Directors in their own words

Never mind splashy screenings for the likes of Baby Mama and Speed Racer. Tribeca '08 will largely be a forum for the Little Films That Can. And many won't. Some projects may have the money for a reasonably slick marketing push; some won't have enough coin to fly the director's family out for the premiere. Regardless of the camp into which they fall, we thought it only fair to allow the people in charge of these films, the directors, to appeal to our readers themselves.

We posed the same five questions to every filmmaker accepted into the festival and offered them the chance to reply. Below are the responses we've received, virtually unedited. (We've made a few snips for clarity; that's it.)

James Westby, director of The Auteur

1 Why should someone watch your movie, in 100 words or less? (Don't just paste in your marketing blurb. Persuade our readers.)
People should watch The Auteur to see a movie that sort of feels like a straight-up romantic comedy, but then turns on them and starts showing some very outrageous things, like the genius porn director Arturo Domingo getting kicked out of USC Film School for making Five Easy Nieces as his thesis project, or his movie Dyke Club spawning several real-life Dyke Clubs in high schools across America, or Arturo's career going down the toilet with dreck like The Fisting of a Chinese Bookie and Children of a Lesser Wad.

2 Without spoiling your plot, describe a scene in your film that audiences will love.
The restored director's cut of Arturo's ill-fated Vietnam epic Full Metal Jackoff, which is the climax of The Auteur, is a scene that I hope audiences will fully embrace. It is my very proudest moment as a filmmaker, and will hopefully be something of a catalyst in achieving world peace. Let's just say it's six guys in North Vietnam, looking for women. They don't find any, so they explore the options. Come for the film, stay for the jackoff.

3 If your protagonist were an animal, what would he/she be and why?
Arturo Domingo would be a rabbit, because then he could sit and watch the other rabbits as they hump each other.

4 What will surprise me about this movie?
The brilliant performances of the relatively unknown Melik Malkasian (as Arturo Domingo), Katherine Flynn (as his long lost love Fiona), and John Breen (as porn star Frank E. Normo) are very surprising indeed. So, those and the Full Metal Jackoff scene.

5 How would describe your filmmaking style or philosophy? How is that reflected in this project?
My filmmaking is highbrow-meets-lowbrow. I am equally influenced by the French New Wave and bad `80's comedies. This is reflected in The Auteur by the fact that there are soul-searching scenes of a husband driven mad with jealousy, and there is also a movie within it called While You Were Queefing.

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