Getting Personal

An Interview with Writer/Director Allison Anders

by Jennifer M. Wood | Published February 3, 2007

For her latest movie, Things Behind the Sun, Anders is getting more personal than ever, as she returns to the town--and the home--where she was raped at the age of 12. As difficult as the subject matter may seem, Anders considers the entire process a cathartic one. Here, she talks about overcoming trauma, the freedom of digital video and how women moviemakers can get noticed.

Jennifer Wood (MM): Talk a little bit about the autobiographical nature of this film, and how it came to be. Was Things Behind the Sun something you've wanted to write for a long time, or did it occur to you more recently that such a film could be part of the healing process?

Allison Anders (AA): Kurt Voss and I started writing it about five years ago. Pretty much once I got the idea, we were writing a month later or something--laying out the story and outlining it. We did a very detailed outline. Usually what we do when we write together is split scenes up. But this time, he actually took on the first half, based on everything that we outlined together, and then I went back and did a version. [Then, we] basically combined the versions.

MM: This is such a personal story for you, but you share the credit with Kurt. How was your collaboration different this time around, as far as scenes and characters were concerned?

AA: It was funny because, the rape scenes for example--well, they're not really rape scenes, but they're the flashbacks where there are some very brutal kinds of attack. For a while I would kind of pass over those when I'd be rewriting or reading through the script, because I was still scared to deal with them. So it took a while; it took a while to deal with all the stuff. Eventually, it was like 'alright, it's time to go in there and work on these now.'

MM: Were the attack scenes the last ones written?

AA: Well, at that first stage, yeah. And then, eventually, I added more scenes doing my draft before I started shooting. Time had passed and there was more stuff-I just knew more and was further along in my own sort of recovery, I guess you'd call it.

MM: Would you consider this your most personal film?

AA: Yeah, definitely!

MM: That being said, was it the easiest or most difficult to write-or did it fall somewhere in between?

AA: I don't know. I think in some ways it was really a lot easier than, say, Grace of My Heart, which was infinitely more difficult.

MM: I read somewhere that you said, in order to create this film, you had to get inside the mindset of the perpetrators as well as the victims--and that the more you did, the more you realized you'd rather be a victim than a perpetrator. Why is that?

AA: I didn't have to get inside the mind of the perpetrators during the writing, it was really while I was directing. Because in directing, especially with young actors, you have to kind of tell them the 'why am I doing this' kind of thing. They need the answers for what motivates the actions. So, having to spend a little time inside the perpetrators' heads, I know it was a really, really bad place to be. It was a far worse place. In my opinion, that would be the worst place to ever live. Knowing that you violated someone else, that you're a rapist, you're a child molester, you're a murderer--I don't know how people live with that in their heads.

MM: Unlike other films with similar subject matter, you didn't just look at the film from the victim's perspective, but everyone involved--the perpetrator, the victim, an onlooker--and we see how each of them has been affected by this experience in some way.

AA: What was really wonderful for me, in terms of my own journey, was that I felt like I really had as full an understanding as you could possibly ever have of rape. I felt like I really understood it at the end of making this movie.

MM: In the course of making this film, was there anything you came to discover about the story or where it took you--or about yourself--that you didn't expect? In order to create the film--as both writer and director--you had to essentially relive the experience.

AA: People who didn't like my movies--particularly feminists who didn't like my movies-criticized that I was always looking for a man to complete me. Well, I wasn't always looking for a man to complete me, but I was definitely always looking outside myself for completion--even within my work. When people say that trauma is shattering or you get fragmented, I really understood--only by becoming whole--was that I feel like I didn't have to look outside myself anymore for that kind of completion because it was already done. So all my weird stuff about getting addicted to people or becoming obsessed with someone I couldn't have and feeling abandoned by them when they didn't reciprocate--some crazy thing I had in my head--all that stuff is gone. Almost to the point that I am so calm about this stuff--I'm not obsessed with anyone at the moment (laughs)--I can't imagine getting back into that place and I spent my whole life like that, so it's been pretty interesting.

MM: Why the choice of digital video for Things Behind the Sun? Many moviemakers claim that it offers a sense of intimacy on the set.did this play in as a factor?

AA: I didn't want to do it DV at first, but it was going to save me a third of my budget, and with my budget that was a considerable amount of money. I ended up falling madly in love with digital. It's less equipment in the room for the actors; it's easier to pick up and grab stuff that normally would be such a drill with the film camera; it was just glorious, it was fantastic. And ultimately, since I was shooting in Florida, which is extremely flat, I made use of the flatness of the medium. For me, it worked in every way: creatively, practically, financially, I loved it!

MM: Is it safe to say that you will be working in digital again, then?

AA: It's ironic, my least personal things will be shot in film, and my more personal stuff will probably be shot in digital. I am working on some films with other filmmakers that we're shooting on trains, which will most likely be digital because it's so much simpler.

MM: You were offered theatrical release for Things Behind the Sun through a few different distributors, but decided to air it on Showtime. What has this experience been like for you?

AA: It had a short theatrical run through Cowboy Releasing in New York. I absolutely loved the experience with the distribution on this movie. It was a very tough decision to make to go to cable instead of going theatrical. I had a theatrical offer from some great people who really loved the movie, but I tell you I had such a much better experience. I loved that millions of people saw my movie! There's no downside, as far as I can tell.

MM: You're one of the few female writer-directors who has really made a name for herself in the film industry. What advice would you give to other women looking to make movies?

AA: Women should definitely embrace digital, and they should also embrace TV and cable as much as possible. Or find some way new that they can reach audiences that maybe hasn't been tapped yet. It's really hard to compete with the boys on the screen at the moment. When it comes to TV, and reaching female audiences through that medium, I think we're in good shape. And girl filmmakers should be as irreverent and kick-ass as possible.

COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT

Comment by 89 on 2/16/08 at 4:51 pm

Thanks for the suggestion. ;)

POST A COMMENT

OUR PRIVACY POLICY | We will not publish or sell or share your email address or other personal information. Read more.

Name:
Email:
URL:

Type the word you see below:

Comment:

Remember my personal information

Notify me of follow-up comments?

This story was sponsored by

SITE DELIVERY OPTIONS

Home | Latest Headlines
Screenwriting | Producing | Directing | Acting | Cinematography | Editing | Distribution | Education | Festivals | Locations
Listings | Archives | HOP Interviews | Blogs | Forums | Contests | Subscriptions | Advertising

About | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact

© 2008 MovieMaker Magazine

Web site design by Hop Studios