ALLELUIA: Director Profile + 5 Questions with Fabrice du Welz

Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz studied at the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Liege and at INSAS, a film school in Brussels. But his deep, abiding love of horror movies might be more relevant to his work as a filmmaker than any formal training. A look at his career is definitely in order since his new film Alleluia will be playing at the Toronto International Film Festival's Vanguard programme.

Laurent Lucas wonders how he's going to get all that mud off his clothes.

With his explosive, controversial debut film Calvaire (2004), Du Welz was unfairly lumped in with the subgenre of "torture porn" by a few unimaginative critics. Strongly influenced by both Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Calvaire is a "very strange fairy tale," a dark, grotesque psychological thriller that defiantly transcends genre conventions. In it, Laurent Lucas portrays Marc Stevens, a traveling chanteur who finds himself trapped in the midst of the lonely Belgian countryside when his van breaks down a few days before a Christmas gala at which he's scheduled to perform. Unfortunately for Marc, the people who come to his aid have some serious unresolved issues and he suffers unimaginably as a result.

Emmanuelle Béart wonders if Laurent Lucas has any laundry tips.

Although Du Welz's second feature, Vinyan (2008) is far less gory than Calvaire, it is still dark and psychologically disturbing. Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart play Paul and Jeanne Bellmer, a couple who lost their only child, Joshua, in the 2004 tsunami. While watching a video of children being held captive in Burma, Jeanne becomes convinced that one of them is her son. She and Paul embark upon a dangerous mission to find him, and in the process their sanity unravels. Vinyan is a stunning accomplishment with incredible production and sound design and a gorgeous score from François Eudes (À L'Intérieur).

Du Welz's latest, Alleluia, is his cinematic interpretation of the lives of real-life murder couple Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez, but set in Brussels. Like he did in Calvaire, Laurent Lucas stars. We wanted to find out what inspires du Welz, so we asked him.

Probably not a laundromat.

1. You've said that your first love is horror, but that you don't like the mainstream Hollywood horror movies or those horror movies that "close doors." What are some of your favorite recent horror films that you feel allow the audience to explore their imaginations?

Honestly, with time it's very difficult for me to be surprised and thrilled about modern horrors films today. Last time I've been impressed by horror was with Kill List by Ben Wheatley, Antichrist by Lars von Trier, or Under The Skin by Jonathan Glazer. Those films provoke you and I love to be challenged by films. [All of these films screened at TIFF!]

2. The director of photography on Alleluia is Manu Decosse, who filmed Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani's Amer and The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears. Are you a fan of the Giallo genre and if so, which movies are your favorites?

I love Bruno and Hélène's films. They are friends. Manu Dacosse is a very gifted DOP and he'll be very present in the future. Of course I love the Giallo genre even though my cinema is very different from B&H's work. Some aspects of Alleluia could be related to Giallo but it's not Giallo.

Black hides bloodstains very well.

3. As a director who believes in strong characters in films, who are some of your favorite film characters and why?

I always prefer strong female characters. We have so much to learn from women... I do, at least...

4. Are there any films that people might be surprised to find out that you like or which have influenced your own work?

So many films influenced my personal work. Before being a filmmaker I am a cinephile. I had always watched loads of films. I cannot mention here all the films I love. All I can say is during Alleluia's production I watched and rewatched Zulawski's Possession a lot... 

It's not blood, it's raspberry preserves, I swear!

5. Alleluia is part two of your Ardennes trilogy (with Calvaire being part one). What are your plans for part three?

Yes, we have plans and Vincent Tavier and I are working on the script at the moment. I cannot tell you more right now.

There's just enough time to catch up on du Welz's cinematic influences as well as his own filmography before Alleluia premieres, so head to your favorite cool local video store and get some popcorn ready.

ALLELUIA screening times:
Tues., Sept 9th, 10:00 PM, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Thu., Sept 11th, 3:00 PM, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sat., Sept 13th, 9:15PM, SCOTIABANK 13

SPRING: Director Profile + 5 Questions for Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Spring receives its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival's Vanguard programme, but why exactly should you care? Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, that's why!

Fresh ta def!

