ATLFF '16 Jury & Audience Award Winners Announced!
Congratulations to all of our Jury and Audience award-winning films from an incredible 2016 festival!
Photo: Border Union Photography
2016 Jury Award Winners
- Narrative Feature Jury Award - HUNKY DORY (directed by Michael Curtis Johnson)
- Documentary Feature Jury Award - DRIVING WITH SELVI (directed by Elisa Paloschi)
- Documentary Feature Special Jury Award - JUANICAS (directed by Karina Garcia Casanova)
- Narrative Short Jury Award - THUNDER ROAD (directed by Jim Cummings)
- Documentary Short Jury Award - KRAINA (directed by Christina Tynkevych)
- Animated Short Jury Award - SHELL ALL (directed by Zaven Najjar)
- Music Video Jury Award - "Dove" performed by Pillar Point (directed by Jacob Krupnick)
- Filmmaker-to-Watch Award - ZELOS (directed by Thoranna Sigurdardottir)
- New Mavericks Award (presented by SPANX & The Sara Blakely Foundation) - DRIVING WITH SELVI (directed by Elisa Paloschi)
- Southern Spotlight Award (presented by Cineverse) - QUE SERA (directed by Robyn Hicks)
- Seed&Spark Award (for Crowdfunded Films) - EAT WHITE DIRT (directed by Adam Forrester) and THE NEW ORLEANS SAZERAC (directed by James Martin)
2016 Audience Award Winners
- Audience Award Feature - THE FOUNDERS (directed by Charlene Fisk & Carrie Schrader)
- Audience Award Short - HOTEL CLERMONT (directed by Heather L. Hutson)
ATLFF '15 Best Narrative Feature Winner "God Bless the Child" Hits Theaters and iTunes
Narrative Feature Jury prize-winner from ATLFF '15, "God Bless the Child" gets a week-long run in New York this week and an iTunes release on Tuesday, August 18th!
The 2015 Atlanta Film Festival's Jury Award-winner in the Narrative Feature category was Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian's "God Bless the Child," which premiered at SXSW just days before its bow at ATLFF.
After a strong festival run throughout the spring and summer—where it was in competition at most, if not all, festivals—"God Bless the Child" is now receiving a theatrical release in New York City and will be released on iTunes on Tuesday, August 18th.
In "God Bless the Child," an often overwhelmed teenager (Harper Graham) tends to the needs of her four younger brothers, all of whom spend the day challenging each other in games of strength and burgeoning masculinity. All the while, Hannah is searching and waiting for the parent who is missing in action. Deftly walking the tightrope between documentary and narrative filmmaking, "God Bless the Child" gives us a keenly real sense of the joys, and the burden, of raising a family with little support financially or emotionally.
Click here for more information about the Independent Filmmaker Project's (IFP) week-long run of "God Bless the Child" at Made in NY Media Center by IFP. Make sure you pre-order the film on iTunes, or check it out on August 18th!
Antonello Faretta's MONTEDORO Added to Narrative Feature Competition
Antonello Faretta's "Montedoro" will have its World Premiere in Atlanta and be included in the Narrative Feature Competition.
Last week, the Atlanta Film Festival announced 17 films competing in the Narrative and Documentary Feature Competition categories. Now, as an exciting addition to the lineup, we are pleased to announce Antonello Faretta's "Montedoro" in the Narrative Feature Comeptition. Set and shot in Italy, "Montedoro" is Faretta's feature length debut and will have its World Premiere in Atlanta.
Montedoro
directed by Antonello Faretta
Italy, 2015, Italian/English, 88 minutes
A rich middle aged American woman unexpectedly discovers her true origin after her parents have died. Deeply moved, in the midst of an identity crisis, she decides to travel, hoping to find the natural mother she has never known. She therefore goes to a small and remote place in the south of Italy, Montedoro. She finds an apocalyptic scene when she gets there: the village, resting on a majestic hill, is completely abandoned and nobody seems to live there anymore.
Starring: Pia Marie Mann, Mario Duca, Luciana Paolicelli, Joe Capalbo, Anna Di Dio, Caterina Pontrandolfo, Domenico Brancale
#Narrative #International #WorldPremiere
Narrative and Documentary Competition Features Announced for 2015 Atlanta Film Festival
We are pleased to announce 17 feature films competing for jury prizes in the narrative and documentary feature categories, including two world premieres and two North American premieres.
