Category Archive: Filmmaker Q&A

1. INTERVIEW: DIRECTOR WENDELL B. HARRIS, JR. ON THE RE-EMERGENCE OF HIS UNHERALDED BLACK INDIE CLASSIC CHAMELEON STREET

   November 16, 2021 6:36 pm Leave a Comment

   In 1990, Wendell B. Harris, Jr. premiered CHAMELEON STREET, his first and only feature-length film, at Sundance Film Festival, and walked away with the Grand Jury Prize.

   What followed is one of the rawest cases of soft suppression in modern American film. CHAMELEON STREET tells the story of Michigan con man William Douglas Street who, throughout the ’70s and ’80s, managed to successfully impersonate a TIME magazine reporter, corporate attorney, Yale medical student, professional athlete, and practicing surgeon, in a remarkable run of lucrative schemes. Written, directed, and acted by Harris himself and funded almost entirely by friends and family, CHAMELEON STREET is a paragon of indie filmmaking—a biting, jarringly insightful, and wickedly funny satire on race, class, and identity performance that skewers the fragile notion of the American dream. Aesthetically, Harris’s virtuosic direction employs a flurry of experimental editing and narrative choices—fantasy sequences, instant replay, jump cuts, animation—that coalesce into one of the truly original landmarks of Black independent cinema. 

   But, despite critical acclaim, peer champions like Steven Soderbergh (whose 1989 debut SEX, LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE landed him on the jury that awarded CHAMELEON STREET Sundance’s top prize) and numerous remake offers with big-name recasts like Will Smith and Wesley Snipes, Harris was left without a major distributor; watching helplessly from the sidelines as Hollywood green-lighted a veritable golden age of ‘90s Black Cinema. He’s quick to name Hollywood’s resistance to the film’s content as the main culprit. In contrast to the more vérité depictions of the era—John Singleton’s BOYZ N THE HOOD, Matty Rich’s STRAIGHT OUTTA BROOKLYN, the Hughes brothers’ MENACE II SOCIETY—CHAMELEON STREET’s tagline, “I think, therefore I scam,” aims right at the heart of American meritocracy, peeling back the myth to poke fun at the self-soothing line white society draws between working man and con man; Wall Street and Douglas Street. Ultimately, when it comes to Black narratives, Hollywood prefers microscopes to mirrors. 

   In many ways, Douglas Street’s tale of thwarted promise in a society that compels Black Americans to cope by continuously performing different versions of themselves runs parallel to Harris’s own story. Last month AFS screened another Black film that was almost lost to the ether, CANE RIVER by the late Horace Jenkins. There’s an argument to be made that the sheer volume of lost, underfunded, and under-preserved Black American films is enough to constitute a sort of silent, de facto suppression by Hollywood, forever promising a breakthrough but never delivering.

   But, thirty years after CHAMELEON STREET’s original release, Harris’s film is finally poised to reach the audience it deserves, and we are excited to present it on the big screen. With a brand new 4K restoration in theaters, a 2022 Blu-ray release on the horizon (both courtesy of Arbelos Films), and a full calendar of national cinema dates, Harris’s optimism is palpable. Ahead of this week’s screenings at AFS Cinema, November 17-21, we spoke with the multi-hyphenate filmmaker via email to discuss the ups, downs, and ultimate resurgence of CHAMELEON STREET.

   Technically CHAMELEON STREET employs a myriad of experimental and nonlinear editing and narrative choices—fantasy sequences, instant replay, jump cuts, animation. Do you think, in some ways Hollywood in 1991 was threatened not only by the content of CHAMELEON STREET but by the style of a Black director toying with the ‘rules’ of Cinema?

   You make an excellent point, because style should always be the hand-maiden of content. The ‘style’ of CHAMELEON STREET is informed, inspired, and dictated by the premise of presenting Doug’s confession as a kind of ‘living diary.’  Hollywood was not opposed to the film on aesthetic grounds but on the grounds of content.  Black people have been fighting this ‘Content War’ in Media for 400 years of America and for 600 years of Western Civilization.

