If your documentary films were entered into the Criterion Collection, you barely need an introduction, but let me give one to my guest, filmmaker Brett Story, by saying this: her films expand what's possible through visual styling and extensive preparation work. What I mean by that is if you take a look at her work, the story that she is telling can only be said through film. So Brett gives us both something to appreciate and something to strive for. What a thrill it was to talk with her for the podcast.
In this episode, Brett and I discuss:
the future documentary on the 2025 NYC Mayoral race (not by her, unfortunately);
how she came upon her unique style of documentary filmmaking;
does she watch a lot of documentaries?
her feelings towards her films entering the Criterion Collection and what that means about her art;
whether the honors has made pitching projects easier;
what about her work is particularly Canadian?
how does she start her documentaries and her process for making her films;
the visual attractiveness of her documentaries;
the festival and release strategy for her films;
how can someone with no name recognition make it into a big festival;
her film, UNION, and the tradeoffs doc filmmakers have to make to get their films made;
what’s next for her (such an incredible next project, combining art + film, called PRODUCTION OF THE WORLD;
Brett's Indie Film Highlights: THE IMAGE YOU MISSED (2018) dir. by Dónal Foreman; Deborah Stratman; Jem Cohen
Links:
The Criterion Channel - Brett Story
