sat in the homes of families who are mired in blood feuds. We interviewed mediators … Read the rest

TORONNA ON MY MIND

The social network has made festival overviews easier to assemble. Besides the dvds that are made available in advance, several

websites (Festival Scope, Cinando) make features available after their market premieres, which may have taken place at Festival A before their official screening at Festival B.

Doing the circuit certainly makes Toronto more manageable. Since it is not a competitive event (they don’t have to be, as some insist), a number of films have been shown elsewhere (Cannes, Berlin, Sundance), so you might have several titles under your belt without ever having a market badge. Some publicists send links and passwords to sites they’ve engaged to run their films. You could write about some fests without attending: I’ve done it.

It’s not easy to narrow down Toronto’s 258 features to the ones I’m most eager to see. You have to be careful with the world premieres, because many are Venice rejects. There are, however, some that slip through Venice’s net and introduce themselves to the film world at Toronto—although more and more, people select Toronto as the debut spot, the right place to aim at the North American market.

Let me note that Slovak filmmaker Martin Sulic’s Gypsy would have been on my list, except that one of those aforementioned websites had it available. It is well worth a see, a stunning narrative with a doc feel, about a Gypsy adolescent trying to come to terms with tradition in his home village. Anyway, the following get my anticipatory juices fizzing the most.

The Descendants / Alexander Payne

In Payne’s films, everyone–and everything–is fodder for satire, though the spoofs are affectionate. Even when parodied, characters are fleshed out, melancholy as well as funny, in the Billy Wilder tradition. Payne creates a special poignancy by successfully blurring the line between the humorous and the sad. The masks of comedy and tragedy overlap.

No matter that his protagonists usually pre-exist in the novels he adapts. After all, he chooses source material he responds to (he often says it chooses him). Now, seven years after Sideways, he returns with The Descendants (pictured above), based … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “LAST CALL AT THE OASIS” DIRECTOR JESSICA YU

For Oscar-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu’s latest film, Last Call at the Oasis, she looks at the frightening realities of the current global water crisis. Produced through the social issue giants Participant Media, Yu’s film has the makings of a must-see like An Inconvenient Truth and Food, Inc.

Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about?

Yu: Last Call at the Oasis is about the water crisis, which is global and urgent, yet largely hidden here in the U.S. The film tells stories of people who are on the front lines in dealing with water shortage or contamination, from farmers to scientists to homemakers to the real Erin Brockovich, who is still battling industrial polluters over a decade after the eponymous movie came out.

Filmmaker: What motivated you to tell this story?

Yu: Diane Weyermann from Participant Media approached me about the subject, and I was immediately obsessed. It’s unfathomable that we could run out of water — something so basic to survival. It’s equally unfathomable that we hear so little about the problems we’re facing, whether it’s trace pharmaceuticals in our water supply or the fact that Lake Mead could run dry in 10 years. Water is complex and political, and I wanted the challenge of exploring the crisis through personal stories rather than data and information.

And on the film geek level, I was excited about the visual possibilities in making a film about water. Our cinematographer Jon Else, got so many gorgeous shots of fountains and streams we started calling it “water porn.”

Filmmaker: What was the most “eye-opening” fact you learned about the world’s water crisis while making this movie?

Yu: Since I live in California, I think it would have to be the precariousness of the state’s water situation. Growing up here, I’ve always been aware of drought, but I was shocked by the time frame in which we could see real disaster. It’s no longer an abstraction. One of our experts estimates that the Central Valley aquifer could be depleted in as little as 60 years. The valley supplies a … Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME” WRITER-DIRECTORS MARK AND JAY DUPLASS

Last year Mark and Jay Duplass ventured into the world of studio filmmaking when they made the dramedy Cyrus for Fox Searchlight. At this year’s TIFF the Duplass brothers and Searchlight will premiere their next effort, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon.

Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about?

Duplass Bros: It’s about a 30 year-old guy named Jeff (Jason Segel) who believes, heavily, in fate. He bides his time in his mom’s basement, eagerly awaiting the day that the universe will deliver his destiny upon him. When his mom sends him out one morning to get some wood glue, Jeff starts getting some signs that today might be his big day.

Filmmaker: What were the motivations behind telling this story?

Duplass Bros: We’ve always loved the idea of what we call the “epically small” in movies… that there are big, funny, beautiful things happening in the most boring and unexpected of places. In many ways, Jeff is a grand, sweeping adventure story about two brothers (Segel and Ed Helms) finding themselves and their place in the world. It just happens to be set in the banal strip malls of middle america instead of in space (or Narnia).

Filmmaker: Did you always have Jason Segel in mind to play Jeff?

Duplass Bros: Jason came to mind very early on. The character of Jeff is very unique. Yes, he’s a stoner. But he’s a believer, and he’s sad, but he also needed to be inherently funny to watch. Jason is such a complex and wonderful person. He really got that combination of “funny sad” that was required for this character.

Filmmaker: What do you hope audiences will take away from your film?

Duplass Bros: Life can be awesome. It may suck and disappoint most of the time, but sometimes it’s fucking awesome and full of incredible surprises.

Filmmaker: What’s the biggest lesson you learned from making Cyrus and how did it help you with making Jeff, Who Lives at Home?

Duplass Bros: Our movies are about the people … Read the rest