In celebration of their films playing at the IFC Center this Monday (see above),
NewFest is proud to present two brief Q&A sessions with the men behind the movies:

Diego Costa

FILM TITLE: The Parricide Sessions

DIRECTOR: Diego Costa

Please introduce yourself: Your name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based.
Diego Costa, originally from Brazil, have lived in America for 10 years. Living in New York City. I also blog at www.DonDiegoOnline.blogspot.com.

What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
Filmmaking for me has always been an extrapolation of poetry and writing. Definitely not an attempt to entertain, but to speak the unspeakable. To give form to that which, specially for gays, goes silent. I make a conscious attempt not to follow formulaic notions of what cinema must be. Which means I am not very interested in having a regular script or a linear narrative. I made three short films in 16mm while I was getting my film degree in college. I've been very lucky and the films have shown around the world in various film festivals -- in India, Brazil, Italy, Canada, Portugal.

Did you go to film school? If so, where?
Yes, I got my BA and MFA at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where I also was a teaching assistant.

Please describe your film.
A gay son tries to find similarities between his ex-lovers and his father - all the while exposing the dad to uncomfortable questions and gay situations.

Where did the idea for your film come from?
After realizing that most of my boyfriends had the same virtues, and flaws, as my father - I decided to examine the issue with a camera. While trying to marry Freudian theory with real-life queer misery, my goal was to demystify the father figure and open a kind of dialogue that most gay sons could never have with their dads.

Are you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description.
I will probably start working on a similar film, but one that focuses on my relationship with my mother and how I've always wanted to be like her. We live in two different countries, so the logistics are hard to figure out, but it really interests me to use the camera as a link to uncover certain things we learn to keep quiet about. The camera as some sort of psychoanalyzing tool.

The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:
Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly

My top three all-time favorite films are:
Cleo from 5 to 7 by Agnes Varda, Alphaville by Jean-Luc Godard, Ali: Fear Eats the Soul by RW Fassbinder

The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is:
It Wasn't Love by Sadie Benning

Andre Hereford

FILM TITLE: The Naked-Boy Business, part 1

DIRECTOR: Andre Hereford

What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made?
I wrote my first story at 9, a gory murder-mystery that freaked out my mother, but won the respect of my teacher and classmates. I've needed to write ever since and came to filmmaking as a young man whose parents shared their love of watching movies with me from an even earlier age. I've directed four shorts (including Naked Boy), produced or co-produced three others, and worked in development and production for Spike Lee on 10 features.

Did you go to film school? If so, where?
Graduated from NYU in 1994 at 20.

Please describe your film.
A tongue-in-cheek take on straight boys' attitudes about male hotness, featuring man-on-the-street interviews, pop culture collage, excerpts from my own work and brand-new erotic photos and video shot of model A-Rod (um, me) by gay art legend Peter Berlin.

Where did the idea for your film come from?
The film was inspired by my decision to start art modeling as a side job and by my subsequent discovery of Peter Berlin's work, which, much to my dismay - given his talent, prowess and influence - was appallingly unknown not just to me and my friends but even to supposed "art people."

Are you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description.
Raising money with producers and my partner to shoot an indie feature, Queen of Harlem, a sexy comedy about an Italian actress who comes to the States to shoot a film in Spanish Harlem and falls hard for the men, the music, the whole vibe of that hot 'hood. Our producer calls it a cross between La Dolce Vita and She's Gotta Have It. There's gay stuff, but it's not specifically a gay story.

The first film I have memories of watching as a child was:
Two: The Wiz and Clash of the Titans. Don't have any of those early Star Wars memories that everyone claims, but the other two I remember VIVIDLY.

The first LGBT film I ever saw was:
Parting Glances, late one night on Movie Channel. I was 12, and I wanna cry just thinking about how much I knew but didn't know that the film was about me.

The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is:
Apartment Zero, crypto-gay as it is, has seeped into every single thing I've written since I saw it at 17 (I'm 33 now).