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead met as lowly interns at Ridley Scott's production company and almost immediately became friends and creative collaborators. Although Aaron went to FSU's film school and Justin went to UCLA, they discovered that they had a lot in common and enjoyed working together. Aaron is a director/DP and Justin is a writer/director, but there is a lot more symbiosis in their collaborative efforts than those titles might indicate.

Their first feature, Resolution (2013), has attained the unique honor of a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but if you've seen it, you'll know it's completely deserved. Resolution, which is perhaps the ultimate found footage movie, begins when Mike travels to a ramshackle cabin in the SoCal woods to stage an intervention for his meth-addicted friend Chris, but soon turns into a wholly different beast. It's hilarious, bizarre, and genuinely scary, and one of the most original movies to skirt the edges of the horror genre in quite some time. This is partly because Benson and Moorhead believe in prominent character drama over genre restrictions and partly because they're just that talented.

Benson and Moorhead aren't just interested in horror movies as their taste in film varies wildly from Danny Boyle, Alfonso Cuaron, Richard Linklater, Amy Seimetz, and Ben Wheatley to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars to recent genre fare like Citadel and American Mary. They're also exceedingly witty (as you can tell from their interviews and Twitter accounts).

We put forth five questions for them to answer and here's what they said.

Can you hand me a towel?

1. Can we expect the same kind of genre bending in Spring that we got in Resolution?

Aaron: Spring won't be nearly so hard to define as our last: it's a mystery with romance (instead of Resolution's bromance), and this time we show a lot more of the visceral imagery than we imply. You can expect the film to deliver the same things Resolution did, but on a significantly larger scale. And at its core, preemptively recognizing the pitfall of sounding like every director on the planet, character always always always comes first.

Justin: Tough one because I'm not sure if our movies are "genre-bending", we've certainly never consciously "genre-bended" anyway. Comparing ourselves to Spielberg here ONLY in terms of ingredients, you could argue Resolution and Spring use roughly the same proportions of character drama, levity and visceral thrills as Jaws, but most people simply call Jaws a horror movie. At least when I was little that was the section of the rental store it was in.

2. What's the funniest and/or craziest thing that happened to you when you were filming in Italy?

Justin: When everyone was thinking we'd be rained out and put two days behind schedule, a "man of the sea" went to the top of a building at some Roman ruins being used for our climactic end scene. He took one wise look at the sky, and told us precisely the rain would stop in 30 minutes. He was exactly correct. The Old World, right?

Aaron: Our practical makeup FX was done by MastersFX in LA, and they created all the molds out here in California. But when it came time to ship them, Italian customs agents held them from us for DAYS for further inspection. Meanwhile, we needed them desperately to shoot. They let one box (of four) through...it had a fake headless cat in it. THAT was the one they were cool with. I don't even want to know what our Italian producer Luca had to do to get the rest of the boxes on time--and we got them hours before we needed them to shoot. Luca looked... tired.

3. I know you're huge movie nerds so what are some recent movies that you loved and why?

Aaron: Don't put me on the spot like this, dammit. Very recently I re-re-re-rewatched Perfume: Story of a Murderer, Children of Men, and The Assassination of Jesse James (all with rich, monumentally mythic storytelling matched by cinematography that will never be topped). I also just finished my first run at Twin Peaks, which frankly couldn't be more different from those and still perfect in its own right, how plot matters so little when the characters and surreal flourishes keep you perpetually entranced. And then the little film that could, Short Term 12, reminds me that minimalist indie films don't all say the same thing, they can really hit as hard as the big ones.

Justin: I'm gonna be punk rock and say TV shows here. True Detective, Breaking Bad, Rectify... shit... those actually aren't punk rock at all are they? I'm going to make Aaron watch the director's cut of Almost Famous with me and report back.

4. When are you going to do the film adaptation of Preacher?

Justin: How do you know we haven't already? We have a T2i, David Lawson, our computers are pretty good, and Aaron found Seth Rogen's address.

Aaron: ...

Just waiting for the Celestial Messiah to land his vessel.

5. What's next after Spring?

Justin: I'm taking a break from the third draft of a rad movie about Aleister Crowley to do this interview. So, probably that, or whatever ceremonial magick curse via the wrath of Egyptian Gods is beget for writing that script... Maybe just play Mortal Kombat X for the next six months? Make one of the other few feature scripts we have chillin' in the ol' top drawer? Make the TV show that we wrote over the last few months that's a coming of age story about a kid growing up in San Diego seeking a mysterious supernatural McGuffin? Wanna democratize this and vote on it fools?

