5 Questions with Eva Knowles ("Cup of Gold")

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I took all the film classes available at my state university and really fell in love with Cassavettes, Agnes Varda, Paul Morrissey--films that had a loose and free and playful feeling were so vivifying and magical to me. I finally seem to be finding my own simple “loose” and cheap one-woman method of filmmaking that works for me and allows me to depend on nobody else.  I make a living as a high school teacher so I fit my projects into small crevices of time. Documentary style film fits into my limitations and I've come to find that we must accept our limitations and just go for it.  People like Werner Herzog, Les Blank, and Allan King prove it doesn’t get much better or stranger than raw reality. As a working person It’s easy to feel like an outsider to the art world or film world , but I’m trying to cultivate a love for my own subjectivity and dig into the endless ripe material of every normal day. 

2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?

The idea was to capture that very bountiful, generous atmosphere of late-summer/early-fall that I was feeling in the air at the time. September is so luscious and plentiful, yet there’s the creeping melancholy that it’s slipping away before your eyes. I just wanted to capture that. The menacing hell of the wildfires was included of course because it’s just impossible to ignore. The smoke black-out is really spiritually disturbing, especially on would-be crystal clear gorgeous summer days. When the smoke clears and you see beauty again, it’s extra powerful. I was really feeling this sublime power of nature and immense gratitude for normal healthy life when I got around to recording the narration. 

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?

The part that comes easiest to me is shooting--I really am a loner type of person who sits still and stares as a kind of lifestyle. I shoot and I shoot, there is always something going on, some bird doing a crazy thing, and I am ready with the Handycam. The hardest thing is whittling all the footage down to those most precious moments and then finding the connecting thread for the narration. It’s a challenge to create a rhythm and flow. 

4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

The Last Wave (1977) Directed by Peter Weir.  This film is steeped in myths and dreams and captures the layered spirit-scape of a place like Australia or any colonized place, worlds on top of worlds. It’s a beautiful and entrancing adventure that hits hard in a subconscious, unexplainable way. The music is really enchanting too. 

5) What’s next for you?

I’m working on a documentary that explores a local Pacific Northwest legend, some strange historical artifacts, and paranormal experiences. I’m really excited about it and I hope to finish editing by Fall.

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