• last year
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Fun
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - What film or series lit your fuse
00:13 and made you have to tell stories on screen?
00:17 - Oh, okay.
00:18 That's interesting.
00:20 I thought about it before.
00:23 Well, can I give more than one example
00:25 or is it just supposed to be one?
00:26 - No, no, no.
00:29 I wanted to pay homage to David Lynch
00:32 and also to Jean-Luc Godard, who are two of my idols.
00:35 And because I thought it was gonna be film,
00:38 I think "Firewalk" with me is my favorite David Lynch film.
00:41 I think it's so underrated
00:42 and I just think it's a masterpiece.
00:44 But "Twin Peaks" also, if you're gonna make it,
00:48 expand it into series, was so influential to me
00:52 in the sense that this was on network TV
00:59 and this kind of visionary insanity
01:02 was coming over the airwaves.
01:04 I mean, I remember that just being such a kind of cultural,
01:08 kind of zeitgeist moment, you know?
01:10 So both of those, just in general,
01:12 I mean, Lynch and his sensibility of just being
01:15 just so visionary and subversive
01:18 and just artistic and crazy
01:21 and marching to his own drummer and doing his own thing
01:25 was so, so influential on me as a young filmmaker
01:29 and particularly his interest in surrealism
01:32 and this kind of stylized reality.
01:34 That's something that is definitely
01:37 kind of a trademark of my own movies.
01:41 And then Godard, my relationship with him
01:44 dates back to film school
01:46 and just being kind of just blown away
01:50 and so inspired by his radical approach
01:55 to filmmaking and cinema.
01:57 And I'm part of that generation.
01:59 I went to film school undergraduate in the late '70s
02:02 and graduate in the early '80s.
02:05 And so we were so immersed in cinema culture
02:09 and these auteur directors
02:12 and these sort of singular, visionary directors
02:18 that had such a point of view
02:21 and such a sort of passionate approach to cinema
02:26 that it was just so inspiring to me
02:29 as a young film student and as a young film director.
02:32 I would pick probably "Mask and Femin"
02:36 as my favorite Godard movie.
02:38 And that movie in particular,
02:40 when I made the film "Totally Fucked Up" in the early '90s,
02:44 it came out in 1994,
02:46 that film was basically an homage to "Mask and Femin."
02:51 It was basically a LGBT version of "Mask and Femin."
02:57 - Well, and you know, when you mentioned "Twin Peaks"
03:03 and boy, I remember that first season.
03:05 It was the most mesmerizing thing I'd seen.
03:09 Was there a particular moment that just made you say,
03:14 "I can't believe he got to do that."
03:16 I remember there was some surreal footage
03:19 with this little guy and dancing.
03:22 (laughing)
03:25 - Everything about that show was just so strange
03:29 and odd and idiosyncratic.
03:33 And the thing I love about David Lynch
03:35 is that the weirdness of them,
03:39 but it's always rooted in,
03:42 even if they seem like,
03:45 this isn't making sense or this doesn't make sense,
03:47 you know it makes sense to him.
03:48 Like there's very clearly a sense of control
03:52 and authorial point of view there
03:55 that it's not just random strangeness,
03:58 which is something I'm not a big fan of.
04:00 It's really just very much coming from a very intense,
04:05 personal place in his head.
04:10 And I think that's so fascinating.
04:13 And again, as a filmmaker, for me, so inspiring.
04:17 It's something that all through the films
04:22 and the TV shows I did,
04:25 it's something that I definitely aspire towards.
04:29 - Well now, so when you were on your way up
04:34 and finding your voice as a director,
04:39 what movie or series did you watch that was so good
04:43 it made you think, what am I doing here?
04:45 Can I actually play in this sandbox?
04:48 (laughing)
04:50 - I've just never,
04:51 I have never been in that sense,
04:55 sort of intimidated or like,
04:59 oh, like I'll never be able to touch that.
05:01 Because I grew up with sort of very influenced
05:07 by kind of punk rock music and new wave music.
05:10 That was all sort of exploding, right?
