We're trying out something new here on Cinematical Indie: Cinematical Indie Chats, short-form email or AIM interviews with indie filmmakers wherein we'll chat with them about indie film, what they're working on, what they love and hate, and whatever else they want to share with us. First up is Deliver Us from Evil director Amy Berg, who very kindly took time out of her busy schedule to chat with us through email. Coming up next week we'll have a chat with Billy the Kid director Jennifer Venditti, and we have lots of other indie filmmakers in the line-up as well. If there's someone you particularly want to hear from, let us know, and we'll do our darndest to line them up for you.
And hey, if you're an indie filmmaker and you'd like to chat with us, drop me a line at kim(at)cinematical(dot)com.
What indie films out in theaters or DVDs have you been watching lately?
I have been watching a lot of films on DVD lately -- L'Aventura, Life is
Beautiful, Quadrophenia, Magnolia, Sweet Hereafter and
some documentaries: Kontiki, Capturing the Friedmans (again), The Cruise.
What's the one indie film from the last year you'd recommend to friends?
Away From Her--stunning, powerful, amazing..Sarah Polley has an incredible style to watch.
What filmmakers most influenced you in your own work?
Stanley Kubrick, Alejandro Inarritu, Bennett Milller, Gus Van Sant, Tomas Vinterberg, Lars Von Trier .. list goes on ...
What mainstream films have you seen lately that didn't suck?
Ocean's Thirteen (someone will get mad that I wrote this) but my son and I see everything that we can see together and it was really fun....
What are you working on now? What's up next for you?
Two narratives and two documentaries. One being the Americanization of Alaska in narrative form. Very excited about all of the projects on my plate.
What's pushing your hot button lately?
Collusion. Its everywhere. There seem to be no checks and balances and it pushes my button that it does not phase me when I read about our Attorney General -- Gonzales forcing Ashcroft to sign a wiretapping proposal under duress in the hospital. This is sad.
For more on Amy Berg's Oscar-nominated film, Deliver Us from Evil, see our review of the film from last year at Toronto, and check out James Rocchi's fabulous video interview with her from the fest. We'll be following Amy's new projects as well, so keep tuned to Cinematical Indie for the scoop on her upcoming projects.