In December of 2014, the Atlanta Film Festival announced its first slate of programmed films, all of which were directed by women. Those ten features included six narratives and four documentaries from four different countries, including three films with Georgia ties. Today, the festival is pleased to announce the competitive lineups in the narrative and documentary feature categories.
“This year’s feature competition includes a wide variety of innovative works that truly challenge our perception of traditional film forms,” said ATLFF Director of Programming Kristy Breneman.
Three of these films, all of which are narratives, were announced in December: “Breathe (Respire)” directed by Mélanie Laurent, “Next Year (L’annee Prochaine)” directed by Vania Leturcq and “The Sisterhood of Night” directed by Caryn Waechter. Seven of the competition films are directed by women.
ATLFF will host the world premieres of both “Rosehill” (directed by Brigitta Wagner) and "Somewhere in the Middle" (directed by Lanre Olabisi). “Rosehill” is Wagner’s feature debut and stars Josephine Decker and Kate Chamuris. “Somewhere in the Middle,” starring Cassandra Freeman, Charles Miller and Louisa Ward, marks a return to ATLFF for Olabisi. His last feature, “August the First,” played the 2007 Festival. Olabisi is among the winners of the 2009 ATLFF Screenplay Competition.
Two films, Peter Blackburn’s “Eight” and Marcelo Galvão’s “Farewell (A Despedida),” will have their North American premieres at ATLFF. “Next Year (L’annee Prochaine)” played at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, but will make its American debut in Atlanta.
This lineup represents eleven countries: Afghanistan, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Haiti, India, South Africa, Sudan and the United States.
Passes for the festival are available for purchase now. Individual tickets go on sale later this month. The 39th annual Atlanta Film Festival takes place March 20-29, 2015.
Narrative Feature Competition:
Breathe (Respire)
directed by Mélanie Laurent
France, 2014, French, 91 minutes
Seventeen-year-old Charlie is bright and beautiful, but not without insecurity. When new girl Sarah arrives, Charlie is captured by her charisma and the two strike up a deep friendship. For a time, it seems as though each is what the other has been waiting for. When Sarah tires of Charlie and begins making new friends, their relationship takes a turn for the worse.
Starring: Joséphine Japy, Lou de Laâge, Isabelle Carré, Claire Keim
#Narrative #International
Eight
directed by Peter Blackburn
Australia, 2014, English, 82 minutes
Sarah Prentice had a life, once. She had a husband, and a daughter. She had holidays. Now she has a routine. She has eight. Bound in a repetitive cycle of OCD, trapped in her house by agoraphobia, the smallest of every day tasks are a monumental effort. As she battles to break her vices, will a knock on the door unhinge her progress?
Starring: Libby Munro, Jane Elizabeth Barry
#Narrative #International #NorthAmericanPremiere
Farewell (A Despedida)
directed by Marcelo Galvão
Brazil, 2014, Portuguese, 90 minutes
Based on true facts, “Farewell” tells the story of Admiral, a 92-year-old man, who decides that the time has come to say goodbye to all that is most important in his life and spends one last night with Fatima, his lover who is 55 years younger than him. His life has been showing clear signs that it is coming to an end, which makes the experience dense, deep and urgent.
Starring: Nelson Xavier, Juliana Paes, Amélia Bittencourt, Tereza Piffer
#Narrative #International #NorthAmericanPremiere
Funny Bunny
directed by Alison Bagnall
USA, 2015, English, 86 minutes
Gene spends his days canvassing about childhood obesity. One day he canvasses Titty, an emotionally-arrested 19-year-old who has successfully sued his own father to win back a large inheritance and gotten himself disowned in the process. Gene discovers that Titty has an ongoing online relationship with the beautiful but reclusive Ginger, who is an animal activist. Gene convinces Titty to make a pilgrimage to meet Ginger where the two men form a close bond despite both of them being drawn to the enigmatic Ginger, who is in need of rescue.
Starring: Kentucker Audley, Olly Alexander, Joslyn Jensen, Josephine Decker
#Narrative
God Bless the Child
directed by Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
USA, 2015, English, 92 minutes
Five siblings, left on their own, spend a summer's day full of fantasy and chaos.
Starring: Harper Graham, Elias Graham, Arri Graham, Ezra Graham, Jonah Graham
#Narrative
Krisha
directed by Trey Edward Shults
USA, 2015, English, 82 minutes
After years of absence, Krisha reunites with her family for a holiday gathering. She sees it as an opportunity to fix her past mistakes, cook the family turkey, and prove to her loved ones that she has changed for the better. Only, Krisha’s delirium takes her family on a dizzying holiday that no one will forget.
