Indie Interviews
PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND Interview: Director Sion Sono Talks
In the days of classic Hollywood, directors worked like journeymen, often completing as many as two to three films a year. These days, a successful filmmaker would be lucky to get one made every three years. Yet somehow, for the...
DEMONIC Interview: Neill Blomkamp On Combining Science Fiction With Supernatural Horror
The first contact in District 9, Neill Blomkamp’s powerful first feature film, turns out to be different than we might anticipate. The aliens stranded on a spaceship on the skyline of Johannesburg, South Africa, are malnourished, dirty, and without direction....
THE EXCHANGE Interview: Dan Mazer on His Anti-Racism Comedy
The Exchange takes place in the fictional small town of Hobart, in Ontario, Canada, during an economic recession in 1986. In snowy Hobart, "home of the white squirrel," teenager Tim Long (Ed Oxenbould) feels alone and misunderstood. Nobody else seems...
Interview: Emile Hirsch on MIDNIGHT IN THE SWITCHGRASS, Working with Friedkin and Tarantino
“The most significant young performance in generations in American film” is how Sean Penn described Emile Hirsch's work on the epic Into the Wild. Hirsch physically transformed himself to bring to the screen the liberating and deadly adventure of Chris...
THE PAPER TIGERS Video Interview: Actors Alain Uy, Ron Yuan and Mykel Shannon Jenkins on Their Inspiring Kung Fu Comedy
In the 1980s and 1990s, three promising young kung fu fighters trained with the notorious Sifu Cheung (Roger Yuan), becoming his only official disciples. However, their story didn’t have a great outcome; currently the so-called Three Tigers have other concerns,...
THE MORTUARY COLLECTION Interview: Director Ryan Spindell and Star Clancy Brown on Their Above-Average Horror Anthology
A funeral home in the town of Raven’s End becomes the ideal setting for the telling of a handful of horror stories in The Mortuary Collection. The mortician, Montgomery Dark (Clancy Brown), receives the visit of “Sam” (Caitlin Fisher), a...
JAKOB'S WIFE Interview: Director Travis Stevens Talks Marital Crisis And Vampirism
Jakob’s Wife is the second film directed by Travis Stevens, who initially became known in the genre film world as a producer. Snowfort Pictures, his company, has among its credits: Adam Wingard’s A Horrible Way to Die; the documentary Jodorowsky’s...
SXSW 2021 Interview: SWAN SONG Star Udo Kier and Director Todd Stephens on Their Melancholic, Joyful Gem
In Swan Song, the first feature film in 13 years by Todd Stephens, German actor Udo Kier builds an essential character within a prolific and legendary filmography: more than 250 credits and collaborations with such greats as Paul Morrissey, Rainer...
SXSW 2021 Interview: CLERK Director Malcolm Ingram On Pop Icon Kevin Smith
In 1992 a young man from New Jersey, US, traveled to Vancouver, Canada to study film and pursue his dream. Since he was little, his father instilled in him a love for movies. Then a particular film, Richard Linklater's Slacker,...
SXSW 2021 Interview: WE ARE AS GODS Directors Jason Sussberg And David Alvarado On The Man Who Wants To Revive The Mammoth
The documentary We Are As Gods focuses on Stewart Brand, a fascinating man whose main current obsession is de-extinction. Brand supports the idea of bringing back various extinct species and restoring ecosystems. His most ambitious project involves the woolly mammoth,...
RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE Interview: Jay Baruchel On His Potent Horror Debut
Canada’s Jay Baruchel became known as part of the group of young comedians linked to Judd Apatow. In the romantic comedy Knocked Up, for example, he portrayed one of the friends of the protagonist played by Seth Rogen. He later...
MINARI Interview: Korean Cinema Legend Youn Yuh-jung on the Art of Being Fearless
One of the Grande Dames of Korean cinema, Youn Yuh-jung has never been afraid of taking a chance. Her 1971 feature debut in Director Kim Ki-young’s psychosexual thriller, Woman of Fire, sealed Youn’s reputation as a bold maverick amongst actresses. ...
MINARI Interview: Star Han Ye-ri on Life, Love, Family and Crossing Over
Since our first interview in 2017, Han Ye-ri’s reputation as one of the most compelling presences in Korean cinema has risen exponentially. Ms. Han, whose commanding, emotional performances made her one of Korea’s most in-demand actors, took a big leap...
Interview: Zoë Bell On Directing, Tarantino's Plan To Retire And HAYMAKER
It's been 20 years since New Zealand’s Zoë Bell arrived in Los Angeles, California, trying to take her stunt double career to another level. Originally from Waiheke Island in New Zealand, Bell enjoyed physical activity from a very young age,...
Sundance 2021 Preview: Words from Sono Sion to Get You Psyched for PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND
After cramming what must be hundreds of hours of Japanese cinema into his brief 59 years on this planet, poet Sono Sion is on the brink of releasing his first entry into the American cinematic landscape. Callooh! Callay! Prisoners of...
Interview with Mickey Reece: CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER Director and a Recipe for Cheery Cherry Cheese Pie
Mickey Reece has been making films in his corner of Oklahoma for more than a decade (his incomplete IMDB page lists at least 37 director credits), but it wasn't until a few years ago that his work started getting noticed...
Interview: Alex Winter Talks ZAPPA
For all the rockumentaries and musical biopics that have been flooding our screens since the new millenium deemed the past ripe for exploitation, one stone left curiously unturned has been that of rock & roll avant savant, Frank Zappa. Among...
JIU JITSU Interview: Star Alain Moussi And Director Dimitri Logothetis Talk Martial Arts And Science Fiction
The classic martial arts film Kickboxer was given new life in 2016 by producer and screenwriter Dimitri Logothetis, the man behind the remake Kickboxer: Vengeance. The legendary Jean-Claude Van Damme took on the role of the mentor, while martial artist...
LEAP OF FAITH Interview: Alexandre O. Philippe Talks THE EXORCIST And William Friedkin
The legacy of The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, is truly immense. For example, the most popular horror saga of our times, which started with The Conjuring, owes it everything. However, the impact of the 1973 film goes beyond the...
Nightstream 2020 Interview: FRANK & ZED Director Jesse Blanchard On His Joyous Puppet Horror Comedy
Frank & Zed enjoyed its world premiere as part of the virtual film festival Nightstream. It's an irresistible movie, a cocktail of horror, gore, humor, mythology and values, such as friendship, starring puppets. A couple of centuries ago, a castle and...