05:13 As I was in college and going to film school
05:16 and becoming who I was gonna be.
05:20 And so the attitude,
05:22 the whole attitude of the punk aesthetic is DIY.
05:25 It's like, just watch your own drummer, do your own thing.
05:29 And it's not really about like, oh, the big guys
05:34 or oh, the huge commercial success or oh, this person.
05:38 Obviously as a film student,
05:40 I hugely admired like all the pan pan,
05:44 Hitchcock, Godard, Hawks, like everybody.
05:47 Like I went to traditional film school.
05:49 So I have a very deep background in all kinds,
05:54 all of film history, particularly American film history,
05:58 but also internationally.
06:00 So, I'm very aware of all the places that cinema has been,
06:08 but I don't really feel intimidated by it.
06:10 I just feel kind of enriched by it and inspired by it.
06:13 And so, because I've always had a very strong personality,
06:18 a very strong point of view and where I come from
06:23 as a sort of punky, new wave, artsy,
06:28 queer person of color.
06:31 It's definitely my, there's, I've never felt like,
06:35 oh, there's a million of me out there.
06:37 I mean, I always feel like I have a very unique voice.
06:40 And so, I'm not, I don't always feel, I don't feel,
06:45 I just wanna, I approach cinema very much as a painter,
06:48 approach to painting or poetry, approaches poetry.
06:52 It's just like, I just really kind of expressing myself
06:55 and kind of doing my own thing.
06:57 - Yeah, I like that.
06:59 So now, whether it was the success of something that you did
07:04 or approval from someone whose opinion really mattered
07:07 to you, what first gave you the confidence
07:10 that in fact you did belong doing this?
07:13 - Well, one of the really cool things about,
07:16 I mean, I feel like so fortunate in, you know,
07:22 when I was born and I was always kind of in the right place
07:26 at the right time.
07:27 And so, I began making indie movies
07:29 in sort of the late '80s, early '90s,
07:31 when it was just starting to take off,
07:34 Sundance was just starting to take off.
07:35 And one of the coolest things about it was,
07:38 you know, there's sort of this international film circuit
07:43 of these, you know, Sundance, but at the time,
07:45 like Munich International Film Festival,
07:47 like all of the film, international film community,
07:51 which still exists today,
07:53 but it's become kind of so monolithic and big.
07:56 But in those days, you know, in those early days
08:01 of the '90s, when indie cinema was just sort of,
08:05 you know, taking root, I met like all of my peers,
08:09 you know what I mean?
08:10 Gus Vincent, Rick Linklater, Alison Anders,
08:13 Christine Bachon, Todd Haynes, Tom Cannon,
08:15 every, we all were always at the same film festivals
08:18 and all our work was being shown together.
08:20 And there was such, you know,
08:22 there was such a great camaraderie.
08:25 Like I'm friends with almost all those people today,
08:27 you know, and it was such a cool time.
08:31 And I hope this still happens today, you know,
08:34 amongst this, you know, this sort of Sundance class of 2023.
08:38 But back in those early days, you know,
08:41 we all sort of kind of supported each other
08:44 and kind of were rooting for each other.
08:46 And that was such a huge, huge, important thing.
08:49 I really always say that the film festival circuit
08:53 and their support of young filmmakers,
08:55 and also, you know, in those days,
08:58 you would apply for like NEA grants and like AFI grants
09:01 and you get like $20,000,
09:03 which is how I made "Totally Fucked Up" on an AFI grant.
09:06 And so that kind of validation, you know,
09:09 for a young artist was so, so important.
09:13 You know, I mean, it really made you feel like,
09:15 I am a real filmmaker, I'm an artist, you know what I mean?
09:18 And what I do is important.
09:21 And it's sort of that kind of community
09:23 is, was like crucial to my identity as a young filmmaker.
09:28 - Now, what would you say was the biggest obstacle
09:34 that you had to overcome to allow you to turn the projects
09:39 that influenced you into your own language as a filmmaker?
09:42 - The biggest obstacle, well,
09:47 the biggest obstacle for any filmmaker
09:50 is always just like money, you know what I mean?
