• Film
  • Joe Swanberg: Silver Bullets, Art History

Film

Joe Swanberg: Silver Bullets, Art History

The young American director presents the only double feature in this year’s Forum. Expect the controversial from the man whose previous films have raised eyebrows for their explicit scenes.

Image for Joe Swanberg: Silver Bullets, Art History
Photo by Joe Swanberg

The young American director presents the only double feature in this year’s Forum. Expect the controversial from the man whose previous films have raised eyebrows for their explicit scenes. (Kissing on the Mouth features, among other things, bathroom scenes where he was masturbating.) It’s his Berlinale debut, but he’s by no means a festival novice; his former features having bounced all over indie festivals.

Sum up your film in 1 sentence.

Silver Bullets: A young actress is cast in a werewolf film and it has unforeseen consequences on her life. Art History: A young actress is cast in a sexually explicit drama and it has unforeseen consequences on her life.

2 good reasons why people should queue in the cold winter to see it?

Two films for the price of one!

Describe your film in 3 words starting with the same letter:

Silver Bullets: Wild. Werewolf. Weirdness. Art History: Intense. Introspective. Investigations.

How did you come up with the initial idea?

Both films are based on my own experiences as a filmmaker.

Why do you make films?

Making films allows me to work with people whom I find interesting.

If you didn’t make films, what would you do?

Perhaps I would be a psychoanalyst. The professions seem very similar to me.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Honesty.

Take two films on a desert island…

Marco Ferreri’s Dillinger is Dead and Stop Making Sense by Jonathan Demme.

A film or director that changed your life?

[The Coen Brothers’] Raising Arizona made me want to be a filmmaker.

Describe one of your favourite scenes in a film of your choice.

Samantha Morton dancing to the song “Sweet Pea” in Alison Maclean’s Jesus’ Son.