From The Heart Film Series

With Between the Temples about to hit theaters, I’m presenting a few movies that found their way into my head (and heart) during production. These are Tabu, Meantime, and Crossing Delancey. There’s a shared spirit of showing human humans on screen in all three. No matter how wildly varied the styles are here, it’s the characterization that knocks you out. I’ve also included Soft in the Head, which I directed over ten years ago, as it almost feels like a cousin of Between the Temples, and the two would make for a fun double feature. 

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IS: Thanks for coming today!

NS: Absolutely.

 IS: You have a new movie coming out and it’s the largest release of any of your films. You’ve been making films for quite a long time. What does it feel like? is there a difference now in creating this one as to your other work?

NS: It felt pretty natural to make this movie because we employed a similar method as the last batch of movies. Like the others, we didn’t have a full script going in. We went to the actors with a scriptment, which basically reads like a novella. And we had the scripted pages a day before we would actually shoot the scenes so the actors didn’t necessarily have enough time to memorize everything and we would work a lot of the details out on set. It felt like it was the same process but on a slightly larger scale because we had a bigger crew and name actors but it had chaos, and you know, familial and energized vibe.

IS: And you’re working with the same people? Sean (Price Williams) shot this film and Chris (Wells) wrote it with you? 

NS: Yeah, my good friends and collaborators were there to help ease the transition, too. If anything, it was easier because having a whip smart AD and Script Supervisor helped make the process more streamlined, whereas in the past I would rely on my own dumb brain to fulfill some of those functions. I had other people with better brains.

 

IS:Yeah and then the film really did well at Sundance. Is that where it got sold?

NS: It sold right after. I was shocked. I mean, I was shocked first of all to get into Sundance at all.  It was my 14th time submitting something to that festival including all my shorts, so I had gone through plenty of rejection with those folks. But then to have it well received was even more of a shock because you never know how the outside world is going to view anything you make, and you know you just make your films because you’re insane [laughs].

IS: I love that. You know, as an artist, you do have to face so much rejection and somehow still believe in yourself and your creativity to not give up, right?  That’s the mark of what a good artist is. Do you have any advice for anyone that is starting out or trying to get their work seen to not take it so personally?

NS: I think the key is, first off, having faith in the absurd that you’re making these things for a reason even if the reason isn’t immediately apparent. It will show itself some time along the way. It’s necessary to look at each film as an exercise of sorts, a sketch. It’s not some great masterpiece, it’s just another attempt — every project is a lesson of sorts. And I think that I’ve just been working with this kind of thinking throughout my career. I mean, it’s interesting. It’s almost about learning all the ways you fail and just facing those failures and then using those as examples of what not to do on the next one.

IS: Yeah and not letting it break you in the process. [Lots of laughter from both.] And then I feel like from having such an indie collection of movies, which we’ve shown at the Roxy, and we love them, but to having someone like Francis Ford Coppola shout out your work and talk about it. What does that feel like?

NS: I mean, it’s nuts. It’s always been nuts when people that I’ve admired like my work. When Hal Hartley really dug Exit Elena and then would tell people to go and see Thirst Street, or David Gordon Green… It means so much to have the filmmakers that who you grew up on see something in your films. It’s almost like I can’t quite fathom it — I’m like what the hell’s happening? It’s absurd, you know. But I’m so grateful that anyone sees value in my stuff.

IS: Yes! So how does this reinvigorate you? Are you so inspired to now work on the next projects? Yeah, NS: I have a few scripts at various stages. I want to continue to make humanist comedies but on a larger scale. I want to make melodramas. I want movies that are filled with the chaotic energy of life, and that are funny! I want to combat the humorless schlock that seems to be in fashion… 

IS: I love that, we need more of those.  You’ve curated a special series for us and you’re including one of your own films, Soft in the Head. Do you want to talk about the films you chose and why?

NS: Sure, Soft In The Head seems like a precursor to Between the Temples. On a very superficial level, it’s my other very Jewish movie. It also has a key scene at a shabbat dinner. It hasn’t screened in New York since it came out over ten years ago, so I am eager for people to check it out. With Tabu, I just adore this movie… It won me over when I first saw it upon its release. And I think it’s because of the sense of loss and longing and nostalgia in it — these are all elements which are baked into Between The Temples. As for Meantime, Chris and I watched it a bunch while we were working through the treatment. I think Mike Leigh’s work is such a key to so many things. He just unlocks everything, doesn’t he? I could’ve picked ten other movies of his… but I just wanted to see this one one the big screen, so it’s slightly selfish on my part.  Crossing Delancey…. Between the Temples is co-dedicated to Joan Micklin Silver, and her spirit is very much in the film. I love her tender comedies — they’re so key for me. She also of course made Hester Street which stars Carol Kane and I know that she’s huge for Carol too, so it feels necessary to put a film of hers in here. And I just feel like I want movies that have a heart, and I feel like all these movies have heart to them and it’s exceedingly important these days to have some heart in this heartless world, I guess.

 

From The Heart series begins its run at Roxy Monday, August 12^th Including a Q&A with director Nathan Silver Tuesday August 13^th for Soft In The Head.