Interviews

"I think every doc director is an activist, their army is visual images," says director Seung-Jun Yi. His film, Planet of Snail, about the blind and deaf poet Young-Chan, just won the best feature-length documentary award at IDFA. Seung-Jun Yi has made documentaries for Korean television and is among a growing movement of filmmakers to break out and expand the form.

From the long walk between work and home to squeezing water from the desert dust, The Fruit of Our Labor depicts daily life in post-9/11 Afghanistan, as told by 10 Afghan filmmakers trained by Community Supported Film.

"Especially for directors, writers or anyone that is an artist, being overemotional is actually both a gift and a curse. That’s your tool," says Jean-Pierre Améris to The Independent's Katherine Brodsky about his new film, Romantics Anonymous. In the interview and the quirky romantic comedy, Améris lays bare his own struggle with social anxiety, the loneliness all people face, and the universal appeal of chocolate.

If you thought the electric car died a slow, tragic death, you're right. And if you're like filmmaker Chris Paine, who helped document its demise in Who Killed the Electric Car? or the inventors and advocates in his new film, Revenge of the Electric Car then you believe, beyond a shadow of the doubt, electric can and will power vehicles of the future. Read what Paine told the The Independent's Katherine Brodsky after his film premiered.

We'll be announcing our annual list of 10 of the most talented filmmakers we think you should keep your eye on by posting exclusive content daily on our Facebook page.

Writer-director Tanya Hamilton, whose Night Catches Us is up for best first feature at Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards, helps Beth Brosnan kick off a new column for The Independent in which indie filmmakers talk about how classic Hollywood films have inspired and informed their approach to narrative.

Indie filmmakers and DIY distributors are vying for a shot at Netflix distribution. Though Netflix added 300 streaming independent films to their service one year ago, the submission and selection process for indie films is still evolving.

Part fan interview, part experimental essay, David Pierotti ruminates on the many forms his alter-ego, a character in Kate Christensen's novel, The Epicure's Lament, could take as Christensen adapts her novel into a screenplay.

From a childhood of activism to the Reagan campaign of 1984, the late George Hickenlooper wrestled with politics on and off screen. He discussed his final effort, Casino Jack, a fictional re-telling of lobbyist Jack Abramoff's rise and fall, opening on December 17th, with The Independent.

What if your favorite band had separated and you could be the reason they reunited? What if you could convince Sting to sing and play guitar with you backstage? Music journalist Geoff Edgers dared to dream and from those dreams came his first documentary, Do it Again. He discussed the making of with The Independent's Erin Trahan.