Aaron: And while we're on the film festival circuit this year we have this insane plan to make a scrappy feature that is about the UFO cult members from Resolution (us) traveling the world, "seeking ascension" through debauchery and learning life lessons. You think I'm joking. I'm not. If you want to be in it, just ask.

Justin: We'll buy a whiskey for anyone who adds Untitled UFO Cult Comedy to our IMDB pages.

Sign me up for the UFO cult member movie! You think I'm joking. I'm not In the meantime, here are the screenings for Spring.

SPRING screening times:
Fri., Sept 5th, 6:00 PM, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sun., Sept 7th 7:00 PM, SCOTIABANK 4
Sat., Sept 13th, 3:15 PM, SCOTIABANK 3

A FIELD IN ENGLAND: 5 Questions with Director Ben Wheatley

Well, kids, it's that time of year again. Time for our annual 5 Questions with Director Ben Wheatley, that is! Siân had a lot of fun asking Mr. Ben Wheatley questions last year about his Vangurd film Sightseers and now she's back with round two for Wheatley's Wavelengths film, A Field in England.

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SM: Watching A Field in England, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to Barry Lyndon and Witchfinder General. Did either of those films inspire yours? What drew you to doing a period piece in the first place? 

 BW: All Kubrick is an inspiration. Witchfinder is a similar period but not really an inspiration. History drew me to the period. It's a fascinating time.

SM: Just being on set--stuck in that field--must have been a surreal experience. Were there ever times when you started to doubt you'd bring it all together?

BW: No. Not really. It was a pretty good experience. I tend to be pretty happy when I'm shooting.

SM: In the last few years black and white films have experience quite a renaissance; films like The White Ribbon, Nebraska, Frances Ha, Blancanieves, and Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, have embraced this aesthetic. Could you share some insight on why you think filmmakers are being drawn to this?

BW: For me Black and White makes you look at faces and texture. It funnels the amount of information the viewer receives. I can't speak for other film makers.

SM: The soundscape and music in the film are stunning and pretty much a character in their own right. Although this is a period film, the music is decidedly anachronistic, but it really enhances the films' otherworldliness. Did you play a large part in this process or was it all the invention of the composer?

BW: I play a large part in the music. I worked closely with Jim Williams on this score. I'm not a musician though. We talk about the score a lot then he demos it. I get the demos as stems then I make a rough mix of what I like from the stems. The score is then created from that.

SM: So far, each of your films has been wildly different than the last and often gives the audience an unexpected experience (for example, Sightseers starts off as a quirky British road comedy and evolves in to Natural Born Killers with sweaters). Has this been a conscious decision?

BW: Making an experience is a conscious decision. Every frame of a film is deliberated on. You see the films as different from each other. I see them as too similar to each other. I'm trying not to make the same film again and again. But it's hard.

//

We here at the Vanguard Blog are some of Wheatley's biggest fans and we're confident that whatever he does next will be mind-alteringly awesome. We just hope it's out in time for the Festival next year so we can have our third annual 5 Quesetions with Ben Wheatley. In the meantime, don't forget to check out A Field in England.

A FIELD IN ENGLAND Screening Times:

• Friday, Sept 13, 9:00 PM RYERSON THEATRE
• Saturday, Sept 14, 9:00PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 3

Five Questions for Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani (THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY'S TEARS)

Lucky us! We managed to get Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani, the directors of The Strange Colours of Your Body's Tears, to answer five questions for the Vanguard Blog.Their Giallo-inspired film is playing at the Festival this year.

1. There are many different definitions of Giallo, but how would you define Giallo?

Incredible music, incredible settings, incredible murders! An extraordinary mix between sex and death which put the viewer in a strange position, lost in a game with his point of view!  

2. What are your favorite experimental films?

Meshes of the Afternoon  by Maya Deren, Scorpio Rising by Kenneth Anger, Nightshots by Stephen Dwoskin, Un chant d'amour by Jean Genet, The Sex of Self-Hatred by Solomon Nagler, The Dead Man 2: Return of the Dead Man by Aryan Kaganoff, The Big Shave by Martin Scorsese, Mamori by Karl Lemieux. 

 

3. What film(s) do you consider an influence on your work that people might find surprising?

Certified Copy by Abbas Kiarostami.

4. Since Giallo influenced slasher films, is there one specific slasher film that you think lives up to its Giallo influences?

If we consider Brian de Palma's Dressed To Kill as a slasher, it is the one! If not, there are some bit and pieces of giallo in the beginning of The Burning, or in movies as Ripper: Letter From Hell and Tuno negro.

5. What is the one piece of advice you would give to emerging filmmakers?

Work, work, and work.

Now that's you've researched all the movies mentioned in this post, you can get your tickets for a screening of The Strange Colour of Your Body's Tears, which is playing this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

Thanks to these talented and clearly very busy filmmakers for taking the time to chat with us! 

THE STRANGE COLOUR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS Screening Times:

Wednesday, Sept 11th, 6:00 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

Thursday, Sept 12th, 9:30 PM SCOTIABANK 3

Saturday, Sept 14th, 12:30 PM SCOTIABANK 8

5 Questions for the ASPHALT WATCHES Directors

You've watched the trailer, and learnt all you could ever want to know about Asphalt Watches directors Shayne Ehman and Seth Scriver in our Director Profile. Now we really get into their minds with our latest instalment of "5 Questions". Siân had an opportunity to ask the guys about their inspiration, boiled hot dogs, and even got to say "beaver". (Yes, that kind of beaver.)



SM: I absolutely loved this story telling format; I think the animation and music really played to the bizarre characters you met whilst on the road. What was your inspiration for telling these stories through a feature-length animation? 

SS: Well, we wanted to tell this story after we reached Toronto and actually even on the way we were making drawings of people and situations which is what we do anyways. We had watched 20 seconds of a Gary Panter animation right before leaving Vancouver so after having this bizarre near death mystical adventure we made a plan to make an animation of it. Originally it was going to be a Double feature, but we boiled it down a bit.

SE: Animation is a choice storytelling medium because the story is entirely suspended in art. Everything in the animation is carefully placed.

SM: Skeleton Hat and Bucktooth Cloud are meant to be this world's versions of yourselves. Was there any sort of special process by which you came to these characters? Or did a weird transparent, floating blobber just seem cool? (Because it is--and the top hat is a nice touch.) 

SE: I used to wear a crumpled up top hat quite a bit back in the late 90's when I started drawing the Bucktooth Cloud, adding buggy eyes and buckteeth to blobs in Vancouver. I guess it's just a way to meet the world half way. Bucktooth is like my spirit animal who I can see when i stare into old blank paper.

SS: When we first met, in Halifax in 1999, we actually bonded over a mutual fondness for graffiti cover up blobs. Skeleton Hat evolved from a hat I wore that said fred the dog and turned into fried the dog which eventually led to a fried hat with only the skeleton of it left.

SM: The music! The music. I will forever refer to boiled hot dogs as BHDs and probably won't be able to look at a Boston Pizza the same way ever again. How did you come about adding these little songs to the film? 

SE: In Chilliwack, B.C. we were waiting for a ride at the Seven Eleven. Two ladies approached, tied up their dog with an extension cord and went into the store...

SS: They made multiple trips in and out and used us a shield to stash their piles of stolen hot dogs.

SE: Eventually, they invited us over for 'Boiled Hot Dogs' and also to play a 'Wayne Gretzky' video game. A 'Boston Pizza' is west coast slang... means 'backpack".

SM: Okay, okay: so that truck driver--did all of those radio handles really come from him or did you make some up yourselves? 

SS: All of the radio handles are real handles, but not all of them came from him.

SE: Some of them are our friends nicknames or email handles... Undead Hillbilly, White Pumpkin, El Destructo, Belly Boy, EZ Rock, Krumple Stiltskin, Barefoot Immortal, Crappy Bluebeard, Ferrero Rocher, Smooty, Skurgy, Couch Money, Fry Dog, Headless Spectre.... Theres actually quite a few times when, in the periphery of the story, we say hello to our friends using cryptic details.

SM: If you each had to pick your own favourite character you met whilst on this trip, who would it be? (Mine might be that truck driver, just for all of the times he said "beaver".)

SS: Favourite I dunno but I kept thinking about Santa for years and still do every once in a while wondering if he's gonna show up and go nuts on me, also there's a lot of fat white guys with beards wearing sweat pants around so I often think i see him. yeah maybe he's my favourite, most intense for sure. I really get a kick outta thinking back on Gengrenous too. Sponge Face and Rat Fingers are very sweet to think back on also.

SE: Definitely Santa. I learned a lot about Santa Claus that day... Rat Fingers is indeed another favourite because I ended up meeting him again years after the hitchhiking journey and he has been a major inspiration and major influence on my life... Teaching my girlfriend Zeddy and I about wild foods, mushrooms and earth stewardship... He is an amazing man named Louis Lesosky, a raging grandfather who still lives in that van!

SM: And lastly (yes, I know this is six questions but can't stop, won't stop!), do you have any other feature-film projects on the horizon? Or just, what is next for you fellas? 

SE: We became obsessed with 'Ed's Pile' while making this movie...

SS: Ed's Pile

SE: Ed's Pile is on the horizon.... true story


ASPHALT WATCHES Screening Times:

• Tuesday, Sept 10th, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK 8
• Thursday, Sept 12th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 13
• Friday, Sept 13th, 2:15 PM SCOTIABANK 4

5 Questions for THE SACRAMENT and PROXY Actor Joe Swanberg

Joe Swanberg really does it all--writer, director, actor; and somehow he also manages to find time to add husband and father to that list. And in case you were all, "Well, that's not EVERYTHING", we've lurked his Instagram account and can conclude that he also finds time to make beer AND has a burger named after him (the "Joe Swanburger", obviously). So there. He does do everything.

This year, he also happens to be appearing in not just one, but two Vanguard films: Ti West's The Sarcrament and Zack Parker's Proxy. One of our intrepid bloggers, Siân, had a chance to ask Joe some questions about horror films, life, the universe, and everything. Okay, nothing at all about the universe actually, but that's okay.

SM: Firstly, how does it feel to be the unofficial Vanguard mascot? (Yes, apparently you only need to be in two films. Yes, I entirely made this up myself. The prize? Uh, bragging rights. And an ice cream from Dutch Dreams if you're ever in TO.) 

JS: I hope there are stuffed toys of me available at gift shops around the Festival! I suppose the vibe of the Vanguard section fits with my own ideas about exciting filmmakers and interesting stories because I keep ending up in movies that play that section. Also, I'm taking you up on the free ice cream offer.

SM: You've worked with Ti West before. How did you get involved with Zack Parker and Proxy? 

JS: Zack knew me from my work with Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett (A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, YOU'RE NEXT) and thought I would be a good fit for the project. We both had films at the Nashville Film Festival in 2012 and discussed the film then. After completing DRINKING BUDDIES I drove to Richmond, Indiana the next day to start work on PROXY.

SM: You've appeared in a few horror/thriller-y films the past few years-- V/H/S, You're Next, and now Proxy and The Sacrament. (Fun fact: the V/H/S segment you acted in has permanently scarred me. Thank you. By the time your segment came up, I was crying in the foetal position, so I didn't really see much of it, but it sounded terrifying.) Given that you're mostly known for your relationship-based dramas and comedies, what about horror films appeals to you? And any future plans to direct a feature-length horror? 

JS: I love the audience reaction to a horror film. I also love the community that surrounds horror. The fans are so passionate and participatory. After years of watching and acting in friends' horror films, I wanted some of the action myself. I would love to do a feature-length horror film, but have no plans for that at the moment.

SM: You've been very involved in all of your directing projects--often writing, shooting, and editing them as well. Is this important to you? Do you see yourself taking on directing projects that you haven't written any time soon? 

JS: After 10 years of making films, I'm looking for new experiences and new challenges. Directing someone else's script is one of the things I'm excited to try.

SM: You work with a lot of the same people. Obviously you wouldn't keep working with them if you didn't like them and the beautiful magic you create together, but can you speak to what has drawn you to working with the same people? 

JS: Low-budget films are a specific kind of production, and it helps to work with people who are familiar with that world. Once you find someone who you work well with, and who brings something good to the dynamic, there's a strong desire to keep working with that person. I've been lucky to find a community of talented people who are interested in similar things and together we've been able to help each other out in various capacities over the years. As we get bigger opportunities, we continue working together because we know how to help each other and we know where we're all coming from.

SM: Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions, Joe. And, I never go back on an ice cream promise--regular promises, sure; those don't mean squat, but an ice cream promise is sacred--so I will be treating you to an Unofficial Vanguard Mascot Ice Cream when you're in TO next. 

Lastly, to all of you Joe Swanberg fans, do I have EXCITING AWESOME news for you. Ready for it? I can't hear you! Okay, not so loud. Joe Swanberg's Drinking Buddies opens this Friday at the Carlton Cinemas. Go and see what everybody is talking about. (I saw it the other day in NYC and absolutely loved it.)


THE SACRAMENT Screening Times:
Sunday, Sept 8th, 5:15 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Tuesday, Sept 10th, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK 7

Friday, Sept 13th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 3

PROXY Screening Times:
Tuesday, Sept 10th, 10:30 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Thursday, Sept 12th, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK 1

Saturday, Sept 14th, 8:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

THE SACRAMENT: Five Questions for AJ Bowen

If you've seen any AJ Bowen movies (The Rites of Spring, The House of the Devil, A Horrible Way To Die, You're Next), you already know he's a good actor. But his interviews help explain why. He's not only witty, he's also a genuine fan of classic genre films. He's in Ti West's new film The Sacrament, which screens as part of the Vanguard Programme at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, so we came up with some good questions for him.

SPOILER ALERT: His answers are pretty good, too.

1. You've gone on record as saying Black Christmas is your favorite horror film. What other Canadian horror movies do you consider faves?

Canadian horror is actually a love of mine, but in the spirit of brevity I will mention Visiting Hours. I am consistently surprised there isn't more love for that film, and am often imploring friends to check it out. A great proto-feminist genre picture with great atmosphere and an amazing monster in the form of Michael Ironside, who I worked with a couple of years ago and who I forced to sign my DVC. He did, begrudgingly.

Also, the first horror movie I ever saw was Happy Birthday To Me, so I guess I've always been living inside Canadian horror films. And as someone born in 1977, a lot of the gateway films that introduced me to the genre as a young person in the '80s s were Canadian, like Terror Train, Videodrome, Scanners, etc.

Visiting Hours

 2. You've made a lot of genre/horror movies, but you haven't yet been in a horror movie remake. Would you be in one if the circumstances were right and what would those circumstances be?

I was a stage actor before I was in film, so I have always been less opposed to the concept of a remake than a lot of people--I guess I always felt like we were consistently telling the same five to ten stories in some shape or form. I would work on any type of movie, given the right circumstances, and those circumstances would always be the talent involved, and most importantly, the script. If I like a script and I get the sense the filmmakers can pull off the intent/promise of the story, I am pretty much always in.

3. I read up on Jonestown recently and it depressed the hell out of me. Did you have to do any research for The Sacrament on the Peoples Temple or were you already well versed in the story?

Given my age I was acutely aware of Jonestown. As a child of the American South, religious fanaticism was something I was both experiencing and dually fascinated by. Jonestown went right along with learning about fringe cultures that were dominating the news, such as satanic panic. I've always been fascinated by cults, and I had watched everything on Jonestown many times before we ever began the process of making this one, so I intentionally stayed away from reacquainting myself. It was unnerving to see the detailed world our production designer Jade Healy crafted. What I DID do was watch every VICE Guide To Travel. Many times.

4. The Sacrament is another movie that you're working on with that same group of directors, writers, and actors you work with all the time. Do you feel sort of like an ensemble team by this point, the horror equivalent to the Christopher Guest mockumentary folks?

It's a strange thing to talk about--I am not sure the reality matches the idea. It makes sense in indie film to collaborate with your friends, for practical reasons. But it's also a work thing--I typically don't see any of those guys other than Ti and Amy beyond being on set, and I think as these filmmakers are moving into bigger budgets the group of people naturally adapts/changes. The last time I worked with some of those guys outside of The Sacrament was You're Next, and though it only came out recently we shot it well over two years ago.

I can say that if Ti or Joe or Amy asked me to work with them I would always do it, sight unseen. We have a good working relationship and I think they're really talented storytellers.

Resolution: The beardy guy is NOT AJ Bowen, but an amazing similacrum!

5. And will your next movie be a horror mockumentary? If not, what are your upcoming projects?

Ah yes, it's a funny thing to mention but raises a good point about the life of an independent film actor--to be honest I have no idea what is next. It hasn't revealed itself yet. Whenever you wrap picture a part of you believes it is the last time you will be on a set making a movie and it is the last character you will play, unless the next project is already lined up.

I wrote a screenplay with my partner Susan Burke (who wrote Smashed) and we are looking to shoot that next summer. It's possible I will make something before then, though I do not know what that may be. Our script is a comedy, and I've been stepping outside the genre a bit, so were I to do another one right now it would have to be someone I really want to work with, like the filmmakers behind The Battery, or Resolution. Stuart Gordon and I have been trying to get a movie made for a couple of years now so if we are able to fool an investor into paying for it we will make that one. 

The House of the Devil: "Are you not the babysitter?"

There you have it, a peek into the mind of the guy who made, "Are you not the babysitter?" one of the creepiest movie lines of all time.

We strongly urge you to see The Sacrament at this year's Festival. Here are the screening dates and times so you can add it to your schedule.

THE SACRAMENT Screening Times:

Sunday, Sept 8th, 5:15 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

Tuesday, Sept 10th, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK 7

Friday, Sept 13th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 3

PEACHES DOES HERSELF: 5 Questions for Peaches

We decided to ask Peaches five questions about her new movie, Peaches Does Herself, which is playing at the Toronto International Film Festival. Here's what she had to say.

1. Why make Peaches Does Herself into a movie?

For all the lazy people who didn't make their way to Berlin to see one of the ten performances we did of the stage production.

2. What movies were your inspirations when transforming the stage show into a movie?

I saw Phantom of the Paradise and Tommy at a very young age and it's affected everything I do ever since.

I am also inspired by Sandra Bernhard's Without You I'm Nothing.

Phantom Of The Paradise, 1974

3. Who do you want to go see the movie besides your already-existing fan base? 

Vladimir Putin, Todd Akin, and Rick Santorum.

4. What is the one thing you hope people take away after seeing Peaches Does Herself?

It's a feel good movie, really. I want people to feel empowered, get creative!

5. When are you going to take over the world?

I'm working on it!

Tommy, 1975

PEACHES DOES HERSELF Screening Times:
Thur., Sept. 13th, BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA 9:00PM
Sat., Sept. 15th, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 4 3:15PM
Sun., Sept. 16th, JACKMAN HALL (AGO) 4:00PM

SIGHTSEERS: 5 Question Director Interview with Ben Wheatley

The Vanguard Blog had a chance to ask Ben Wheatly, director extraordinaire of Sightseers, some questions. Five to be exact. As the title of this blog would suggest. Check them out below and don't forget to add Sightseers to your list of "Must See" films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year.

1.) Sightseers is a comedy, as you are probably well aware (hopefully)--albeit a black one. How do you feel having a film that will be judged primarily based on how "funny" people find it? I imagine sitting in on screenings would be nerve-wracking: "Will they laugh at this?"; "Why aren't they laughing now?"; "Why ARE they laughing now?" 

All screenings are nerve-wracking initially. You always know that the film is made or broken by a handful of gags, if they don't play then the smaller ones won't play either. Once you have the main 'tent pole' gags working then the other laughs are a bonus, and can be very different from audience to audience, you can't worry about this.

2.) The screenplay was developed by your two main actors, Alice Lowe and Steve Oram. Would you mind explaining a little more about how the story came about and how you became involved? 

The characters had come from Alice and Steve creating them for stand up. Later they made a short film based around them and that was seen by Edgar Wright and he took the project to Big Talk and Nira Park. Nira and I had a chat after I directed Down Terrace and asked if I'd like to direct the feature film version of Sightseers. I had worked with Alice and Steve before and liked the idea of doing something a bit lighter after Kill List. Amy Jump rewrote the script and away we went. Producers Andy Starke and Claire Jones came in from Rook Films and we used pretty much the crew from Down Terrace/Kill List. 

3.) If you were going to go on a caravan holiday, where would you go and would you bring anyone along? Also, would you participate in a killing spree whilst on holiday? (I promise I won't tell on you.)

