00:25I did want to bring back in the aspect of, you know, because the aspect of your talk
00:29about identity and idealized sort of keys into Give Me Pity and the way you have Sophie
00:35do that because it's based in sort of that sort of TV realm of what we would expect, but
00:41it's thrown on its head.
00:43Could you talk about looking at that, you know, because that's a different approach.
00:46I'm sorry to switch it over, but it's a completely different approach.
00:50Yeah, that film specifically is about female vanity and the prisms of fame and the fake
00:57persona.
00:58And so I think for that character, her identity is wrapped up in not just wanting to be loved
01:05by everyone, you know, wanting to be loved by strangers, which is a position to be in, but
01:12also not really knowing who herself is anymore, which I think is a common theme when you discuss
01:20actors, stars, celebrities in film.
01:23You know, I think that that's at the crux of everything is, you know, are they paying
01:28service to themselves or are they paying service to their projected persona, the person that
01:34they want everyone to see them as?
01:36So, of course, she's cracking and unraveling under the pressure of trying to be perfect
01:42and loved and beautiful and talented.
01:45And, you know, that's just weighing down on her as she's kind of unspooling.
02:14Looking at your body of work, I mean, we're talking to Rotterdam and they're, you know, it's, it's the Amanda
02:20Kramer show, basically.
02:21In many ways, which is beautiful, you know, and it's interesting because different places see different things.
02:27And I mean, Rotterdam and the Netherlands is a, is a great perspective, but, you know, it's how your films
02:32are seen all over the world.
02:34That's a sort of global thing.
02:35Can you sort of talk about that and looking at your journey and the things you're trying to say and
02:40how you've evolved as a filmmaker to this point where you are?
02:45Yeah, I mean, I hope it's not crass to say, but being accepted as an artist in Europe is a
02:51high point.
02:52And I think in any career, it reminds me of how Donna Summers had to go to Germany to become
03:00a big disco star so she could come back to America and be a big star here.
03:04I feel like I go to Rotterdam to be sort of heralded as an artist.
03:10This, you know, is the gold standard of avant-garde and experimental work.
03:14That's what the film festival boasts.
03:16And so I feel very honored that they would put a focus on my work because that is how I
03:22want to be seen.
03:23And those are what I, who I consider my peers.
03:26But yes, of course, globally, I'm way more excited to be seen.
03:31I find a bit, I find myself a bit stifled by American sensibility sometimes.
03:36And I wouldn't consider myself Hollywood, though I live, though I live here.
03:41So, yeah, I'm very excited about Rotterdam.
03:45I think it's wonderful.
03:46This special won't end until I'm flat out bashed in, croaking and backstroking, depleted and mistreated, begging each and every
03:57one of you to set me free!
04:03All you've got to do is bask in me.
04:07I can be the one you've written for.
04:12There's so much to give.
04:13And my last question, it goes sort of to that aspect is because, because you look at things a different
04:18way.
04:18You're able to see it in different colors, the way your dialogue moves.
04:22And that's just because it's your own voice.
04:24It's who you are.
04:25But that's almost more if you want to get into the existential.
04:28It's like, who are we and who are we trying to be without expectation and just going forward on the
04:35path and the journey?
04:36I aim to be a radical in art.
04:39I aim to be a punk in art.
04:42I think that that's rare.
04:44I think provocation is rare in America.
04:48Specifically, we should all be thinking about moving everything forward, moving women forward, moving artists forward, moving anyone's identity or
05:01ethnicity forward.
05:01That's what we're all here to do, right?
05:03It's new lenses of being seen and new ways of being seen and also new ways to storytell.
05:09That's how we should be thinking.
05:11We've done so much in over 100 years of filmmaking that we've almost encapsulated hundreds and hundreds of years of
05:21fine art and painting.
05:22You know, we've kind of crunched it in.
05:24We're technologically savvy.
05:26Yes, we're technologically savvy.
05:28I mean, we should be moving way faster.
05:30With what we're, you know, what we're showing audiences and what we're asking audiences to go along with.
05:38Audiences are smart and they want to be challenged.
05:41I believe that.
05:42I don't have a cynical notion about that.
05:44I think people want to see all kinds of art.
05:47And, of course, art now in film has become a dirty word.
05:52And people are a little bit jaded about what they see art cinema as and what they see even independent
05:58cinema as.
05:59So, of course, I think that that's a main goal of mine to continue to radicalize film and to say
06:05the things I believe in saying.
06:08There are many filmmakers out there who are just saying what they're being told to say.
06:12So, I don't need to.
06:38So, I don't need to.
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