Interviews

Interview: Paul Schrader & Cedric Kyles – First Reformed

Published on July 30, 2018

A pastiche of Diary of a Country Priest and Winter Light, Paul Schrader latest film, First Reformed (read our ★★★★ review), follows the plot structure that made him famous at first place: it is the story of a loner trying to save a ruined maiden who was impacted by the forces of sin but in his mind, she remains immaculate. Themes discussed at length in Transcendental Style in Film: Ozu, Bresson, Dreyer, his book on religion and cinema (currently back into print) here the filmmaker embraces religious bigotry with environmentalist fundamentalism: the film represents the case that the current world isn’t just spoiled, but it also moves toward the apocalypse; to end this situation we need to do extreme action.

Released in theatres via the on May 18th via the A24 Film folks, this sit down took place at the 2017 Toronto Intl. Film Festival. In the audio you’ll hear my talk with Paul Schrader and Cedric the Entertainer, who also goes by the name of Cedric Kyles where we discussed their collaboration, inspiration, and their working strategy.

Related Topics:Cedric Kyles, Paul Schrader, top-stories, U.S. Indie Film Interview

Amir Ganjavie

Amir Ganjavie, a Ph.D. in communication and culture, is a Toronto-based writer, cultural citric, festival director, community activist and filmmaker. Fascinated by the issue of alternative and utopian space in modern urban settings and cinema, Amir has published several articles on utopia and two books, one on utopia (Le rÃ´le de la pensÃ©e utopique dans lâamÃ©nagement des villes de demain) and the other on walkable neighbourhoods (Pour une ville qui marche). He has recently co-edited two special volumes on Iranian cinema for film International and Asian Cinema and edited a Humanities of the Other: An essay collection on the Dardanne Brothers (in Persian). Aside from academia, he writes for MovieMaker, Filmint, Mubi, Senses of Cinema, Offscreen and Brightlight. Amir is very active in the community. He serves as the CEO of CineIran Festival and Phoenix Cultural Centre of Toronto. He is also the founding member of NaMaNa Cinema. He has recently directed/produced a long feature film in Canada, named Pendulum. His top 2 theatrical release for 2017: IldikÃ³ Enyedi's On Body and Soul and Michel Hazanavicius's Redoubtable.