Indie Interviews

SXSW 2022 Interview: Patton Oswalt, James Morosini Talk I LOVE MY DAD

If the catfish film is defined by a character being duped by another through an online alias, then I suppose the honor of first entry goes to Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, who coined the term with 2010’s Catfish. But...

Sundance 2022 Interview: SIRENS Director Rita Baghdadi and Stars Lilas Mayassi, Shery Bechara Talk Metal

Allowing your life to become the subject of a documentary is a brave feat under the most comfortable of circumstances, yet in Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, we’re treated to an intimate window into a badass band who dare to be themselves,...

Sundance 2022 Interview: MEET ME IN THE BATHROOM Directors Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace and Author Lizzy Goodman Discuss

Considering the myriad of exciting topics and subtopics packed within the running time of Meet Me In The Bathroom -- Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace’s impressively dense adaptation of Lizzy Goodman’s loaded oral history of the New York music scene...

Interview: Abel Ferrara Talks Pandemic Film ZEROS AND ONES, Recalls Cult Classic MS .45

At 70, Abel Ferrara lives with his partner Cristina Chiriac and their little daughter Anna in Rome, Italy. Far from the city that made him a legendary filmmaker, he makes fictions and documentaries with absolute creative freedom, personal works that...

PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND Interview: Bill Moseley on Crafting Another Memorable Antagonist

Bill Moseley first saw The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in Boston, Massachusetts, as part of a double feature with Enter the Dragon. After watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre he “became afraid of rural America," revealed the actor in the...

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...