   I remember reading Susan Sontag in the early seventies while studying Drama at Juilliard. She kept hinting in her essays that movies are the only art form that could successfully substitute ‘style’ in place of ‘content.’ I remember thinking, ‘This woman is a little crazy. Style could never replace content! People would never stand for it.’ I was wrong. People not only stand for it, they stand in line patiently waiting to buy tickets for it. There is such a dire need for independent filmmakers right now, at this very moment!

   In the last few years, there seems to have been a mild resurgence in nonlinear and experimental Black media; projects like Atlanta, Random Acts of Flyness, and I May Destroy come to mind. Do you see any similarities between the current moment and the Black cinema new wave of the early ‘90s? 

   Well, yes. When it comes to Black people and Hollywood the pattern has always been in-and-out of favor and fashion every few minutes. Whenever Black people are in fashion, it’s great. Right now, we’re in fashion.  So it’s great. Right now.   

   You recalled in a 2007 interview the moment when film critic Elvis Mitchell implied that your film hadn’t just been passed on but actively suppressed. What was that realization like?
   

   Wow. You’re really taking me back. Talk about surreal. That moment you’re alluding to took place in Burbank, Hollywood circa 1991. I’ll never forget it. I’m in the middle of this video interview with Elvis Mitchell, and all of a sudden he drops this bomb. I was instantly shattered right there on camera because I knew he was absolutely right.  By 1991 both Elvis Mitchell and [fellow Black critic] Armond White understood before I did that Hollywood was gaming me; that I was being misdirected by endless pitch meetings while CHAMELEON STREET was being effectively bought out and buried. All the money Warner paid out for remake rights, all the talk about Will Smith or Arsenio Hall or Wesley Snipes; it was an intoxicating smoke-screen designed to obscure what was really going down. Bette Davis always said, ‘Hollywood is a plantation.’

   

   You’ve said that one of the things that’s helped sustain you emotionally over the last 30 years, was holding onto the memories of premiering the film and the audience’s positive responses.
   

   Yes, that’s quite true. I saw it in people’s faces… this light of surprise in their faces. It was as if somehow the film had made them some kind of promise that relations between blacks and whites could and would actually improve. I saw this reaction many times in America, in Italy, in Germany, Canada, Africa. One time in Venice I saw this middle-aged Italian gentleman laugh so convulsively hard that the guy actually fell out of his chair. 

   When’s the last time you watched CHAMELEON STREET with an audience?

   In Detroit Michigan, February 2014 at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. Audiences always get CHAMELEON STREET.  Always. I realize that’s a long time, but that’s been my experience with CS audiences these past 30 years. They always get it.   

   Even in 2021, this film is still so unflinchingly subversive and wickedly funny. How do you see humor functioning in the film? Do you think it makes the themes more palatable or even more uncomfortable to digest? 

   When you meet the real Doug Street face to face, he’ll have you smiling and/or laughing within 5 minutes. Doug uses humor to entrance, deflect, dissect, beguile and avoid whomever and whatever he wants. In a sense, Doug has weaponized humor, in much the same way as Richard Pryor weaponized humor.  Do I think it makes the themes more palatable or more uncomfortable? I would say both; wouldn’t you?  But you bring up a really interesting point, the ‘point’ of palatability. Doug knew there were aspects to his story which, to use his word, were ‘unsavory.’ But he was very interested in giving me as honest an appraisal of himself as possible. We agreed to shine as bright a light as possible on his thoughts, words and deeds. To tell the truth about his character. ‘Everybody dabbles in the Truth’, Doug once said to me, ‘but what differentiates people from each other is how much Truth each is willing to tell.’   

   

   
   So far this year, there’s a brand new restoration from Arbelos, successful runs at New York Film Festival and BAM, a writeup in The New Yorker; do you feel hopeful that the current industry climate is finally ripe for CHAMELEON STREET?

   An emphatic, ’Yes!’  And, if you mean by “current industry climate” the ascendancy of streaming and blu-ray, CHAMELEON STREET will definitely reach a wider audience. But, please, don’t ever forget the monolithic, almost immutable power of Hollywood Distribution.  