Starring: Krisha Fairchild, Robyn Fairchild, Bill Wise, Trey Edward Shults, Chris Doubek, Olivia Grace Applegate, Alex Dobrenko, Bryan Casserly, Chase Joliet, Atheena Frizzell, Augustine Frizzell, Rose Nelson, Victoria Fairchild, Billie Fairchild
#Narrative
Montedoro
directed by Antonello Faretta
Italy, 2015, Italian/English, 88 minutes
A rich middle aged American woman unexpectedly discovers her true origin after her parents have died. Deeply moved, in the midst of an identity crisis, she decides to travel, hoping to find the natural mother she has never known. She therefore goes to a small and remote place in the south of Italy, Montedoro. She finds an apocalyptic scene when she gets there: the village, resting on a majestic hill, is completely abandoned and nobody seems to live there anymore.
Starring: Pia Marie Mann, Mario Duca, Luciana Paolicelli, Joe Capalbo, Anna Di Dio, Caterina Pontrandolfo, Domenico Brancale
#Narrative #International #WorldPremiere
Next Year (L’année Prochaine)
directed by Vania Leturcq
France/Belgium, 2014, French, 105 minutes
Clotilde and Aude are eighteen and have always been best friends. Their relationship is strong and interdependent, as teenage friendships can be. They are finishing school and have to decide what to do the following year, after their baccalaureate. Clotilde decides to leave their small, provincial village and go to Paris, dragging Aude along with her. But the two friends will experience this departure differently, ultimately splitting up.
Starring: Constance Rousseau, Jenna Thiam, Julien Boisselier, Kévin Azaïs
#Narrative #International #USPremiere
Rosehill
directed by Brigitta Wagner
USA, 2015, English, 78 minutes
Old friends Alice and Katriona haven’t seen each other since Alice got a job as a sex researcher in rural Indiana. When New York actress Katriona pays a sudden visit, Alice thinks her small-town boredom has come to an end. Little does she know that Katriona is harboring something. The two women set out on a local journey that leads them, unexpectedly, back to themselves. Rocks, women, motion, metamorphosis, and erotica. Part road trip, part meditation, part improvised fiction, part documentary, “Rosehill” is a film about crisis and eternal change, the darkness and resilience of the human spirit.
Starring: Josephine Decker, Kate Chamuris, Ken Farrell, John Machesky, Jacob Emery
#Narrative #WorldPremiere
The Sisterhood of Night
directed by Caryn Waechter
USA, 2014, English, 102 minutes
The story begins when Emily Parris exposes a secret society of teenage girls who have slipped out of the world of social media, into a mysterious world deep in the woods. Emily's allegations of sexually deviant activities throw the town of Kingston into hysteria and the national media spotlight. As the accused uphold a vow of silence, Emily's blog takes an unexpected turn when girls across the country emerge with personal stories of sexual abuse. Why are the Sisterhood girls willing to risk so much for a ritualistic gathering in the woods? From the story by Pulitzer Prize-winner Steven Millhauser, “The Sisterhood of Night” chronicles a provocative alternative to adolescent loneliness, revealing the tragedy and humor of teenage years changed forever by the Internet age.
Starring: Georgie Henley, Kara Hayward, Willa Cuthrell, Olivia De Jonge, Kal Penn, Laura Fraser
#Narrative
Somewhere in the Middle
directed by Lanre Olabisi
USA, 2015, English, 89 minutes
Sofia's life is a mess. Bad relationships. Dwindling job prospects. But a chance encounter at a bookstore convinces her that she's met the love of her life in Kofi -- a handsome, but immature office manager. Kofi, however, has other things on his mind. Namely, his crumbling marriage to his demanding wife, Billie, who is herself struggling with a newfound attraction for her female co-worker, Alex. In an instant, events that seem true suddenly turn upside down. As secrets and lies surface, each layer of the love quadrangle is slowly peeled away, leaving everyone to cope with the ripple effects of love, obsession, sexuality and ultimately self-discovery. “Somewhere in the Middle” was born out of a year long improvisational process wherein the actors and director mutually crafted a time-fragmented, ensemble drama. Structured like a jigsaw puzzle, no character fully grasps their current dilemma as three interwoven stories are retold from varying viewpoints.
