I wanted to change my body. I wanted to be a little bit more masculine and get rid of my female body. I wanted to be more like a boy. I wanted to be able to do all the fighting scenes, so I wanted to go into martial arts training. I trained a lot in Thai boxing and kickboxing with this crazy Serbian guy five days a week. I did a lot of preparation, and I also took motorcycle driving lessons, and I cut my hair and pierced myself.

My mentor was Kim Ki-young, a Korean master of the 60's and 70's. His movies are very unique and grotesque. If he were in Spain, he would be like Luis Buñuel. Martin Scorsese presented his "The Housemaid" at the Cannes Classics.

There's a history that I want to forget because I used to be somebody else that I want to put behind me. It happens to be the history that my brother Marc wants to hold onto. He's very nostalgic and sentimental person. One of the things that was surprising to me is the extent Marc was holding to our childhood instead of latching into being the grandson of Welles.

I never wanted to make a biopic about Tolstoy. The film I saw was about the tragic comedy about marriage, about the difficulty living with love and impossibility of living without love.

I also made popcorn up at the Directors and Screenwriters Labs. This was probably the best job any aspiring filmmaker could have - it was like auditing the most progressive and exclusive grad school. I was able to sit in on every advisor meeting, I was right there observing the development of some incredible filmmakers.

I remember sitting in Danny's apartment five years ago hearing him tell this true tale and his desire to make it into a Jewish-type "Goodfellas" and an ecstasy-esque "Blow" but I was immediately struck with the image of a naïve Hassid lost in the bright lights of a nightclub, plus me being Jewish and coming-of-age during the nineties in New York City, I instantly felt a personal connection.

Lucky is the reverse. An exploration of that other American Dream, getting something for nothing. I’m sure the emotions it will conjure will be utterly different than what Spellbound inspired.

A handful of 80's pictures including Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and American Graffiti were used for reference but the overall 'look' and 'feel' is very contemporary. Our story is universal in time and place and the aesthetics of the film do dilute that.

One of the keys to the look of the movie was that Zak used some old camera lenses that he’d picked up in the flea market, and they just give it this dreamy quality, totally not what you expect from HD!

What a strange bit of untimely news this morning. Who dies of a heart attack at age 32? Makes no sense. The above news headline isn't a case of bad taste -- I've decided to re-publish a Brittany Murphy interview we had on the site, which I had completely forgot that we had, but it serves as a reminder that the actress, known for bubbly roles as Jameson mentions in his intro below, and as of late, had some back to back films that went the direct to video route, should also be remembered for taking on some difficult, challenging indie parts as in Karen Moncrieff's film.

Being with Inuit who are experts in living in that environment and learning from them, adapting to their pace and their rhythm, letting the work be influenced by that, accepting that and finding the aesthetic of that relationship to nature, is a great pleasure, a challenge, a learning experience and it is very rewarding.

Producer Mark Gordon wanted me to direct the film and, quite frankly, I didn't jump at it. Not because I didn't want to direct, quite the opposite, I was on my way to directing another film, but because I didn't think I was experienced enough to take it on.

After learning the ins-and-outs of running a grassroots marketing campaigns in their inaugural year of operations, Oscilloscope Laboratories are certainly poised to support the troops that are the make up The Messenger, which opens this Friday. We had a chance to speak to Zoe Chan, the Art Director over at Oscilloscope who guided us through the make up of this unique poster one sheet.

Kellerhouse Inc., has created stunning covers for Criterion Collection releases, and even developed logos for Pixar's "Finding Nemo", and "UP" (his website is well worth a look). This time around he creates his own inspired version of a 70's/80's horror poster that evokes its own kind of chills while tipping its hat to the likes of "Carrie", "Rosemary's Baby", and "Black Christmas".

I go to a lot of shows, and art markets and auctions, and it's just interesting noticing the people who are buying art and collecting art, and their mixed motivations. It just seemed like a nice comic setup to have these two brothers, bringing together these two contemporary artists.

"Your emotional intelligence suffers and in a way you lose your own identity because you start to identify with the family that you live with, which is not from your same social class, and you misinterpret many things."

"Carey Mulligan was found by our casting director. We looked at a lot of girls but I had a good idea of who Jenny should be."

"Unfortunately time would vindicate me. Not everything has been beneficial for the people of Araya."

"Pop Skull is very unique, because it progresses from an intimate mumblecore movie into more of an intense psychological ghost story. Another selling point is that it was produced for less than it usually takes to shoot a low budget music video."

In honor of the film's North American premiere, and its poster of course, the talented folks at Studio No.1 take a moment to discuss process, politics and posters.

When you take this idea based on a dream and then work for three years of your life on a film and strive to do something that is original or different it may be based on the problem that, with some people, it is their culture that is restrained and if you do something surreal - you draw comparisons with Charlie Kaufman.

Then a friend gave me "Dirt, the Ecstatic Skin of the Earth" and we found out that not only was Dirt made up of Stardust but that Dirt was / is also alive. And we were off and running toward making the film when I discussed this with Gene.

Eimbcke innovates with a language and landscape of his own, telling a story that's loosely based on Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief.

I'd been reading horror articles in the newspapers about the oceans sporadically for about 5 years, but I always thought...how do I put these together into a film? I always had had a passion for marine life and then I read Charles Clover's book The End of The Line and I realized my search was over.

Gael Metroz makes a stunning debut with this documentary that traces a Swiss traveller and writer Nicolas Bouvier's route from Geneva all the way to Sri Lanka.

Julia’s a hard and dark character but I wanted this to be a kind of "thriller" and in thrillers you have dark characters. But because it's not a typical genre thriller, I think people get a little confused and don't really know what to make of the characters. It's a little bit like the end of "Killing of a Chinese Bookie" when the guy is standing on the sidewalk clutching his gunshot wound. I think a lot of people are like "so what?" The answer is not clear to them and this creates a sense of frustration with the film.

A powerful documentary about a 14 acre garden in Los Angeles that was at the center of a decade long dispute, The Garden details how a piece of land in South Central which was once considered a wasteland by the owner, good for garbage or warehouses by the city, but was turned into a lush garden by a mostly Latino community. After a dubious deal between the city and the owner, the gardeners are driven out but not without a fight which is at heart of this film by multi-tasking writer and director Scott Hamilton Kennedy.

A superb existential thriller that haunts you long after you’ve left the theater, writer/director Götz Spielmann cleverly uses the thriller genre to dig deep into the psyche of his characters.

Further proof that the Israeli cinema is thriving, and continues to deliver thought-provoking portraits, the Mill Valley Film closed with the smashing film Lemon Tree. The drama demonstrates that Israeli and Palestinian can live and work together, at least in the artistic community.

Souléymane Sy Savané is professionally trained actor – this is his first film. Red West you know his history. Elvis Presley’s best friend and bodyguard (Memphis Mafia), all the films with Elvis all his character roles in Hollywood with Oliver Stone, Altman, Coppola, and films like Roadhouse and Glory Road. But this is his first leading role. Their faces were critical.

Before watching Matteo Garrone’s Neapolitan crime epic Gomorrah I knew next to nothing about the Camorra syndicate, which holds southern Italy in a tight grip of fear.