   What’s next for CHAMELEON STREET? What’s next for Wendell B. Harris the actor/writer/director?

   I’m working on my documentary and podcast entitled YESHUA VS FRANKENSTEIN IN 3-D,  subtitled, “How Teddie Adorno And His Heathen Venetians Used Media To Cancel The Christ, Control The Crowd, And Color-Code The Globe.” It’s an expose on the media, what Malcolm X called “the most powerful entity in the world.”

   The other project I’m working on is a mini-series entitled DR. MEMORY BOGARDE’S BLACK WAX MUSEUM. For 300 years the black and brilliant LIFTON-BOGARDE Family built and maintained a meticulously rendered data-base listing individual atrocities endured by black people in the United States. The core of [the film] is what individual family members actually did with this astonishing data.  

   ABC’s 20/20 segment “Chameleon Street: The Black Film They Could Not Sell” (1991)

    

   You’ve also mentioned that what’s kept CHAMELEON STREET from disappearing all together is the persistent support of critics who continue to tout it as an unheralded masterpiece. Similarly what role have arthouse cinemas like AFS played in the film’s persistence and, moving forward, in its current revival?

   The ball (if not burden) of CHAMELEON STREET has been carried for three decades by film critics and film festivals. I include small local cinemas and arthouse theatres under the aegis of film festival. There isn’t enough time and space for me to accurately describe to you now what these last 30 years have been like vis-à-vis CHAMELEON STREET. Suffice it to say this ‘renaissance’ you say it’s experiencing at the moment would not be taking place if not for all those film critics and film festivals.  I love them the way a drowning man loves the person who pulls him out of the water.

2. Interview with Mike Plante, Director of New Wyatt Earp Doc ‘And With Him Came the West’

   July 11, 2019 4:43 pm Leave a Comment

   Part of our ongoing Doc Nights series, AND WITH HIM CAME THE WEST screens July 17 at 7:30 PM at the AFS Cinema with director Mike Plante in person. Purchase tickets. Plante will also join us the following night for a Moviemaker Dialogue on short films.

   The gunfight at the OK Corral was a legend made famous by Hollywood studio westerns over many decades, from John Ford’s MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) all the way to George Cosmatos’ ‘90s blockbuster, TOMBSTONE. In his provocative documentary, filmmaker Mike Plante examines the Hollywood legacy of Wyatt Earp through the many films that rewrote history to immortalize him. Plante will be in attendance for the screening on July 17 and also participate in a Moviemaker Dialogue at Austin Public on July 18.

   Here he shares his thoughts on what inspired him to make the film and some of the questions it poses:

   What is it about the story of Wyatt Earp that inspired you to make this film?

   I grew up in western Colorado, so besides seeing western movies and reading tons of books about the “real” wild west, I was always running around ghost towns. It was fun as a kid, but strange too. Going to a fully formed city that was super rich for a few years that had collapsed into a shell was surreal. It was also beautiful, and sad and broken—a mysterious comic book come to life.

   As an adult I realized how insane these frontier towns were. The immense circumstances that everyone had to overcome, the harsh locations, the mountains, the deserts. The community that had to come together to survive. I also realized the brutal politics of manifest destiny. The complicated history of the individuals involved, both good and bad. The truth is far more fascinating than the mythology.

   In the late ‘80s I moved to Tucson, Arizona, and lived there for a decade. Tombstone is nearby and I became more interested in that specific town history. There were not that many duel-style gunfights in the west, most were myths, so the OK Corral stuck out even more.

   After I learned that Wyatt lived long enough to go to Hollywood and visit movie sets, this particular story became even more surreal. Lots of western characters reinvented themselves in their own lifetime—but for Earp to go to filmmakers in Hollywood and ask them to make a movie about him, to help form his legacy, that’s next level.

   Were there specific films you watched growing up that influenced your understanding of the Wyatt Earp story better than others?

   I grew up in the ‘70s and ‘80s so the western was not a popular genre at that moment. It was western characters in outer space instead. I saw the older Earp films on TV. I liked them but they felt like a bygone era that was completely removed from modern times, closer to King Arthur than Al Capone.

