Carrie Villeneuve

is a bit of a
crapshoot, relying on the personality of the film representative, usually the director, and the quality of the questions from the audience for
it to be entirely interesting. The first 10 minutes always start as a film
studies class, where the film students can ask their film questions: “What was
your budget?”, “How many days did you shoot?”, and “I noticed a red scarf in
many of the scenes. Can you maybe explain its significance?”, but at least one interesting story, film trick, or example of creativity emerge.

, screenwriter,

• filmed
  in 10 consecutive days
  
• both
  men were wearing hockey jerseys from the movie and they looked like a vaudeville
  comedy duo—Sonoda short, somewhat stocky, and chatty, and Lunsky tall,
  lanky, and quiet
  

-The game scenes were great. Were they
difficult to shoot?

-So when we auditioned the actors, we asked them, “Can you
skate?” And everyone said, “Yes, yes, of course.” Great, so then we asked, “Do
you have your own equipment, because we don’t have a lot of money.” “Oh, sure,
ya, equipment.” So the first day of shooting, of course no one could actually skate
except Jeff (Feddis, who played main character, Jeremy), and no one had his own
equipment except Jeff and one other crew member. So we scrounged up some extra
equipment, and spent two and half days shooting the hockey scenes, so if you think the hockey is
believable, realistic, whatever, that’s a result of stellar editing, because I
have no idea really, I don’t know anything about hockey.

-What inspired the rat-in-the-bag scene? (One
of the funniest scenes of the movie, and from any comedy in general.)

-I would like to say that there was a real-life story
behind that and then I could tell you an interesting story, but I can’t, that just
came from my head.

Lee Daniels, director, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’
by Sapphire
:

• 30
  days of shooting
  
• there
  were no ‘egos’ on set: Mariah Carey helped with makeup, Mo’Nique served in
  craft services, everyone drove their own cars to set
  

Daniels preambled the film in a voice of melted chocolate: “It’s
ok to laugh. We laughed making this. If you don’t laugh, you’ll go to some very
dark places.” Afterwards he was articulate and thoughtful, repeating questions
into the mike without being asked, and even rephrasing them so they sounded
intelligent. I can't remember details because I was distracted by how nice and warm he sounded.

Robert McFalls, director, HomeGrown:

• this
  is McFalls’ first directing project; he started out as an editor and
  edited this film
  
• the film cost about $5000 to make

-The kids (who are now late 20s to early 30s) seem a bit, insular. Have any of them dated? Did
they go to school?

-They were all home-schooled by (their father) Jules, who
was a teacher. What you see are the daughters managing the website, which
Jordanne (the youngest) coded herself, so they are quite educated. But no, none
are dating right now, but they all talk about moving away from the homestead,
having their own families, although no one seems to have an idea of how to go
about achieving that.

Vero Bollow, co-writer and co-director, and producer, The Wind
and the Water
:

• this
  is the first feature fiction film from Panama
  
• the
  Igar Yala Collective, a group of young filmmakers who partnered with Bollow
  for the movie, were completely collaborative: they posted the script
  around the production room and anyone could add and subtract from scenes
  until they were all satisfied; during the production, they each took turns
  directing, acting, set dressing, sometimes all in the same day
  

-How did you get involved with them (the Kuna and
subsequently the Igar Yala Collective, young filmmakers who wrote and
co-directed with Bollow)

-I had been living in Panama for a few years, teaching classes
on filmmaking to youth. And I got this class of mostly Kuna, and they were
unlike any other students I’d had. In most classes, once students understood
something, they would try to work ahead, but the Kuna, when the first students
understood something, they would get up and go around the class making sure
everyone else understood that one thing before we could continue.

(The process sounds like complete chaos to me, but the film
is beautifully shot, and the story is coherent and engaging.)

Anne Dorval, actress, I Killed My Mother:

• Xavier
  Dolan
  , who couldn’t attend, was 17 when he wrote the screenplay, and acted in, directed, and produced the movie; he's now 20
• this
  movie has already
  and has just been selected to be
  Canada’s entry for the foreign-language category of the 2010 Oscars
  

-You’re quite a well-known actress in Quebec. What did you
think when Xavier first approached you with the part?

-At first, I was very surprised. He was so young. And
(I was) impressed by his courage. But I didn't hesitate. When writing is good, (it) is good, no matter how young (the writer is).