Se7en Questions with Filmmaker
Jamie Grefe
Who are some of the artists or some of the works that inspired you to get started in your field? Of today’s current artists, who do you draw inspiration from?
There are many ways to answer this question, but I’ll start with some lingering obsessions that feed the work. Recently, I’m very into Killing of a Chinese Bookie (directed by John Cassavetes) just from being in the vicinity of my good friend Gregory Hatanaka who has embodied Cassavetes’ work over the years in his own way. I also often return to Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny as a fascinating experience of time, beautifully composed, and perfected structured. Otherwise, I’m very indebted so many filmmakers that I’ve worshipped over the years like Roger Watkins,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Sono Sion, Hisayasu Sato, Sogo Ishii, David Lynch, PFFR, Nicolas Winding Refn, Carl Dreyer, Ingmar Bergman, Joe D’Amato, Jim Wynorski, James Benning, Philippe Garrel, Jess Franco and on and on… And music… certainly Rudolf Eb.er is ever-present (psychospiritually) in the work, John Duncan, Swans, Nick Cave, Current 93 and a host of other random sounds (static, shortwave, rumbles, droning sounds) and love songs. And jazz… Coltrane, always and forever.
What have thus far been some of the negatives of being an indie artist in your field?
I don’t have any complaints about being in the field other than the fact that I can’t be making a movie every day. I’m very satisfied when I’m well-rested and making a movie or editing a movie. However, if I must list some negatives, one might be that I can’t telepathically communicate with talent. I’d like to be able to communicate wordlessly and just enter a scene with an actor or actress with full trust and beingness. That would be lovely. No rehearsal and maybe just a vague context of conflict and/or mood that could give way to something real.
What have thus far been the positives of being an indie artist in your field?
I’m very happy to be able to craft a movie and bring it into the world. The process from conception to production, learning and wearing multiple hats, is thrilling. And I’m very grateful to be able to have the freedom to make the movies that I’ve made. Gregory Hatanaka has been the most gracious and courageous producer I’ve ever met. And his attention to detail, his foresight, and ability to come up with new ideas is something that I’m in awe of. He’s midwifed all of my movies whether he knows it or not, even the non-Cinema Epoch works that I’ve done. But I digress… Isn’t everything positive when we’re able to to do what we are called to do? Not “everything,” but the main things (the things that really count). I feel taken over by it, and that’s a positivity that I’ve earned by flowing into its current. I’ll let it lead me.
What have been your favorite completed projects to work on up to this point? Can you tell us a little bit about them?
I love all of the movies I’ve done, but I’m torn between two of them. Love Hurts (with Mariana Carvajal) is fascinating to me, because it was my first time to direct a feature with a crew and a proper budget. And I did that movie in half-a-day, took lunch, and then directed Love Never Leaves (featuring Chris Spinelli). That day, split between those projects, shifted my reality, expanded my reality, and validated my thoughts by birthing a new reality. Also, more recently, I shot a movie on my phone with Sofia Studenikina called Love Dreams. The entire project flowed out from the void between us and became something very beautiful, confrontational, and unanticipated. It’s fascinating how a movie can be made from nothing at all. Divorced was also a beautiful project to create, since it was born from such a dark and traumatic experience that I went through. I’m happy that I could confront that word and be with it simply. I love these works, but even as I write this, I feel I’m somehow betraying the love I have for all the other works I’ve done. I don’t want them to be jealous. They have a way of rearing their energies at me.
What projects are you currently working on or have planned for the near future?
As of right now, I’m preparing to direct a movie called Kamasutra that will focus on a man trying to heal his wife who has suffered a physical accident and can no longer walk. The movie will spiral into its own kind of reality, but I dare not speak about that reality, since I feel that it doesn’t wish to be spoken about. It would prefer to remain quiet. Otherwise, Cinema Epoch just released Amityville La Llorona, which examines a couple who find themselves visited by a mysterious stranger who threatens to tear them apart. Beyond that, I’ve been hired to direct many more movies for Cinema Epoch, but (sadly and truly) it’s best not to speak of them. I can tell you, though, that the creative well has no end. It’s one continuous stream. And what’s coming next… these are going to be unlike anything the world has ever seen.
Where do you see yourself in a few years and what would it take for you to consider your career a success?
I see myself making movies, acting, producing, and editing. I see myself making movies that redefine the meaning of anything else I’ve previously done, or movies that compliment and shine their way through anything I’ve done. I would like to collaborate with more people who want to collaborate with me. I’m a very controlling person when I’m directing, but I’m also very free and fluid. I can’t quite explain it. But there’s an organic creative energy that exists and can be found running through all of us. As long as I can continue to nurture and be nurtured by that organic creative energy, I’ll be living meaningfully. I don’t really think of myself in terms of “success.” I feel deeply grateful and appreciative of having the abilities I do, and also open to the world as it comes to me. In this way, I stand in the possibility of success and undertake every project from a framework of success, and beauty. Of course, I’d love to have any endless well of money, too… That would be nice, but I’ll just keep the path… as long as I’m following the way that it leads me, I’ll be successful given the options I have.
If you couldn’t do this anymore, what career path do you think you would have followed and why?
If I couldn’t work in the cinematic arts? I would devote my life to study, perhaps, or teaching those who want to be taught. I’d like to teach at a university someday (if there’s one that will have me). Otherwise, maybe I would start painting more. And paint my muse. And never grow tired. And bring more beauty into this world.