   The old films really blended together over time—one of the ways movies create American mythology. You start to think that this many movies on one subject couldn’t possibly lie to you, which is absurd. And then the revisionist ​DOC is from 1971 but was never talked about, I never saw it on TV. Something like ​MCCABE AND MRS. MILLER​ (1971) is incredible, not about a historical person yet so realistic and deep. But I never saw it on TV. We didn’t have a revival movie theater in town, and these weren’t the big VHS tapes of the moment.

   There were a few non-Earp westerns that really influenced me in terms of their style, films that felt absolutely true and vital even though they were not realistic. The spaghetti westerns ​ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) and ​MY NAME IS NOBODY (1973) are still amazing to me. They paid off in terms of overboard action and big story, but they’ve got complex characters in the middle of them.

   In ​ONCE,​ Henry Fonda is heroic and beautiful but a terrible villain. Claudia Cardinale is a strong female lead fighting for her land, this ain’t a 1930s western. ​NOBODY is a satire but succeeds in the same way, with Fonda (in his last western) even stating, “there were never any good ol’ days.” It’s with these films that I started to think maybe the west was much more advanced, weird, and messy, and that people in their day were very modern.

   When ​THE LONG RIDERS (1980) came out, I was obsessed with it. Again, a modern movie with stylish camera and editing, with characters more nuanced into a grey hat, rather than a white-hat black-hat simplicity. But this time the characters had the names of real people (the James-Younger gang). What I wanted as a kid was not clean propaganda, but messy realism. What did it look like to be in the same place as these people? Including all the mundane moments. That film is almost a musical, the soundtrack is not booming but true to life, complete with a wedding dance and characters playing instruments.

   So then when I saw the Earp films again as an adult, ​GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL (1957) for example, they felt strange. The style was great—Technicolor-delicious—but the acting was really stilted and the story was so jumbled. There’s some fascinating stuff, like how the town had gun control and some awesome gambling scenes. But there’s a lot of forced romance and no bad language. The fun parts were fun, but the G-rated-ness made you wonder what happened in real life.

   As a film fan doing historical research for years, I started to piece together the scenes and the lasting effect movies have had on history. Once I started seeing incredible found-footage movies, like Craig Baldwin’s ​TRIBULATION 99 ​(1992) and Naomi Uman’s REMOVED (1999), or even Cindy Sherman’s photography, I got a blueprint for the ideas. I’m working in the vein of Thom Anderson’s LOS ANGELES PLAYS ITSELF ​(2003), just ‘Wyatt Earp Plays Himself.’

   By the way, I don’t think I’m anywhere near the level of these filmmakers! I’m just standing on shoulders.

   Why do you think Hollywood has returned again and again to the retelling of Earp, Tombstone, and the gunfight at the OK Corral?

   Money. That’s the main goal of studios, Hollywood is a business. Westerns fall in and out of popularity, but they can always relate to the current times in one way or another, and action films make a lot of money. This story made money before, it can again.

   But you can also look to individuals who really believed in the story and the complexity, who then had enough pull in the industry to get a film made, like Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. They seem to understand the modern connections between today and the wild west, not only in social issues but in the type of people who reinvent themselves into legends.

   And it’s probably a helluva a lot of fun to make a western.

   Throughout it, the film explores the blurring of lines between reality and fiction. In the end, is that distinction important, or does it no longer matter?

   I think it matters. We need to believe in history. I think it starts to matter more because people run with what they want to believe, and that is what I’m trying to explore.

   Even if an elevator doesn’t put the number 13 on the buttons… there is still a 13th floor. Why do we do that to society? I’m really interested in how that blurring happens and how it’s often just accepted. Humans want to feel safe on this huge planet and we create things to be comforted.

   The mythology of the past can be incredibly artistic and inspirational. I think most people know that when you read about the past, there is a layer of interpretation involved. From the writer sharing the information to the person reading it. So, you figure out what is trustworthy when you need to, and what is just fun and entertaining. And that’s why professional journalists and serious historians and librarians really matter.

   In the film, I give my take on what happened, but I don’t tell the audience what to think about the events or how the films have warped history. This is a poem about Wyatt Earp, not an encyclopedia. I’m giving you the information and we should all have a discussion about it. The real danger is not talking about history.

