SFF ALUM SPOTLIGHT: Director Amy Seimetz Interview and Even More Sizzling SFF Hot List Recommendations!
BREAKING NEWS: Amy's film SUN DON'T SHINE screens this Saturday at 7 PM! TICKETS GOING FAST!
Amy Seimetz is a multi-talented artist who has appeared at SFF many times in recent years. As an actor you will recognize her from SFF's acclaimed THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER & TINY FURNITURE (and, of course, last year's wonderful film by Megan Griffiths' THE OFF HOURS.) She also appeared in the SFF film THE JONESTOWN DEFENSE and A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE from V/H/S wraparound director Adam Wingard!
This year Amy is here in support of her feature film directorial debut, SUN DON'T SHINE. This is a magnificent achievement, a film rich in atmosphere, nuance and tension filled with outstanding performances and shot in and around St. Petersburg and Bradenton! SUN DON'T SHINE screens THIS SATURDAY at 7:00 PM and encores Thursday, April 19 at 6:00 PM. Amy will be here for Q&As after both screenings! Click here to buy tickets now!
Before we talk to Amy, a few recommendations of great films at SFF 2012 from other returning alums! Click on the titles to buy tickets! They're going fast!
LEAVE ME LIKE YOU FOUND ME: The directorial debut of Adele Romanski who produced SFF alums MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER and THE FREEBIE! Adele will be here for Q&As after her screenings! Friday, April 20, 6:15 PM, encores Sunday, April 22, 7:00 PM.
ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA: Part of our Documentary Feature Competition, an amazing exploration of nuclear power plant communities and more from Don Argott and Sheena M. Joyce (ROCK SCHOOL, LAST DAYS HERE, ART OF THE STEAL.) Don and Sheena will be here for Q&As after their screenings! Saturday, April 21, 5:45 PM, Sunday, April 22, 4:45 PM.
SEE GIRL RUN: Director Nate Meyers' charming and wonderful study of a woman chasing the "one who got a way" stars Robin Tunney (THE MENTALIST, THE CRAFT) and Adam Scott (PARTY DOWN, PARKS AND RECREATION). Nate won the SFF 2007 Independent Vision Award for PRETTY IN THE FACE. Nate will be here for Q&As after his screenings! Thursday, April 19, 6:15 PM. encores Sunday April 22, 1:30 PM.
NOBODY WALKS: Director Ry Russo Young's entrancing drama stars John Krasinski and Olivia Thirby. As an actor Ry appeared in SFF's HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS and last year's THE COLOR WHEEL; her directorial achiements include ORPHANS and YOU WON'T MISS ME. Ry Russo Young and producer Alica van Couvering will be here for Q&As after their screenings! Friday April 20, 5:45 PM and Saturday April 21, 7:45 PM!
REVERSE PARTHENOGENIS: Producer Sarah E. Baker is not just an SFF alum, she's former staff! The film is directed by LOST producer and MIDDLEMAN creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach. (Hey, we need to get him and Dominic Monaghan from THE DAY together for a full-on LOST reunion!) Javier and Sarah will be here for Q&As after their screenings! Part of our SHORTS1 TIME WILL TELL collection screening Monday, April 16 at 12:45 PM, encores Wednesday April 18, 2:00 PM.
Now, on to our chat with Amy Seimetz!
THE INSIDER: What inspired the story of SUN DON'T SHINE?
AMY SEIMETZ: It's based off a reoccurring nightmare, Florida crime stories, failed love stories and having more on the line than I was ready to deal with.
THE INSIDER: What are some of your influences and inspirations as a filmmaker that came into play with your direction of this film?
AMY SEIMETZ: MOVIES: Two Lane Blacktop, Woman Under the Influence, Deliverance, Wanda, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, Rocky, Badlands, and Urban Cowboy. FICTION: Flannery O'Connor (A Good Man is Hard to Find?), Joyce Carol Oates (Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?), William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying)... THE NEWS: Casey Anthony, St. Petersburg Times/Tampa Bay Times... People escape to and from Florida. It's a place for transients, a place to seek paradise, a catalyst for something different, a pressure cooker for violence, a watery grave and a place I call home.
THE INSIDER: Tell us about some of your favorite experiences shooting this film.
AMY SEIMETZ: It was July, 102 degrees, in a car with no A/C and I could not have felt more at home. I convinced the crew that alligators are more scared of us than we are of them to coax them into shooting a scene waste deep in the water. I am from here. I am terrified of alligators. We are lucky.
THE INSIDER: Did your career as a noted actor help you when it came time to direct your fine cast?
AMY SEIMETZ: I worked with Kate Lyn Sheil (who plays Crystal in SUN DON'T SHINE) on Silver Bullets, which I acted in and produced, as well as Gabi on the Roof in July. She is wildly gifted at referencing high and low art and relating to morality on a philosophical and painfully personal level, turning this morality over and over and examining it from all angles without stunting her ability to sling-shot an irrational, unpredictable yet calculated performance.
Kentucker Audley is so unbelievably charming. I acted in a film he directed, Open Five, and I thought he was the strangest, most honest, yet elusive man I've met. This is all just off screen. On screen you cannot take your eyes off of him. He's a movie star — whether he likes it or not. I wrote this story specifically for these actors to perform. Even the supporting parts — A.J. Bowen, Kit Gwin, Mark Reeb — are played by actors I loved working with and for whom I wrote specific parts.
THE INSIDER: What do you think audiences take from SUN DON'T SHINE?
AMY SEIMETZ: It's a cathartic nightmare of a film: a glimpse at a moment to which you seldom want to go, but can't help your brain from fearing. The film takes place after the crime and before the punishment. I anticipate that everyone will walk away with varying moral judgements.
The Insider
Wanted by motion picture executives for revealing industry secrets to a public with the Right to Know, "The Insider" has spent over 15 years working behind the scenes in almost every aspect of "The Biz" developing a secret network of contacts, spies, moles, and highly trained counter-intelligence operatives and movie ninjas whose only goal is to inform and entertain you-and help you make this the best year of the Sarasota Film Festival ever!
