On Saturday 24 November Directors UK members gathered for a fascinating Q&A with the legendary writer and director Paul Schrader, following a screening of his latest film: First Reformed.
Paul spoke to director Hossein Amini (The Two Faces of January) about faith, drawing upon personal experience and creating deliberately challenging cinema. Catch up with the live-tweets below.
The stage is set for the final screening of a jam-packed week! We’re here at The May Fair Hotel for a special screening of #FirstReformed, followed by a Q&A with the legendary Paul Schrader - moderated by Hossein Amini. Follow #DUKFirstReformed for the live-tweets! pic.twitter.com/GiisV1CFrb
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Wow, what a powerful, suspenseful film that was. It’s now time for the Q&A with director Paul Schrader, moderated by Hossein Amini. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Hossein starts by asking Paul if he is consciously trying to challenge audiences with the darkness of the film. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Hossein starts by asking Paul if he is consciously trying to challenge audiences with the darkness of the film. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul: After I saw Pawlikowski’s Ida win the Oscar I felt that I was nearly 70 - now it’s time to make a spiritual film, the kind I swore I’d never make. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
I had diverse elements from all over cinema informing the film. But I didn’t expect the barbed wire of Taxi Driver to come in and hold them together. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
It was a surprise - I thought I was making a slow movie, but I was told ir was not that at all. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul describes how he would have the camera focus longer on things that the human mind wouldn’t, like the door a character has just left through. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
#DUKFirstReformed pic.twitter.com/oo7yx5pvoB
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Hossein asks about how Paul approaches risk taking in films - citing a stunning visual sequence in the centre of the film. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul: I knew at some point that I’d have to leave the material world - so I eventually found myself sitting there thinking “what would Tarkovsky do?” #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Hossein asks Paul if it frightens him to draw upon personal places for his work. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul: It’s like they say - every director has one film in them, they just need to find out lots of different ways to film it. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul: It doesn’t frighten me. This is a dirty laundry business, and if you’re frightened of your dirty laundry you shouldn’t be in it. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Hossein hands it to the audience for questions. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
#DUKFirstReformed pic.twitter.com/OE0AjlIs3z
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
A member of the audience asks about the restrained style of the film. Paul: That restraint is intuitive - it’s about setting your own rules and understanding when and how to break them. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Movies are so hungry for emotion, for love - playing music to tell you how to feel all the time. Withholding gets a viewer to have a reaction they aren’t use to. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Sometime I call it the scalpel of boredom. How are you going to use the scalpel of boredom just enough to get the audience involved? #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Directing is a different side of the brain from writing. When you write you have the words “a glass of water” - when you direct you have the glass of water as a visual idea. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
An audience member asks about the connections Paul draws in the film big business, the Underground Railroad and more - all huge issues. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Paul: The film shows different kinds of worship - the big business and the quietude, and I think there are good Christians in both. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
But when the church is a big operation, there also comes big business - and I tried to have that dichotomy play out in the film. #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much to Paul Schrader and Hossein Amini for a fantastic Q&A - and thanks to everyone who came along! First Reformed is startling and thought provoking - make sure you don’t miss it! #DUKFirstReformed
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 24, 2018
Back @TheMayFairHotel for a packed screening of #firstreformed and to hear Paul Schrader talk about testing the threshold of restraint and withholding.
— Mike Rymer (@Mike_Rymer) November 24, 2018
Thanks @Directors_UK #DUKFirstReformed pic.twitter.com/hKHA1Nhoh0
Loved this aspect of the interview today - the difference between giving the audience what they want and getting them involved. Another great film and Q&A session by @Directors_UK #PaulSchrader #DUKFirstReformed https://t.co/7TQWd0DWK5
— MaryMullan (@MaryMullan) November 24, 2018
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