   At the same time, let’s have fun. I often wonder if people with opposing opinions would get along once they realized that they all believe in UFOs.

   The film also takes us through the very beginning of film and its evolution as a means of storytelling – in this instance the story of a real historical person. What do you think is the next wave of Westerns and filmmaking technology and why is it important that moviegoers continue to be interested in history?

   We like to remember our own lives as movie scenes so it’s not a surprise to keep making these connections to history as entertainment. Some historical figures are so nuts, so fun, it makes a great movie. Let’s laugh and cry and learn together, that’s what both movies and history are for.

   The western is such an enduring genre and filmmakers keeps pushing the limits of drama, comedy and action. I love to see crossovers with other genres. The Zellner Brothers’ ​DAMSEL (2018) is great, basically a romantic dark-comedy in the west. The ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINE series by Tsui Hark should be counted among the great westerns. Or just more stories with unique characters, like Kelly Reichardt’s ​MEEK’S CUTOFF (2010). And I’m definitely not the first to explore the western in a documentary—everyone should be watching Neil Diamond’s ​REEL INJUN (2009). Nor am I the first to do a remix, like the amazing short by Peter Tscherkassky, ​INSTRUCTIONS FOR A LIGHT AND SOUND MACHINE​ (2005).

   We need the dystopian western. The technological advancement of the old west was ridiculous, fueled by the gold rush. Like ​THE CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (1995) by Jeunet and Caro—you can’t even tell if that’s the past or the future, it’s so magical.

   And why not more bombastic spaghetti westerns?? Just don’t use real historical names and make it weird.

3. Interview: Directors of new Trans-Pecos oil line doc A TEXAS MYTH, Screening May 11 at AFS Cinema

   April 30, 2019 10:55 pm Leave a Comment

   AFS is excited to present A TEXAS MYTH, a documentary that tells the story of a West Texas family that invites a Native American activist group onto their land to protest the Trans-Pecos oil pipeline together. Join us at the AFS Cinema on Saturday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. with filmmakers, David Fenster and Joe Cashiola, in attendance.

   We had the opportunity to speak with the filmmakers about their challenges, memorable experiences, and what they hope audiences will take away from the film.

   HOW DID THE FILM DEVELOP?

   As residents of the Big Bend area for the last 10 years, we were concerned about the expansion of oil and gas infrastructure into this remote and pristine area of Texas, and we were inspired by the response of citizens from affected communities to organize and confront these developments.

   WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO MAKE THIS FILM?

   We wanted to make a record of the cultural and environmental destruction happening out here. We also wanted to show people that this part of Texas wasn’t some kind of wasteland, but rich in history, culture, and natural beauty.

   WHAT WERE SOME OF THE DISCOVERIES YOU HAD WHILE FILMING?

   Making this film helped us better understand the indigenous history of the Big Bend region where we live.

   WERE THERE ANY CHALLENGES YOU FACED WHILE FILMING?

   It is such a large region, and there is so much oil and gas development happening here, it was difficult to stay on top of all the new developments, and make it to locations where events were unfolding in time to film them.

   WHAT WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE YOU HAD WHILE FILMING?

   Filming the destruction of an archeological site by Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, on the equinox won’t soon be forgotten.

   WHAT MAKES THE BIG BEND REGION SO UNIQUE?

   There are so many aspects of the Big Bend that are unique. It is incredibly diverse geologically and ecologically. It has some of the darkest skies in the country and a world class observatory with one of the largest telescopes on the planet. There is also beautiful and profound indigenous rock art all over the region.

   WHAT DO YOU HOPE AUDIENCES WILL TAKE AWAY FROM YOUR FILM?

   We hope people will begin to converse publicly about the long term gains and long term losses of the fossil fuel industry. Local communities all over the globe are being faced with hard decisions about the future. For us, indigenous voices in the conversation offer the clearest path forward: protect the sacred resources of the planet. Water is life.

