Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
An Evening with Andrew Bujalski at Boston University
9/18/09
10:40 a.m.
BOSTON - Independent filmmaker Andrew Bujalski returned Thursday night to
“I’m just like wandering the Earth,” says Marnie, the protagonist of the ultra-low budget film, shot primarily in the Alston neighborhood of
Bujalski too has spent his time since graduation from Harvard travelling, and making films. His third feature, Beeswax, which will begin showing tonight at the Coolidge Corner Theatre (watch the trailer) in
Somewhat to his chagrin, Bujalski has established himself as the Godfather of mumblecore, a term to describe a certain breed of low budget independent film.
The term mumblecore, which Bujalski conspicuously avoided using in his question and answer session Thursday night, comes from the acting style employed in these films: inexperienced performers playing average people delivering naturalistic and seemingly improvised dialogue.
This “wave,” if it can even be that easily categorized, of films often feature white, middle-class twentysomethings focusing on the humdrum of life as they try to find their place in the post-college world.
Bujalski spoke about the “mumblecore” aesthetic and classification:
- Of the much-maligned label, he said it creates “reductionist” ideas in a moviegoer before he or she even enters the theater.
- “Everything good in this movie,” he said of Funny Ha Ha, “came from giving the actor’s freedom.”
- Now that he is in his thirties, Bujalski said it is becoming harder to make the same kind of film he used to. People over thirty, he said, do not want to sleep on couches anymore and hotels can balloon a film budget. In their twenties, Bujalski’s cast and crewmembers would just “fall asleep wherever they were,” he said.
- He urged the audience at the event to come see his new film because even after three films, he is still “trying to figure out how to support himself” and a strong showing for Beeswax could keep it in theaters longer.