Starring: Cassandra Freeman, Charles Miller, Louisa Ward, Marisol Miranda, Aristotle Stamat, D. Rubin Green
#Narrative #WorldPremiere
Documentary Feature Competition
Frame by Frame
directed by Alexandria Bombach, Mo Scarpelli
USA/Afghanistan, 2015, English/Dari, 85 minutes
In 1996, the Taliban banned photography in Afghanistan. Taking a photo was considered a crime. When the US invaded after 9/11, Afghans saw the Taliban regime topple, the media blackout disappear, and a promising media industry emerge. Now, in a country facing abject uncertainty and ongoing war, Afghanistan’s young press struggles to be a free press. “Frame by Frame” is a feature-length documentary that follows four Afghan photojournalists navigating a young and dangerous media landscape. Through cinema verité, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen archival footage shot in secret during the Taliban, the film reveals a struggle in overcoming the odds to capture the truth.
#Documentary #International
Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey
directed by Scott Teems
USA, 2014, English, 95 minutes
For nearly two thirds of his life, Hal Holbrook has portrayed famed American writer and satirist Mark Twain in his award-winning one-man show, "Mark Twain Tonight!" Holbrook has performed the show internationally, on Broadway and television, and before 5 U.S. Presidents. Filmed in classic black and white, the documentary takes a behind the scenes look at the celebrated 89-year-old actor responsible for bringing Twain to life, night after night. The film also features interviews with Holbrook's notable admirers and collaborators such as Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Cherry Jones and many more.
#Documentary
Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother, Damn It. (.כבד את אביך ואת אמך, בלאט)
directed by Alexandra Rahmilevich
Israel, 2014, Hebrew/Russian, 51 minutes
As far back as they can remember, Dasha (22) and Natasha (21) have felt unrelated, not belonging to anyone or any place. The difficult relationship between their parents in Ukraine destroyed their family. One day, without any warning, their father decided to take them from Ukraine to Israel. The girls were separated from their mother and her existence was hidden from them since. After 16 years, following their father's death, the girls yearned to fill the empty space in their hearts, and reunited with their mother in Israel. But it was a strangers' rendezvous. The film follows the belated relationship between the mother and daughters for three years and raises questions about parenthood and the patterns that parents pass to their children.
#Documentary #International #NorthAmericanPremiere
Madina’s Dream
directed by Andrew Berends
USA/Sudan, 2015, Sudanese Arabic, 80 minutes
An unflinching and poetic glimpse into a forgotten war, “Madina’s Dream” tells the story of rebels and refugees fighting to survive in Sudan's Nuba Mountains. After decades of civil war, South Sudan achieved its independence from Sudan in 2011. But inside Sudan, the conflict continues. Sudan's government employs aerial bombings and starvation warfare against the inhabitants of the Nuba Mountains. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled to refugee camps in South Sudan or remain trapped in the war zone. Eleven-year-old Madina and countless others dream of a brighter future for the Nuban people.
#Documentary #International
Masculinity/Femininity
directed by Russell Sheaffer
USA, 2014,English, 88 minutes
“Masculinity/Femininity” is an experimental interrogation of normative notions of gender, sexuality and performance. Prominent filmmakers, film theorists, gender theorists, and artists are each asked to perform a piece that deals with issues surrounding gender identity and construction. Shot primarily on Super 8, the film merges academic and cinematic critique—aiming to be more of a document of gender de-construction rather than a documentary about gender construction.
#Documentary #PinkPeach
Old South
directed by Danielle Beverly
USA, 2015, English, 54 minutes
In a historically black neighborhood in Athens, Georgia, a college fraternity traditionally known to fly the confederate flag moves in and establishes their presence by staging an antebellum style parade. "Old South" follows the neighborhood struggle over three years, while both communities fight to preserve their historical legacies against an evolving cultural backdrop in the South—and the nation as a whole.
#Documentary, #GAfilm, #WorldPremiere
A Snake Gives Birth to a Snake
directed by Michael Lessac
South Africa, 2014, English, 99 minutes
A diverse group of South African actors tours the war-torn regions of Northern Ireland, Rwanda, and the former Yugoslavia to share their country's experiment with reconciliation. As they ignite a dialogue among people with raw memories of atrocity, the actors find they must once again confront their homeland's violent past, and question their own capacity for healing and forgiveness. Featuring never-before-heard original music by jazz legend Hugh Masekela.
