You expect a first feature to show its stripes a bit. And be a little bit excusable. As in, well, this is my guest, Zoe Eisenberg’s first feature, so give her a little credit for just getting it done. Zoe said hell no — let’s just jump to fantastic filmmaking. The best way I’d describe CHAPERONE (2024) is a slow burn that builds into a bonfire. The film’s logline: “Alienated by friends and family for her lack of ambition, 29 year old Misha finds a dangerous acceptance in a bright 18 year old athlete who mistakes her for a fellow student.”
And the ending will shock you. This is an assured debut for a new talent.
In this conversation, Zoe and I talk about:
Zoe’s Indie Filmmaker Highlight: Alika Tengan
Memorable Quotes:
“I got into filmmaking because I fell in love with a filmmaker.”
“Sometimes I’ll think they had to take a lot of notes. CHAPERONE is a completely independent film…very scrappy and that posed a ton of challenges.”
“I want [viewers] to trust me because the first 15 minutes, the first 20 minutes can even feel like a cheesy rom-com, which is intentional because then we go somewhere else.”
“Hawaii’s relationship with the world has been so extractive in the last 200 years.”
“Once MAY DECEMBER (2023) came out, we were like, okay, we’re Hawaii’s MAY DECEMBER or Hawaii’s BABYGIRL (2024).”
“Without giving anything away, the film is a tragedy.”
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