09:52 It's just like finding the money,
09:54 finding someone that will back your vision.
09:57 And, you know, I would have always been so fortunate
10:01 in that, you know, my movies are very unique
10:06 and very singular and have a strong point of view,
10:10 but I've always been very fortunate in being able to,
10:14 you know, my movies have always been kind of like,
10:16 not giant budget.
10:19 So it's not like I'm had to get a ton of money
10:21 to make one of my movies.
10:23 So, but, you know, finding that financing
10:27 and getting all that into it together
10:29 is always the most challenge.
10:31 That's always the worst part of it, I think.
10:34 The creative part of it's all amazing, you know what I mean?
10:39 But the financial aspect of it kind of sucks.
10:44 - Well, you know, the, so I was reading up on you
10:49 and, you know, and there are references like,
10:52 oh, the one of the pioneers of queer cinema and,
10:56 you know, and these accolades and here you are,
10:58 you know, being honored at the Academy Museum.
11:01 And I'm sure, how does it make you feel?
11:04 Does it make you, do you still feel like that rebel
11:07 or do you go, damn?
11:08 (laughing)
11:10 - Well, it's, I mean, I, you know, in my heart,
11:13 I will always be that kind of rebel outsider,
11:16 but, you know, it's, I'm so thrilled
11:19 about the Academy Museum screenings.
11:22 We're screening on September 15th,
11:25 we're screening "Totally Fucked Up" and "The Doom Generation."
11:28 And on September 16th, we're doing the world premiere
11:33 of the 4K remaster of my film "Nowhere,"
11:36 which was never released on DVD in the US.
11:39 And it's a film that has a huge cult following
11:43 and kids are always coming up to me at screenings going,
11:46 you know, "When is 'Nowhere' coming out?
11:47 "When is 'Nowhere' coming out?"
11:48 So I am so thrilled about this remaster
11:52 because we were able to go back
11:55 to the original camera negative
11:56 and completely recolor time the whole movie.
12:00 It's on amazing, like 4K resolution.
12:04 It looks so fantastic.
12:07 We remixed the entire soundtrack.
12:08 I just finished it yesterday.
12:10 And the movie is like a brand new movie.
12:14 And I'm so blown away and so grateful to Strand Releasing
12:19 who made it all possible.
12:21 And also Roundabout who did the video
12:26 and then Monkey Land Audio who did the remixing for us.
12:29 Because we get to screen at the Geffen Theater,
12:33 it's just a giant 900 seat theater.
12:36 And it's gonna be mind-blowing to see it on that screen.
12:42 The film has never been screened on a screen like that before.
12:46 And it's never before been seen in this version.
12:49 So I am beyond the moon about that.
12:53 And then after that,
12:55 "Nowhere" is gonna be released theatrically
12:58 kind of all over the US and in this new 4K remaster.
13:03 And we're going to New York, San Francisco.
13:05 We're screening "Nowhere" at Austin Fantastic Fest
13:09 the weekend after the Academy screening.
13:11 So all through September or October,
13:13 I think into November, we're screening those films.
13:18 Yeah, it's really amazing to me that I'm so honored
13:26 by the Academy believing in us enough
13:30 to set up these screenings.
13:33 And the screenings are almost sold out.
13:36 It's kind of crazy.
13:41 But I'm also super, super excited
13:43 because the weekend that we're screening
13:47 coincides with the opening of the John Waters exhibit
13:50 at the museum.
13:51 And John Waters is of course another idol of mine.
13:55 I should have mentioned him along with Godard
13:57 and David Lynch in the sense that he was the first one.
14:03 He's the ultimate rebel outsider.
14:05 And I call him, he's like the North Star.
14:09 He was there before anybody, before Sundance even existed,
14:13 before any of us ever even thought about,
14:18 oh, indie cinema and all of this and that.
14:21 He was doing his own thing like way back then.
14:24 And so the fact that the John Waters exhibit
14:28 is at the same time as our screenings
14:30 is just so fitting and perfect and amazing.
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