   • Contributed by Sara Tynan

4. WATCH THIS: Q&A with TRANSIT Director Christian Petzold

   March 25, 2019 8:14 pm Leave a Comment

   TRANSIT opens Friday March 29, at the AFS Cinema. Purchase Tickets.

   From director Christian Petzold (PHOENIX). As fascism spreads, German refugee Georg (Franz Rogowski) flees to Marseille and assumes the identity of the dead writer whose transit papers he is carrying. Living among refugees from around the world, Georg falls for Marie (Paula Beer), a mysterious woman searching for her husband–the man whose identity he has stolen. Adapted from Anna Segher’s 1942 novel, TRANSIT transposes the original story to the present, blurring periods to create a timeless exploration of the plight of displaced people.

   Christian Petzold discussed his new film TRANSIT at the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Watch the Q&A and gain insight into the director’s vision and process into the adaption of the novel on the screen.

5. Series Preview: The Alt-Doc Canon, Programmed by Filmmaker Magazine’s Vadim Rizov

   February 12, 2019 5:30 pm Leave a Comment

   The Alt-Doc Canon, a series presented by Filmmaker Magazine, begins this Monday, February 18, at AFS Cinema. Get your tickets today.

   Beginning on February 18, AFS is proud to welcome Vadim Rizov, Managing Editor of Filmmaker Magazine, and his collection of formally innovative documentaries in a new short series, The Alt-Doc Canon. Vadim has written for Sight and Sound, The Dissolve, and Indiewire and maintains a comprehensive blog devoted to his extraneous writings at Infinite Philistinism.

   Since becoming Managing Editor in 2014, Vadim has consistently championed documentaries and brought much needed attention to underseen films.  With his use of “canon”, Vadim reminds one of T.S. Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” in which Eliot argued that, rather than existing as an immutable selection of pre-existing works, the canon is something in need of constant modification so that unknown and/or overlooked artists can be included.  We had a few questions for Vadim on his interest in documentary filmmaking, the Alt-Doc Canon, and what he believes would be the benefit of seeing these three films on the big screen.

   What draws you to documentaries?

   I don’t think I’m necessarily a “nonfiction advocate,” that I’m deeply drawn to documentary as a specialized thing. I see it in a way that seems simpler to me: a lot of ambitious, formally driven and compelling work has been done in the nonfiction sphere that’s under recognized. Public perception of the “documentary” is still pretty static, despite loads of exceptions to the dreaded image I think people still have in their minds of some dull but worthy PowerPoint presentation and/or the seeming chaos of vérité. There are loads of nonfiction films that don’t operate that way, and part of what I’m supposed to do is try to draw attention to films that could use the help. In general, I think that thinking of “documentaries” as somehow of a class their own, rather than operating within the broader spectrum of filmmaking as a whole, is a common but regrettable misperception.

   Out of the three films in the series, do you feel there is one in particular that would benefit audiences by seeing it in a theater with people as opposed to a solo home viewing?

   Maybe RULES OF THE GAME, since it’s interesting in any comedy to hear what some people do and don’t laugh at. The answers aren’t always intuitive.

   In your description you compare parts of STRANGER IN PARADISE to a “Lars von Trier provocation.” Besides their common ability to handle the heavy subject matter of refugee politics while infusing bits of comedy, can you expand on the similarities between Von Trier and STRANGER THAN PARADISE director Hendrikx?

   I think that [Hendrikx] has instincts similar to Von Trier’s, in that he’s creating situations in which certain things are scripted and beats need to be hit, but once the camera starts rolling everything can change. It’s a controlled experiment, which is one way that Von Trier works.

   Right off the bat, RULES OF THE GAME comes across as a comedy of manners.  The film could have easily been seen as making a mockery of modern-day millennials but I found that the filmmakers have quite a bit of sympathy for their subjects and side with them when it comes to the crippling absurdity of interview etiquette and conventional “polite” behavior.  Do you agree with this and do you feel as though the film has anything to teach American audiences?

   I think the film absolutely sides with the prospective employees, and I don’t think it’s that different from what American audiences have experienced in similar professional situations. Finding dignity in labor under late capitalism is difficult everywhere. What makes RULES OF THE GAME more distinctively French is the bluntness with which everyone recognizes and articulates this; in America, you have the same ideas dressed up in more flowery language.

