As part of a segment about women in film, Kurt Andersen talked with director Sarah Polley ("Away From Her," "Take This Waltz"). Here is their extended conversation.
Some highlights:
1:14 - In pursuit of perfection: "If you look at how they used to make films, at any Bette Davis movie, there's no perfection in these people's lives, there's no hope for perfection. There's a kind of world-weary, hilarious, jaded, articulate way of dealing with the mess of life," she tells Kurt Andersen. "It seems to me, culturally, we're less and less comfortable with the mess of life and more and more certain that there's something we can do about it."
11:27 - Women in film: "When I had my very first short film at the Sundance Film Festival, I was looking desperately around for another female filmmaker and I think I found two. And I remember when I had "Away From Her" there, 40% of the filmmakers at Sundance were women"
11:48 - Diversity in the industry: "A thing we're not talking about as much, which is a really big problem, is a huge lack of diversity economically and racially in terms of the people who are making films. We still have a long way to go in terms of gender equality, but ... it's very hard for someone from a limited economic background to take the years it takes to make a film, or go to film school, or get their hands on a camera. I think there's a long way to go in terms of economic diversity.'
16:45 - Variety: Polley started her career in film as an actor in a variety of movies, from dramas ("The Sweet Hereafter") to horror flicks ("Dawn of the Dead"). "I think it's really fun to step outside what you normally do and to not get claustrophobic in the kind of genre or kinds of films you normally make."
