by Kristen Linton
I had the opportunity to spend some time in TriBeCa at the Film Festival a few weeks ago. My sister is a filmmaker and she needed a companion to help her do some research for her upcoming projects. I was tapped to be her accomplice.
As can be expected at these kinds of things, we went to some great events and some not so great events, we saw some great films and some not so great films; but what impressed us the most was a “Tribeca Talks Directors Series” with Bryce Dallas Howard and Mira Nair.
If you are not familiar with Mira Nair or her work, I recommend that you spend some time getting to know her. She is a visionary director who follows her own rules and makes great films exactly how she wants to.
Her latest film, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, premiered at Tribeca last month and she was at the festival promoting it; which is why she and Bryce Dallas Howard spent a sunny Saturday afternoon talking to my sister and me, as well as a room full of other film enthusiasts, about her career and her role as a mother, wife, teacher, and “student of life”.
With complete sincerity and wit she charmed all of us. I found myself jotting down in my notebook every nugget of wisdom shared. Although she was speaking largely about making films, I found her advice to be applicable to any career path.
She advised us to think beyond the “Hollywood boys club”. “Find a different route. You can’t take the same route!” she emphatically exclaimed. She spoke of the importance of community—that we need the nourishment of a supportive environment to invent and create new and inspiring work and to provide “succor for the blows of life”. She said that her own success is due to the fact that she doesn’t seek the approval of mainstream Hollywood, and that she has a supportive community of friends and family who believe in her and her vision. Because of them she is able to make her own work and tell the stories that she wants to tell—the stories ignored by the status quo.
Perhaps the most important thing that she said and what I continue to think about nearly a month later, is the idea of “deserving your audience”. She said that it is important to tell and support stories that are deserving of the audience’s attention.
I have not yet seen The Reluctant Fundamentalist, but based on Mira’s track record I expect it will give me something to think about and it will certainly deserve my attention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SQs2Y8drP8
Related Reading:
5 Filmmaking Lessons From Mira Nair and Bryce Dallas Howard’s Tribeca Talk
