The Sundance Interviews (2021/2022) – Take Two…or three
Here is the second round of Sundance interviews on Films Gone Wild that we have had over the last couple years. These interviews include my good friends Angela Tabora and Erin Lim from the incredibly fun and informative Bitch Talk podcast out of San Francisco continuing the next generation of the Daily Buzz show created by the legendary Irene Cho. The spirit of those interviews combining our three points-of-view would make Irene happy, and this very diverse trio of films speaks to one of the hallmarks of what the show has always been in terms of introducing audiences to a wide range of films – and not just chasing after celebrity.
Julie Ha (DIR), Eugene Yi (DIR) (FREE CHOL SOO LEE)
What’s the film about:
FREE CHOL SOO LEE tells the story of a Korean American death row inmate convicted of a 1973 Chinatown gangland murder in San Francisco, and the activists who led a pan-Asian American movement to free him. Spanning the late 1970s to the early ’80s, this movement would for the first time bring together young, third-generation Asian American activists, many of them politically radical, with older, conservative Korean immigrants. Their unlikely victory, with Lee walking into freedom in 1983 after 10 years in prison, would inspire many young supporters to pursue careers dedicated to social justice. The film explores both Lee’s life and how the incident, his imprisonment, and his post-release life all shaped his journey.
What do we talk about?
We talk about the choice of Sebastian Yoon, a non-actor to be the narrator and “voice of Chol Soo Lee” for the film and how that impacted the film’s message and presentation. They also discuss balancing “the angel” and “the devil” of Chol Soo Lee to craft a coherent picture of who he was. The directing tandem talk about how they combined their efforts to direct the film, with one having never directed a film before and the other having not directed a documentary before, and how the film bridged from Julie’s journalism background.
You can see FREE CHOL SOO LEE here:
Rayka Zehtabchi (DIR), Shaandiin Tome (DIR) (LONG LINE OF LADIES)
What’s the film about:
The short film LONG LINE OF LADIES tells the story of a girl and her community as they prepare for her Ihuk, the once-dormant coming of age ceremony of the Karuk tribe of Northern California.
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What do we talk about?
We begin by discussing the effort by Zehtabchi and Tome to focus the film on the lead up to the ceremony in a way that didn’t put the weight of the film on viewing the process and proceedings through an “ethnic” or “cultural” lens that would unduly influence the audience’s experience of the preparations for the ceremony. They talk about the building of trust and the challenges of capturing the relationships without interrupting or interfering and being respectful of the boundaries of the film’s participants. They also illustrate how they mapped out their approach to filming with the participants prior to going in so that a comfort level was reached with having a camera present during very intimate moments. There is an emphasis made on how they decided to not spoon-feed the audience with details and instead stand back to (literally at times) focus on capturing emotions and feelings of the experience leading up to the ceremony.
LONG LINE OF LADIES can be seen here:
https://mubi.com/films/long-line-of-ladies
Jane Schoenbrun (DIR), Anna Cobb (CAST) (WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR)
What’s the film about:
Alone in her attic bedroom, teenager Casey becomes immersed in an online role-playing horror game, wherein she begins to document the changes that may or may not be happening to her.
What do we talk about?
I’ll start off by repeating what I open the interview by saying: Poe didn’t deserve that. That being said, Jane talks about the distinction between making a film about horror versus strictly making a horror film. They both talk about illustrating the loneliness of the internet through the film. Also discussed is how they both worked so successfully to achieve minute specificity in the performance because so much of the film is literally just Anna’s face on camera. The question of making the film without compromising to satisfy the “gatekeepers” and Jane’s approach to get funding and support in order to actually achieve it is also discussed.
WE’RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD’S FAIR can be seen here:
