Mark Webber likes to go his own way, animated by a peaceful yet intense desire to make cinema out of the emotional landscape of real life. In addition to a solid acting career, which has seen him cross paths with Gus Van Sant (Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot), Jim Jarmusch (Broken Flowers), Woody Allen (Hollywood Ending) and Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), he is now five movies deep into his own filmography as director, with his latest (The Place of No Words) being presented at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, where he also received the Indie Star Award at the 10th edition of the Festival.

A fervent believer in his approach to filmmaking – ‘reality cinema’ – Webber plucks his stories out of personal events, shared moments, and an authentic sense of intimacy, which also leads him to cast friends and family in his extended crew of regulars. I caught up with the passionate and humble director during his visit to Poland – in quite a departure from his past experiences presenting films at SXSW, Tribeca and Sundance – to talk about his career, influences and aspirations.