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Your new movie Backwards
Faces - in a few words, what is it about?
I think it's about spending too much time with yourself. It's about how
quantum physics intersects with personal identity and autonomy.
With the central theme of Backwards
Faces being the multiverse theory, what can you tell us about your
research on the subject, and given that the multiverse has become quite a
popular topic in cinema of late, did that at all inform you when you
dreamed up your movie? My research began with a brilliant book called The Order of Time by Carlo
Rovelli. It is a really fascinating book about quantum physics and time.
From there, I just read a bunch of studies on different aspects of physics
until I felt like I understood enough to write a character who understood
almost everything. As far as the popular surge of multiverse films, I
wrote Backwards
Faces in March of 2021 and shot it in August of 2021, so I
really saw all these multiverse films after I had completed Backwards
Faces so I can't say they had much of an impact on the film. (Other) sources of inspiration
when writing Backwards
Faces? I
watched a lot of independent hard sci-fi movies like Primer and
Coherence.
Those were big inspirations for me. I also read a little philosophy. Søren
Kierkegaard and his work inspired some of the major themes in the film. What can you tell us about
Backwards
Faces' brand of humour? It
is heavily influenced by all my favorite humor. I am a big fan of the
screwball comedies of the 40's and 50's. Films like Some Like it Hot and
His Girl Friday where every line is a rapid fire joke were huge sources of
inspiration for the tone of the film. I also really love the verbal comedy
of the Marx Brothers and
Abbott and Costello, and I think that kind of
comedy isn't as present in modern films so I really wanted to have some
verbal flares like that. I think anyone who has seen the movie will know
exactly what scene I am talking about.
With Backwards
Faces set in its entirety in one not-too-big apartment, what were
your techniques to keep things visually interesting throughout? Well,
I only had access to one location which was my own apartment. I'd say the
first technique was to hire an incredibly talented director of photography
which I did with our DP, Jake Gorr. I wanted to shoot in black and white
for a few different thematic reasons and Jake really was able to shoot
some beautiful black and white cinema that I think spiced up my rather
poorly decorated apartment. I don't have too many hard set rules for
myself as a filmmaker but one is that you should never make a visual
choice just for the sake of aesthetics. There should always be at least
one thematic reason behind the composition, so for me, it was really about
making the film look the way it should look to tell the story correctly
rather than worrying about the one location being off-putting to a viewer. A
few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand? In
a lot of ways, I approached it like I was adapting a stage play. I think
people think of stage to screen adaptations as just filming people acting
but the really good ones add so much to the source material. What they are
able to do with perspective and characterization with the camera is really
impressive, and I was just trying to use the tools we had at our disposal
to tell the story correctly. I think one of the things I am most proud of
is that if you watch the first 10 or so minutes with no audio, you'll be
able to tell the basic beats of the story. You won't know exactly what
they are arguing about but you'll be able to tell the general idea of the
conflict and exactly what the characters think of each other.
Do
talk about Backwards
Faces' cast, and why exactly these people? Well
first off, they are two of the best actors in the world. Andrew Morra is
one of my best friends and my college roommate. We had been wanting to
make our feature debut together for a while so the part was written for
him from day one. Lennon Sickles auditioned for the role of Sydney and instantly
blew Andrew and I away. They are really one of the most talented actors I
have ever worked with. The script is not easy for the performers. I was
asking a lot of them and they both nailed it. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
had an amazing cast and crew. It was a very fun group to collaborate with.
The shoot itself was tough though. It was about 110 degrees in my
apartment every day and we were all crammed in there sweating like crazy.
We had some issues along the way with landlords, property management
companies, Covid scares, a hurricane, and electrical issues but we made it
through and were able to shoot the entire film in just ten days. I think
sometimes it’s less about how many people you have, and more about
having the right people. If you watch the film, you’ll notice there’s
no end credits scroll. Everyone gets their own card because they earned
it. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Backwards
Faces? It
seems like people are enjoying it. We had a great screening at the Other
Worlds Film Festival in Austin and the audience was really receptive to
the film. I get a little nervous reading critic reviews but so far they
have all been quite kind.
Any future projects you'd like to share? I
have a few scripts that I would love to shoot one day. I can’t announce
anything at present but I think once the craziness of the release of Backwards
Faces is done, I’ll start thinking of what’s next. What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
education on the subject? I
studied film at Lafayette College in undergrad which is where I met and
began working with Andrew Morra. I have been making films for a while. I
don’t know if there is a specific instance that got me into it but
it’s just something I’ve been obsessed with my entire life. What can you tell us about
your filmwork prior to Backwards
Faces?
Backwards
Faces was my first feature film so the only thing I had made leading up to
it was shorts. Some better than others. I had written something like ten
or eleven feature films prior to Backwards
Faces, so I was ready as a
writer. As a producer and director, I was a bit more nervous but the
process is really just like making a short but longer.
How
would you describe yourself as a director?
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That
is a tough one. I can’t say definitively, but I hope the people I have
worked with would say I am creatively open to collaboration and make for a
laid back and stress-free set.
Filmmakers
who inspire you?
There's
a ton. I grew up idolizing Paul Thomas Anderson and still do. Right now, I
find myself most interested in Bong Joon-Ho, Park Chan-Wook, Jang
Joon-hwan, and really all the filmmakers of the Korean new wave. On top of
them, Ingmar Bergman, the Coen Brothers, Francois Truffaut, Mel Brooks,
and David Lynch have all inspired my work as well.
Your
favourite movies?
That's maybe the hardest question for me because it changes so often but I'd say
the most constant films on the list are 2001: A Space Odyssey, Memories of
Murder, Mulholland Drive, House of Games, Marty, and Persona.
... and of course, films you really
deplore? I don't know if I can say I deplore any films. Maybe Birth of a Nation and
anything by Leni Riefenstahl. Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
You can find all the most recent updates about the movie at
www.backwardsfacesfilm.com
Thanks for the
interview!
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