#Documentary #International
Stray Dog
directed by Debra Granik
USA, 2014, English, 98 minutes
Harley-Davidson, leather, tattooed biceps: Ron "Stray Dog" Hall looks like an authentic tough guy. A Vietnam veteran, he runs a trailer park in rural Missouri with his wife, Alicia, who recently emigrated from Mexico. Gradually, a layered image comes into focus of a man struggling to come to terms with his combat experience. When Alicia's teenage sons arrive, the film reveals a tender portrait of an America outside the mainstream. “Stray Dog” is a powerful look at the veteran experience, a surprising love story, and a fresh exploration of what it takes to survive in the hardscrabble heartland.
#Documentary
Sweet Micky for President
directed by Ben Patterson
Haiti/USA/Canada, 2015, English, 89 minutes
Can one man change a country? Pras Michel believed he could. “Sweet Micky for President” tells the story of Pras, founder of the Grammy award winning hip-hop group The Fugees, as he sets out to change the destiny of his home country of Haiti. With no experience, no money and no support, Pras mobilizes a presidential campaign for Michel Martelly better known as the controversial diaper wearing pop-star Sweet Micky. As a first time political candidate, Martelly aims to use his skills as an artist to affect revolutionary change in a country whose people have been disenfranchised for over 200 years. Despite all odds, Martelly wins the presidency instilling a renewed sense of hope for Haiti's future.
#Documentary #International
Tomorrow We Disappear
directed by Jim Goldblum, Adam M. Weber
India/USA, 2014, Hindi/English, 85 minutes
When their home is sold to real-estate developers, the magicians, acrobats, and puppeteers of Delhi's Kathputli Colony must find a way to unite—or splinter apart forever.
#Documentary #International
ATLFF12 Alum "I Think It's Raining" Now On VOD - We Interview Director Joshua Moore
A singer, a romantic, and a cynic. A traipse, a trespasser, a miscreant, and a thief; Renata is a lovely contradiction... and a liar.
Directed by Joshua Moore and featuring a standout performance from Alexandra Clayton, ATLFF12 alum I THINK IT'S RAINING is now hitting VOD. Getting you primed for the release we asked Moore a few questions about the film.
Alexandra Clayton as Renata
Directed by Joshua Moore and featuring a standout performance from Alexandra Clayton, ATLFF12 alum I THINK IT'S RAINING has been acquired by FilmBreak and has begun landing on the VOD platform of your choice. We're ecstatic that those who missed it at ATLFF now have a chance to checkout what we hope will be the first of many Moore and Clayton collaborations.
In conjunction with the release, we asked Moore a few questions about the film; and you can find where to rent and buy the film in the links below.
You've said previously that I THINK IT WAS RAINING was inspired by the French New Wave. What is it about that movement that fueled the film? Is there one particular film or filmmaker that had the greatest influence?
Well, it was the “spirit” of the French New Wave that really inspired the film. Those Nouvelle Vague films were made very cheap, on location, used long takes, focused on characters over plot, and just had a very free-flowing style that fit perfectly with Renata- a character very much in transition; always in motion. Those films really let the viewer walk in the characters' shoes, which was really important for me in my film, but shoes being white cowboy boots of course.
There wasn’t one particular New Wave film that inspired this one; it was more the movement as a whole, though I did show Goddard’s “Breathless to the cast and crew right before filming started. Another New Wave film that played an important role later was Anges Varda’s “Cleo From 5 to 7.” I had never seen the film and my editor, Staci DeGagne, while cutting “Raining” told me I had to see this old French film where a young woman, a singer, spends the day walking around trying to get her life together. I loved the film instantly and Varda has become one of my favorite filmmakers. “Cleo” really inspired us in the editing room to not be afraid of spending so much time holding on our character and it re-affirmed my intent of letting all the small in-between moments that often get cut out of films remain in ours.
One of my favorite scenes in I THINK IT'S RAINING is the club scene. Renata's reaction felt familiar to me. It's that sense of being removed from your friends and family and falling out of sync with them, yet they don't acknowledge it, or why that happened. Can you talk about that scene a bit?
Sure. That scene was very difficult to pull off because it was done with only one shot and there were a lot of people in that club that we had to move in and out of as we tracked Renata with the camera, so it all had to be choreographed, yet appear natural. It was very important to me that the scene be done in one un-interrupted shot because this is the first time in the film where Renata is really confronted with her old life and all the people she left behind. It needed to be frenzied and emotional and awkward, which makes the scene that shortly follows in the bathroom where Renata takes her pills all the more relevant. The club scene is about being confronted with a world you no longer connect to, but you’re not sure why. Things are the same, but you’re different.
