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An Interview with Lili Matta, Director of 86 Melrose Avenue

by Mike Haberfelner

April 2021

Films directed by Lili Matta on (re)Search my Trash

 

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Your new movie 86 Melrose Avenue - in a few words, what is it about?

 

86 Melrose Avenue is a /thriller/drama that addresses several themes: The antipathy of the other, the vagaries of the human condition and the insidiousness of mental illness (PTSD)

 

What were your sources of inspiration when writing 86 Melrose Avenue?

 

86 Melrose Avenue is a character-driven narrative, where interpersonal drama unfolds during a fateful night in Los Angeles. I wanted to address major themes that are current in today's political-social climate, as well as being very relevant to a world filled with misperceptions, xenophobia, violence and miscommunication.

 

Of all the characters in 86 Melrose Avenue, who could you identify with the most and who the least, and why?

 

I think almost every character in my story has a little bit of me, a little bit of all us. We all have had a major event in our life that has shaped our perception of people and life in general. I identify with Nadia who like me is a Lebanese - American. I was born and grew up during the Lebanese war and carry the invisible scars of PTSD, just like Travis and Nadia and Bill as well, who witnessed his son's traumatic suicide. Avi lost his wife and I can relate to the pain that comes from losing someone you love. We all have had an episode of anxiety in our life and therefore we can relate to Cathy. I think the least character I can identify with is Fiona. She is a woman who has never been outside California and therefore never been exposed to the rest of the world, to different cultures and different people.

 

Do talk about your movie's approach to the thriller genre?

 

86 Melrose Avenue is a drama/thriller. I wanted to make an engaging and entertaining film that would also address serious social issues. It is about this diverse group of people at a gallery opening who are taken hostage by an ex-Marine suffering with PTSD and forced to confront their cultural differences, their pasts, and their looming mortality as time ticks away. Will they come out alive? What is going to happen to them? There is this heightened feeling of anticipation and anxiety, with stakes getting higher as time passes.

 

The main portion of 86 Melrose Avenue is pretty much bound to just one location - so what can you tell us about the location, and what were some of your techniques to keep things visually interesting?

 

During the first and the last week of filming we shot all the scenes that were not at the art gallery. The second week we moved to filming all the gallery scenes. I decided to shoot those gallery scenes in chronological order. The reason was because I wanted to create for my actors that mounting feeling of entrapment and danger. The actors fused into characters with that heightened tension, fear and sense of helplessness, during those long days. They had to be with one another in a stressful environment where time was ticking and stakes were getting high. One moment they were starting their evening with a nice calm photo exhibit and suddenly, life takes a turn to the worst and they find themselves at the mercy of someone with a gun. They don't know if they are going to survive or what's gonna happen. Throughout those long shooting days. the actors were emotionally and physically tired from going through that ordeal. They also started bonding with one another and there was a sense of "camaraderie" that came out of it all. They were united through that experience. Even the hostage taker, Travis. Because he is someone damaged who does something bad and yet is not a bad guy. He is also a victim: A victim of a system that has used him and abandoned him.

We shot with 2 cameras. The takes were long and we used lots of hand held shots. Some shots were very tight which helped create a sense of claustrophobia as well as increase the tension.

 

Do talk about the photographs exhibited in the film's gallery, and how did you happen upon them?

 

All the pictures used at the art gallery were pictures that my co producer Alexandre had taken in France, as well as pictures I had taken in Lebanon.

 

What can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand?

 

86 Melrose Avenue is aconflation of ideas that came together — human connection, interconnection, everyone has a story. I have always been interested in relationships and interaction. We are all very interesting and complex human beings with past traumas and unique experiences. So I wanted explore those ideas in particular setting: An art gallery. It's a place were you can meet anyone. I created characters that had seemingly nothing in common and yet to whom we can all relate. All my actors were from different backgrounds and origins. They all had interesting past and stories. It was so special to work with people who were so diverse and yet what brought them closer together was this shared sense of danger, fear,tension and the possibility of dying!

 

Do talk about 86 Melrose Avenue's key cast, and why exactly these people?

 

I had worked with Gregory Zarian on my first feature film. He is such a versatile actor and a great human being! I knew I wanted Gregory to play the main lead of Avi and I approached him with the screenplay 3 years before filming. Dade Elza I had met him 2 years prior to filming as I had seen him in my friend's film and I gave him the script and told him I think he would be great as Travis, the main lead. Dade is such a good actor. The rest of the actors was through casting.

 

A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?

 

It was a fun and yet a long shoot. A shoot that drains you both physically and emotionally. Especially the gallery scenes, because we filmed them chronologically.

 

Anything you can tell us about audience and critical reception of 86 Melrose Avenue?

 

The film just released 4 days ago so it's too soon to judge the reception. But one thing is for sure: This film addresses serious social issues such as mental illness, gun violence, PTSD, the antipathy of the other which of course might stir some critics and controversy.

 

Any future projects you'd like to share?

 

I have a couple, feature films and 2 TV projects I am working on.

 

What got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject?

 

I was always drawn to storytelling and films ever since a very young age. I went to school for it. I got a BA in Communications studies and Films from Saint Joseph University in Beirut, Lebanon and an MFA in Film Productions from Loyola Marymount University here in Los Angeles.

 

What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to 86 Melrose Avenue?

 

I had done a few shorts and one feature film. 86 Melrose Avenue is my second feature film.

 

How would you describe yourself as a director?

 

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I dont know. You gotta ask my cast I guess. I think, although I tell my actors what I want from them in a specific scene, I also love when they bring something genuine from within themselves. Sometime it adds authenticity to their characters. I am very open to conversation between a director and her actors about their character and their motive in a specific scene.

 

Filmmakers who inspire you?

 

I was very influenced by Ingmar Bergman, Luchino Visconti, Claude Sautet, John Cassavetes, Elia Kazan, to name a few. They had an amazing way to tell relatable and captivating stories with such raw emotions. 

 

Your favourite movies?

 

I would say favorite movies are: Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause, A Woman Under the Influence, Blue (from the trilogy Blue, White, Red by Krzysztof Kieślowski), Shawshank Redemption, Les Choses de la Vie (by Claude Sautet).

 

... and of course, films you really deplore?

 

I am scared of horror films so I try not to watch them. I have seen real horror during the war, so horror is my least favorite genre.

 

Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?

 

I am terrible at social media but I am on Facebook and Instagram.

 

Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?

 

Not that I can think of.

 

Thanks for the interview!

 

I want to thank you for the interview! J

 

© by Mike Haberfelner


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Thanks for watching !!!



 

 

In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

Amazon

Amazon UK

Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
demons and potholes,
cuddly toys and
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love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

is all of that.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
-
a collection of short stories and mini-plays
ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic
to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle, all thought up by
the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
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