I would probably travel on the route that Chris and Tina took because it was beautiful. I suppose I could use the Catherine Tramell defence if I went on a killing spree in a caravan.

4.) Sightseers is the first feature you didn't also write. How was it working with someone else's material?

It was fine. It was about things I'm interested with and fitted with the other two films. Also I've directed a lot of TV and adverts from other peoples' scripts, so its not new territory for me.

5.) I promised I wouldn't ask about whether or not you are a pirate, so instead I'll end with: what's next, Mr Ben Wheatley? Another film? World domination via Mechanical Death Spiders? Inquiring minds want to know. (I've always wanted to say that.)

I am not a pirate. I wore a pirate hat once and there is a photo of it.* I have a couple of projects in the pipeline. A film about monsters and cops called Freakshift and a film about the English civil war called A Field in England.

(Questions thought up by Siân Melton; answers provided by Ben Wheatley)

*That is a very pirate-y answer, hmmm. 

SIGHTSEERS Screening Times:
Tue., Sept. 11th, 9:00 PM RYERSON
Thurs., Sept. 13th, 12:00 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 7:00 PM BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

5 Question Director Interview: I DECLARE WAR's Jason Lapeyre & Robert Wilson

The Vanguard Blog had a chance to ask five questions of the talented directors of I Declare War, Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson. And, since we're in a giving mood today we decided to share them with you. You're welcome; don't say we never did anything nice for you. Find the questions and answers below, along with screening times of your future favourite movie. And you better hope that you don't end up playing against these directors in a woods battle. (Starscream AND Boba Fett? We're screwed.)

1.) I Declare War: kids. In the woods. Kids in the woods with weaponry. Please, exactly where in the amazing, dark, recesses of your mind did you come up with this idea? Because it's awesome. 

Thanks! You'll have to jump in a time machine and ask the amazing, dark recesses of my 12-year-old mind, though, because that's when I first started running through the woods and pretending I was hunting and killing my friends. As for the script, I actually wrote it ten years ago, when I first started making films, just because it was the kind of movie I wanted to see. I also really wanted to tell a story about what it was like to be 12, and how intensely you feel things when you're that age, and a game of war felt like a good setting to get into the intensity of a 12-year-old's internal life.

2.) Quick: we're having a battle in the woods. You can pick five members for your team. Living, dead, fictional--who would you choose? (I already called dibs on Chuck Norris, sorry.)

Snake Eyes. Starscream. Spider-Man (John Romita, Jr., not Todd MacFarlane). Wolverine. Boba Fett. (All answers provided by the 12-year-old me.)  

3.) Just how was it with an entire principle cast of 12 and 13-year-olds? Was there a lot of dialogue improvisation? 

It was utterly professional, and a ton of fun. They kids were ridiculously committed to the script. We gave them a pretty long leash to say things in the way they felt most comfortable, and there was the odd word change if some of the slang felt unnatural to them, but by and large they loved this script and wanted to play it out the way it was written.

4.) I vividly remember playing war games with my brothers when I was little (with Nerf guns, as was the way for Kids of the Nineties) and I'm sure you do as well. I'm curious about these new generation kids: did they have more experience playing war games through video games, or do kids still get outside and run around? 

It was a little scary...when we first trained the kids on the weapons with our stunt coordinator, they knew the make and model of every weapon, on sight, and could recite them easily. "Is that the AR-15?  With modified grenade launcher?  Cool!" And we realized it was because of Call Of Duty. So yeah, most of the boys were into that game, but they still had all played Capture The Flag on the schoolyard. I can confirm for adults everywhere: children still play outside.

5.) I can imagine this film is going to get people talking, given that some people don't like the equation "children + weapons". Obviously there's a lot more to your film than just children and weapons and blood, oh my. What are you hoping audience members walk away with after having seen the film?

More than anything else, we just want audiences to be entertained and to experience the pleasure of a story well-told. It's a story about what it's like to be that age, and if people come away from the film empathizing with young people a little more, then that would be great.

(Questions thought up by Siân Melton; answers provided by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson) 

I DECLARE WAR Screening Times:
Sun., Sept. 9th, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK 4
Tue., Sept. 11th, 2:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10
Fri., Sept. 14th, 9:45 PM SCOTIABANK 4