When you came to ATLFF 2012, I was shocked to learn that you and Alexandria hadn't known each other that long. Her performance is so strong and specific, I assumed you two had been working together for years before that. How did you create that level of intimacy with the character on screen?
We had only known each other for a year before the film. Sometimes you just click with people, there’s no rhyme or reason for it other than you have a gut feeling, and the first time I met Alexandra I knew right away she was someone I wanted to work with. She emits a fearlessness kind of quality where she can be very vulnerable, but there’s something else, this little glimmer of elusiveness that’s both charming and heartbreaking that sneaks out of her every now and then.
After I cast her, we would spend a lot of time talking and hanging out in a lot of the locations we ended up using in the film. It was important to me that she really connected to Renata in an emotionally honest way; a non-judgmental way. We work-shopped the script for that whole year leading up to the film and I’d re-write dialogue and scenes after our meetings. I had Alexandra create a notebook that Renata took on her travels, which we used in the film, and she wrote and drew in it in the voice of her character. She also wrote all the songs she performed in the film from Renata’s voice. It was my intent to keep Renata’s back-story vague in the film, choosing to focus on her present, but I needed Alexandra to know all about Renata's past, and having her help create it really brought this complicated character to life.
You and Alexandra have kept working together on new projects, right? One of the key elements to any movement, like the French New Wave, besides the filmmakers, has been the partnerships. What is it about working with Alexandria that you think is integral to your process? With other actors?
Yeah, we just finished writing another feature together that we'd like to shoot next year. It's called “We Are Young” and it's about siblings taking a road trip up the Northern California coast to attend the wedding of their reclusive father. She'll act in it and I'll direct. What I like about working with Alexandra, among other things, is that she always brings fresh ideas to my writing. She's very opinionated as I am too, and she's not afraid to suggest new approaches. We don't always agree on everything of course, but when we do, we really have something we both believe in and care about a lot.
Every relationship is different from actor to actor, but what I really look for in an actor is their ability to listen and their ability to contribute. Both are pretty essential because the actor needs to understand what it is I want from them, who the character is and why their story is worth telling, and then they have to be able bring something from themselves to the role that is uniquely their own, something I haven't written in the script, something that connects them to the character, that makes the film stronger.
Loved playing your latest short KEEP A TIDY SOUL at ATLFF 2013. What inspired it? Especially the characters? And is it just me, or are Flyn and Renata kindred souls? They are characters I could spend more time with.
I'm glad you feel that way! Both Renata and Flyn are somewhat polarizing characters, but I also feel they are very sympathetic in their own ways too. Both are stubborn and want happiness on their own terms. Renata isn't quite ready to accept that happiness and Flyn is struggling to remember what happiness actually felt like. Perhaps they are kindred souls.
“Keep A Tidy Soul” was a story I had been wanting to do for a very long time with Claire McConnell who plays Flyn in the film, and appears briefly in “I Think it's Raining” as Val's roommate. It's a story about re-connecting with yourself; being the person you really want to be, not the person people expect you to be. There was definitely a time in my life where I needed to become “me” again, and Claire who is a close friend of mine had recently been going through a similar experience and hadn't really focused on acting in a very long time. I wrote the film for Claire so she could act again, and we weren't able to make it until after I had finished “Raining.” This film is a lot more stylized, yet controlled compared to “Raining,” which was nice to switch gears a bit, and we shot it on super 16mm instead of digital this time. The look of the film really came from the character. Flyn's struggle is internal and very existential and I always imagined her fitting right at home in an old B&W French movie questioning her existence and smoking lots of cigarettes, so that's what we did.
AFTER people watch I THINK IT'S RAINING, what's the one movie, or two, you think people should watch as a companion piece?
That's a difficult question. I've shown the film many times to all kinds of audiences and people always have a different feeling that they take away after watching the film; of spending time in Renta's boots, which is great. The films I enjoy the most are the ones you can take away different emotions from each time you see it, and depending on where you are in your life at the time or how old you are, you'll view it entirely different than the last. So its tough for me to say what other films might fit well with mine, but a recent one that comes to mind is Noah Baumbach's “Frances Ha” which I thought was a great character portrait of someone who wasn't always likable, but always captivating. Those are the people I never forget.