You’re familiar with her father’s directing — he’s won three
Oscars for it — but Clint’s daughter Alison Eastwood also is starting to build
a career behind the camera. The 43-year-old former actress (“Acting hasn’t been
in the scene for a while”) will screen her sophomore directorial effort,
Battlecreek, Feb. 6 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
By Saffana Hijaz.
A
low-budget indie about a loner with a rare skin disease (Bill Skarsgard) who
has a life-altering meeting with a young woman after her car breaks down, it’s
exactly the sort of film Eastwood loves most. “I’ve always been kind of drawn
to people who might be damaged or have issues,” she told THR on the eve of the
screening.
What made you decide to direct Battlecreek?
A childhood friend of mine [Anthea Anka] had written it. We
reconnected after growing up and I really liked the character Henry. I thought
there was something really beautiful about the fact that he was so pure and
innocent. I like that he has an A to B journey. I think I was really drawn to
it because it made me sort of moody. Also, I’ve always liked films that take in
place in the south, and the feeling of Americana, and the sort of backwardness
of it sometimes. The frozen in time feel. My co-producer is a woman and the
writer is a woman and I'm very much for working with other women and trying to
continue bringing women into film, to the forefront of this business.
Were you influenced by any other directors while making this
film?
I mean, there's obviously directors that are great and I
appreciate their films, but what influences me is trying to do my best to tell
the story. I always appreciate it when you can watch film and not feel that the
director has sort of imposed their ego onto it by being very gratuitous or
keeping scenes really long, because they're so in love with their work. I just
really wanted to step out of the way and try to let the story unfold, and the
actors do their job. I always just try to let the story go where it wants to
go, and do my best to run the ship, without being a dictator. My influence is
directors who want to keep themselves in the background, as opposed to the
forefront. I try to use that as my inspiration.
How hard was it to get this movie made? Did you get a green
light immediately?
We finally got this movie after many years of struggling and
having different budgets and different casts and putting the money together,
having it fall apart, and actually having the trials and tribulations of
putting together an independent film. To actually get it up and running and to
be there making it was such a great feat; I'm hoping that kind of came across
in a subtext in the project. It almost killed us to get [the film] made and we
almost gave up. At one point we were like, "forget it, we just can't do
this anymore." How long do you try to put a project together before you
move on?
Is there a certain type of movie you want to direct, or do
you want to experience a whole range of genres?
I like to make films that I would go and see. I'm not into Sci-Fi or superhero movies. I'm really into sort of indie art house films and
small dramas and things that remind us of our humanity, as opposed to taking us
out into another world.
What advice did your dad give you on directing?
He has a dry sense of humour. So his biggest piece of advice
for me as a director was, “Make sure you get a lot of sleep, because you're
going to need it.” That was his big piece of advice. He has a funny way of
giving support through different weird ways of saying things, so that it's not
so direct. He's just kind of encouraging in a different way, and has a funny
way of passing on words of wisdom. I don't think he's ever discouraged any of
the kids from acting or wanting to direct or produce, but certainly he really
hasn't encouraged it either. But once we've gotten different roles, he’s
definitely very supportive of what everyone does and tries to be helpful.
He did tell me when I was directing my first movie [2007’s
Rails & Ties], “Make sure that you make a definitive decision about what
you what it is you want to do, what you want from the movie, or the characters
or the actors, and don't stray.” And then he made a somewhat funny, derogatory
comment about women directors, saying that a lot of them can be very wishy-washy,
not know what they want, and they end up shooting things all different ways and
not really having a definite vision. If you want to represent your gender, be
very specific in your vision, and stick with it no matter what. Believe in what
you're doing, as opposed to changing your mind or being wishy-washy in the
middle of production, because the crew and your actors are sort of looking for
you to have a very clear path.
Has your dad’s involvement in politics influenced you at
all?
Oh, God no. We don’t share the same political views. We just
agree to disagree. There’s two things we don’t ever talk about: politics and
religion. I watched my dad do the whole empty chair thing at [the 2012
Republican convention], and I thought it was so bizarre that I think it
actually had a lot of people, like, “What the hell? I don't want to support
this guy and see his movies anymore.” I know he received a lot of hate mail —
people sent DVDs to his office, because they didn't want to watch his movies
anymore. It was weird backlash. So I would feel like taking a big political
stance, on whatever side you're on, is always kind of a dangerous thing.
I always look for somebody who I think can fight that David
and Goliath battle and be honest. I'm a Bernie Sanders fan. I don't have a
problem with the fact that he labels himself a socialist. I mean, I still
believe in democracy. I like his message and the fact that he doesn't seem to
be supported by big money and big corporations. But people like Donald Trump
who just promote negativity and hate really frighten me.
Thanks to Dave Turner
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