6. Interview: Chris Beale, producer of Australian Short Film Today, talks about films from the land down under

   November 20, 2018 9:28 pm Leave a Comment

   Australian Short Film Today screens their new short film lineup at AFS Cinema on Wednesday, November 28. Join us early for an Aussie reception, then stay after the film for a conversation between AFS Founder Richard Linklater and the program’s producer, Chris Beale. Members get in free! Get tickets.

   ---

   Coming up on November 28, AFS presents Australian Short Film Today, a collection of shorts from the land down under. From Jane Campion’s student film PEEL to the Academy Award-nominated THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK, the program represents the continent’s unique filmmaking scene. We had the opportunity to speak with Chris Beale, producer of Australian Short Film Today.

   AFS: You served on the selection committee of the Australian Short Film Today program. Tell us about the process.

   Chris Beale: We tracked about 1,000 films, saw over 230, and narrowed the number down to 35 for the selection committee, and they selected the 9 films we are screening. It was a huge labor of love.

   What makes this evening a not-to-be-missed film event?

   You’ll see a wide range of well-made films dealing with serious as well as light themes, and you’ll see unusual characters and hear unusual stories, threaded with an Australian sense of fun. Australians are great storytellers.

   Also, it is not often you see a retrospective of a short film. We are showing legendary director Jane Campion’s student film PEEL. It won best short film at Cannes in 1986. I met Jane at Lincoln Center last year and asked her permission to screen her short, and she said yes, although we also needed the permission of AFTERS (Australian Film Television & Radio School) where Jane made the film. We’ve screened films from AFTERS before and they have been generous to us with their films.

   What themes did you see this year?

   One theme is that – apart from Jane’s film – there is only one student film in this year’s program (ADELE). This is a change from past years. This reflects the emergence of small production houses and crowdfunding, as well as new socially-oriented producers such as the production company behind KILL OFF, and we’re also seeing established screenwriters and actors producing and directing their own shorts as a calling card for a feature film directorship.

   

   Can you talk about one particular short within the program that you think audiences will particularly enjoy?

   Well, it’s hard to choose one because they are all so different. I think the audience will enjoy THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK, a cleverly-written comedy in which the psychologist’s patient thinks he is the psychiatrist. This short was nominated for a U.S. Academy Award this year. But so many others have won audiences’ hearts: ADELE, KILL OFF and LIBRARY OF LOVE for example. There is a keen following for WELCOME HOME ALLEN, a poignant film about a group of Viking warriors returning from an ancient war to a modern world. I don’t fully understand this film but I love it.

   In what ways do the selected films reflect the changing society of Australia?

   This year’s shorts reflect the rapidly changing nature of Australian society. It’s now mostly an inclusive society. There are two films this year that include immigrants to Australia from Africa. The female lead character from the Congo in ADELE is at high school in Australia and trapped in an arranged marriage, so she is a prisoner of that unattractive part of African tradition. Will she escape from that? The supporting male character from the Sudan in KILL OFF interacts with a young Australian girl with an intellectual disability (who is actually played by an American actress). He is the one adult who connects with her best, based on their shared passion for Krump.

   Australian Short Film Today has been in existence for years. Can you talk about trends you are seeing in Australian film; shorts, in particular?

   Australia has a small but highly developed film industry, with a small local box office. As a result, Australia exports movies as well as highly-trained actors and skilled directors all over the world.

   Australian shorts are very diverse and cover a wide range of topics. While feature films dominate, I think short films occupy a bigger mindset for the film-going audience’s consciousness in Australia than in most other countries.

   One trend is that short films are getting longer, and longer is not necessarily better. This is perhaps due to increased funding for shorts from state funding agencies and crowdfunding. I generally like to see shorts work within a 7-12 minute timeframe, so in constructing a 90-minute program we focus on those. It is hard to make a good short. The filmmaker has to draw the audience in quickly, deliver the story, and end quickly. Good short filmmaking is an art in itself.

