Interview: Summer Shelton – You & I

Not unlike how a young Athina Rachel Tsangari ended up being part of a Richard Linklater film, Summer Shelton has been part of the fabric of the American indie scene dating back to a bit appearance in a David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls. After cutting her teeth as a producer (with a pair of prominent titles in the cinema of Ramin Bahrani), Shelton would put all of one’s chips on the table with her feature debut You & I. A second chance at romance or a proper visit with the past, Shelton is joined by Clayne Crawford for a drama romance that re-examines a dynamic (was it ever meant to be more?) and asks the honest questions. I got to speak to Summer at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland – the lieu for the international premiere – chatted about embracing the long-take, how she found her co-lead and how she collaborated with Crawford and the odd documentary film that would become a surprising source of inspiration for her debut.