Your new movie Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema - in a few words, what is it
about?
It’s
a buffet of all the exciting
filmmakers and underground cinema groups here in the UK who’ve been
inspiring with bringing people
together outside of the mainstream film industry from 2010-2016.
During that period a generation gap in cinema has erupted and I wanted to
capture it for the world to see and experience.
What were your sources of inspiration for making Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema?
Everyone
in the film really, all their energy combined propelled me to make the
film. That punk DIY attitude that burns old bridges, but creates new
horizons. Think of it as a poisoned letter to all the corporate piggies
who think they know what true cinema really means. Young filmmakers will
see this documentary and realize that they don’t have to play by the
rules, you can just become your own creation. Actually being part of
the new underground cinema society, how did that play into conceiving the
movie? It
gave me a very clear map of where I wanted to go with the movie. I’ve
experienced the hypocrisies first hand and seen how the film industry is
changing. It’s just a few years behind from what happened in the music
industry, which resulted in artists not needing distribution deals anymore
and taking their lives into their own hands. Now filmmakers get their film
out through Facebook, Vimeo, Youtube, Blogs all
these platforms, plus the dynamic indie film groups in each city who will
screen these alternative movies. Any stories you
picked up while shooting Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema that didn't make it into
the film but you'd still like to share?
It
all went into the film, but I was surprised at the amount of people in
government funded cinema organizations that held grudges against these
independent filmmakers and groups. They have a real raison d'etre of
pretending to ignore cult & underground cinema while in reality
they're only feeding off it in order to exploit it in the future. I just
find it really sad that we all love cinema so much but yet these bigger
platforms are scared to embrace new filmmakers. They only embrace it once
it’s considered not dangerous anymore. One day they will grow some
balls. You just have to
talk about the very eclectic footage used in Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema, and where did you find some
of it, and why did you edit it that way? It
came from all the filmmakers' movies, it's an electric documentary. This is what they do, create images that melt your brain and reform
it, I always prefer to use the absurd in cinema in order to break through
life's hypnosis. Being creative is the best life to lead, I wanted the
film to have a Peter Pan element to it and to capture the joy of being
involved in cinema. If you follow your own path you will stay forever
young and you can really feel it as you watch everyone share their
frustration and loves. Do talk about
some of your key interviewees for a bit, and how easy or difficult was it
to get them? Connected to that, it seems like Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema meant looots of travelling -
so how straining was that aspect of the movie? Everyone
was key, but there were some
filmmakers who had died unfortunately which
was a shame because I would have loved to have met them. Other than that it
was really easy making connections. But basically I spent a year
travelling around and meeting all these passionate people like myself who
want change and they want it now. Filming all the cinema nights was great
, the atmosphere with everyone wanting to share their stories, it was like
being in a cinema utopia, it was more similar to being in a high energy
club, not a movie theatre! So much more fun than simply sitting politely in
a showcase theatre.
Based on all the
interviews you did for Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema, any advice you'd give a
budding (guerilla) filmmaker? A
film shoot can go from disaster to euphoria in the blink of an eye. But
what new filmmakers need to understand is that you gotta be tough, you're gonna hear a lot of bullshit from authority figures, schedule problems or
whatever, but ultimately your enthusiasm will pull you through and you
will realize that you were right all along. It's your life so live it with
your own unique flair. Just say fuck it and make your own movie. Keep it
simple if you’re broke, that’s why I came up with the PINK8 manifesto
to show that you can do things originally and in a weird way with no
budget. The $64-question of course, where can your
movie be seen? And anything you can tell us about critical and
audience reception of Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema yet? I'm
releasing the movie for free on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpNA75b2hCw.
All I want is for people to see
what can be accomplished and to say now’s the time to do something about
their ideas and that the UK is a haven for edgy cinema. The fact that the
documentary starts with the Film Funding cuts of 2010 is a perfect
backdrop to what came next in the form of a movement called Misrule Cinema, we
decided to all take over because
we don’t need funding or any other handouts or gossip. The filmmakers in
this documentary are the true saviors of the rebel spirit. Any
future projects you'd like to share? Anarchy
in the UK: The New Underground Cinema & The Evolution of the Earth Angel were both made by the Ziggy Stardust alter ego called Jett
Hollywood, he is a filmmaker from Mars. He will commit cinema suicide now
that his mission is accomplished, he won. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject?
I accidently
saw Dennis Hopper's The Last Movie when I was a kid, and since then I
have known what I wanted to be. Other filmmakers like Kenneth Anger, Lars
Von Trier, Harmony Korine, Jonathan Caouette and Vincent Gallo make up my
outlook of what real cinema is. I’m they’re wicked bastard child. What
I did learn was from DVD commentaries and through spells. Gotta be done.
What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Anarchy in the
UK: The New Underground Cinema? The
two feature films, Black Biscuit (2012) and Pregnant (2015) they're both
dangerous, nonlinear and wild,
other than that I don’t know how to categorize them. More like
anti-films. I’ve completed a new movie, but I have to edit it all
together, which might take a while. Been reading a lot of old fairy tales
like Alice
in Wonderland, The Little Prince and Cautionary
Tales, plus
serial killer books such as Say
You Love Satan and The Cult of Violence. I want my next
film to be a fable. What led you to
create your alter ego Jett Hollywood, and what sets him apart from
Fabrizio Federico? Why
should rock stars have all the fun with identity. Jett is an alien, a
mixture of River Phoenix, Ziggy Stardust, Al Capone, Mao and Alfred
Hitchcock. It's that mixture of dark glamour and tyranny. Throwing tyranny
back into the tyrant's face, really. Fabrizio is harder to pin down
because he’s more schizophrenic, he can be anything from gentle to
psychedelic to a force of nature depending who I'm talking to. He’s a
mirror, you get what you give. How would you describe yourself as a
director?
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While
living in America I would DJ clubs and after hours parties so I’m more
like a DJ director. I sweat blood for my films, I love so many different styles and
aesthetics that everything gets blended till it becomes something new.
Your favourite movies,
and films you really deplore?
A
film I can always go back to is The
Great Rock & Roll Swindle by Julien Temple, but as far as deploring
films, the only ones I don’t have time for are franchises once they get
to the 6th or 7th film in the series. Other than that I watch everything that sounds strange or funny
enough. As a kid, I loved Charlie Sheen movies and Gremlins so Im pretty
bizarre in that I'm up for anything. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
Here’s where all the films are
together so this is the best place:
http://fabriziofederico.moonfruit.com/
https://www.facebook.com/anarchyintheukundergroundcinema/
Thanks
for the interview!
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