   What is the history of the Australian Short Film Today? How did you get involved in this program? Why was this touring program created?

   Australian Short Film Today was founded in 1992 by a dear friend who had been a kindergarten teacher and the first on-air presenter of Romper Room on Australian television. She started it as a one-night stand in New York, and it became one of my favorite nights of the year. She had an artistic mind and it was anything but a children’s program. When she died in 2015, I felt I had to carry it on. After curating the first edition three years ago, I thought we should take the program to other cities to share the films broadly. This year the program will be shown in 8 cities including London, Paris and Berlin.

   What is the importance of this touring program to Australian filmmakers and the Australian film industry?

   The touring program is important in showcasing the talents of young filmmakers and increasing their global exposure. Our mission is to help them get that exposure.

   What’s on your Austin to-do list when you are in town? Any favorite places that you always visit?

   On my to-do list is dinner at Emmer & Rye. It’s one of the best restaurants in the country in my opinion.

   About Chris Beale:

   Chris and Francesca Beale are Australian expats who live in New York. Directly and through the Chris and Francesca Beale Foundation they support the arts, particularly film and ballet. They support Australian Short Film Today, an international traveling showcase of Australian film talent, and Australian International Screen Forum in New York, which connects Australian feature film screen talent with US film, television and digital production and distribution companies.

7. Watch This: Catherine Hardwicke (THIRTEEN) in conversation with Richard Linklater

   October 12, 2018 4:14 pm Leave a Comment

   Filmmaker Catherine Hardwicke is one of the many subjects in HALF THE PICTURE, screening this Sunday, October 14 at AFS Cinema. Don’t miss this special screening, including a pre-film mixer and post-screening panel. Get tickets.

   In order to make your work meaningful, you need to align it with who you really are – your true nature – and an important part of that is recognizing who you once were. Catherine Hardwicke understands this and, through her depictions of teen angst in films such as THIRTEEN and TWILIGHT, she has created a universe that has connected with a wide audience of filmgoers searching for spiritual epiphanies in our chaotic world. Unlike the sensationalistic work of someone like Larry Clark, Hardwicke’s vision is a tender one – showing both the happy and the hidden – twin pillars in the confusing time that is adolescence. 

   Hardwicke, a University of Texas at Austin alum, started her film career working as a production designer with many directors, including Richard Linklater. In 2003, Catherine Hardwicke would make the transition into being a full-time director with her debut film, THIRTEEN. This past June, AFS hosted a 15th anniversary screening of THIRTEEN, reuniting Hardwicke and Linklater on stage for an hour-long discussion, where they touched upon Hardwicke’s early career, the making-of THIRTEEN, and the obstacles she encountered navigating the studio system as a woman in Hollywood.

    

   For those unable to attend the THIRTEEN event, Amy Adrion’s new documentary HALF THE PICTURE profiles many of today’s leading women filmmakers—including Ava Duvernay, Jill Soloway, Catherine Hardwicke, and Miranda July—to discuss their early careers, how they transitioned to studio films or television, how they balance having a demanding directing career with family, as well as challenges and joys along the way.  Additionally, HALF THE PICTURE includes interviews with experts about gender inequality in Hollywood including the ACLU’s Melissa Goodman, Sundance Institute’s Caroline Libresco, Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Keegan, USC’s Dr. Stacy Smith, and San Diego State University’s Dr. Martha Lauzen. Join us this Sunday, October 14, for a special screening of the film followed by a post-screening panel.

   • Contributed by Davis Rivera

8. Watch This: Q&A from THE OLD MAN & THE GUN

   September 28, 2018 11:32 pm Leave a Comment

   Earlier this week, AFS members were treated to a Sneak Preview of THE OLD MAN & THE GUN, the newest film from AFS Grant recipient David Lowery. We were fortunate to have producers Toby Halbrooks and James M. Johnston join us for a special Q&A after the film, where they talked about working with the wonder duo of Robert Redford (for what is rumored to be his last acting role) and Sissy Spacek, and more.

   Members get access to great sneak previews like this. Become a member today: austinfilm.org/join

    

   THE OLD MAN AND THE GUN opens in theaters on September 28.