Presenting the 3rd part of our continuing series of short interviews with feature and short filmmakers from the upcoming NewFest 2007: The 19th NY LGBT Film Festival - May 31-June 10. Visit newfest.org for more information, including full program, schedule, and ticketing details.
FILM TITLE: Costa da Caparica
DIRECTOR: Omar Gamez
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (in shorts program His Dark Materials)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
Mon and Dad call me Omar but some of my best friends Omi! I love to make photography and video art work, I am also university professor. I live and work in Mexico City.
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
Images in movement have always been a magical attraction for me, they are brilliant to count histories. My first video was Dark Video, made in dark rooms in Mexico City, and the second one is Costa da Caparica.
Please describe your film.
An aggressive confusion for the viewer that oscillates between fiction and documentary images of hot Portuguese men.
Where did the idea for your film come from?
I saw an advertising of this beach named Costa da Caparica that said you could have a lot of sex on it and I wanted to be there right away. What I found was very wild: naked guys acting as predators and prey, it was amazing!
The first LGBT film I ever saw was:
In a Year with 13 Moon by Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
The last DVD I watched was:
A porno one, I just forgot the name...
FILM TITLE: Karaoke Show
DIRECTOR: Karl Tebbe
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (in shorts program His Dark Materials)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
Karl Tebbe, Berlin
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
When I was ten my parents let me use their 8mm camera to do animation movies with Big Jim dolls. I have made about 10 shorts since.
Please describe your film.
A mixture between sauna and disco.
Where did the idea for your film come from?
Between 1994 and 1998 I played bass in band called "Michael Jackson Cover Band". At that time I watched "Billie Jean" many times and was really intrigued by the way Michael Jackson danced. I'm not the best dancer myself, so in my short "Karaoke Show" I use the technique of stop-motion animation to recreate 80s disco dancing.
The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:
Dance of the Vampires (1967), Roman Polanski
The last DVD I watched was:
Adam's Apples (2005), Anders Thomas Jensen
FILM TITLE: Paris I Love You (Too)
DIRECTOR: Vincent Parmentier
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (in shorts program His Dark Materials)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
I'm Vincent Parmentier and I live in Paris. I’m not a full-time filmmaker. I
work in IT to pay my rent but I spend most of my time off taking pictures of men in Paris. This is my very first video.
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
In my opinion, filmmaking is a fabulous mean of expression. It gave me the opportunity to talk about homosexuality, a sexuality outside conventions and symbol of freedom. I hope to be able to make other films on this subject.
Please describe your film.
I shot Paris I Love You Too while musing around in Paris public places. I observed young straight couples and young attractive men. I wanted to film so called "ordinary" scenes but at the same time change their meaning by giving them a more subversive character.
Where did the idea for your film come from?
I realized we often forget that norms are actually socially constructed and we end up believing that they are an expression of nature. I wanted to express this reality by filming heterosexual behaviours in a gay way. Those behaviours, accepted as a natural model, can be displayed freely in public places, contrary to gay behaviours.
My top three all-time favorite films are:
Muholland Drive (David Lynch), Magnolia (Paul Thomas Anderson), La Belle Captive (Alain Robbe-Grillet)
The most recent film I saw in a theatre was:
300, for its incredible homoerotic aspect.
FILM TITLE: Poppy
DIRECTOR: Sophie Boord
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (in shorts program His Dark Materials)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
I'm Sophie Boord, I work in community arts development and make videos for arts organisations. I'm based in Melbourne, Australia.
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
Film's ability to disturb or unsettle, and the way mood can be all pervasive. I've made two short films and have just finished shooting my third.
Please describe your film.
Poppy is an experimental narrative film that uses shifts in space and time. At its centre are two confused and laconic cowboys drinking poppy-wash, trailing the Black Rider.
Are you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description.
Yes, it's called FUR and it's also an experimental narrative film. I've just shot it. It's about a young girl who leaves a riverside barbeque at night, wading upstream.
The first LGBT film I ever saw was:
Rebel Without A Cause
My top three all-time favorite films are:
Safe, Belle De Jour, Stalker
FILM TITLE: The Process
DIRECTOR: David B Kagan
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (in shorts program His Dark Materials)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
My name is David Kagan, and I'm a prop and still life stylist, as well as soon-to-be part time MFA student. I live and play in New York City.
Did you go to film school? If so, where?
I went to NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.
Please describe your film.
The Process is an experimental fairy tale about what one lonely man does to find himself a companion. It's a combination of animation and live action.
What was the biggest challenge you faced in making your film?
I had $10,000 of film equipment stolen from a van, as well as a mag with a whole day's worth of footage. That kind of sucked.
The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is:..
Tales of the City. It came out on PBS when I was in high school and it kind of ushered me into gay-dom.
The most recent film I saw in a theatre was:
The Lives of Others. AMAZING.
FILM TITLE: Remi's Secret
DIRECTOR: Rachel Clift
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (preceding Girl Inside)
Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
Rachel Clift, TV and film producer, living in Brooklyn, NY.
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
I was twelve and became aware of how powerful the idea of storytelling through film could be - how music can affect a viewer's reading of an image, how pacing establishes the emotional journey...and how documentary is one of the most important media for social change and awareness. Film was the perfect intersection of all my creative interests: photography, writing, music. I've directed two short indie docs, two non-profit videos, and several doc series for television.
Did you go to film school? If so, where?
Yes, I went to Boston University College of Communication where I received my MFA in Film Production.
Please describe your film.
Through the voice of a talented pianist, Remi's Secret explores the current mythologies and heartbreaking stereotypes that surround the lives of Kathoeys –MTFs- in Thailand, where transgendered identity remains at once an open and yet secretive phenomenon.
What was the most satisfying aspect in making your film?
Finding such a talented editor and sound mixer. They have both donated their free time to this film and have added their own personality to it – the collaborative process has been extremely satisfying.
Are you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description.
Documentary folks always seem to have a million stories up their sleeve waiting to become the next project. I might co-produce a doc on nutrition and food choices as seen through the eyes of children, and I have a doc feature I've been working on for several years, but that's MY secret!
The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:
Singing in the Rain
The first LGBT film I ever saw was:
Go Fish
My top three all-time favorite films are:
Battle of Algiers, Killer of Sheep, Party Girl (a fine, fine film!)
FILM TITLE: Another Lost Angel
DIRECTOR: Rachel Perkoff
SCREENING: Saturday, June 2 (preceding A Different Life)
Please introduce yourself.
Rachel Perkoff-filmmaker
What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
Theater and the experience I had while viewing/experiencing films as an audience member, and people that I met that were filmmakers.
Please describe your film.
Twenty years later, filmmaker Rachel Perkoff returns to the scene of her sisters' violent death and is plunged into the secret world of New Orleans's lesbian "mafia." As Rachel begins to uncover the shadowy truth about her beautiful, charismatic sister, she's forced to confront her own self-destructive past, and moves towards an unexpected reconnection with her estranged family.
Who or what are some of the creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you?
Soderberg, Fellini, Coppola, Wilder, Hubert Sauper, Gregg Araki, Killer Films, poetry.
Are you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description.
I am currently working on the feature length version of Another Lost Angel.
My top three all-time favorite films are:
La Dolce Vita, The Conversation, Chinatown
The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is:
Shane
The most recent film I saw in a theatre was:
51 Birch Street
