5 Questions with Francesca Pazniokas ("6FT.")

1) What have you been up to creatively since we last spoke in March of last year for "Rules of the Game"?

I've been up to a whole pandemic! NoBudge released Rules of the Game and then days later 2020 released COVID-19 on New York. I mainly work as a writer, actually -- neither of my short films on NoBudge have any dialogue, but I swear it's true -- so I focused on playwriting commissions and a few other pieces for film and theater. But I really started to miss collaborating in person with other artists, which is how 6FT. came into being about 9ish months into the pandemic.

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

I wanted to make a short about COVID that didn't mention COVID -- something about lockdown, since it was such a unique and mind-bending experience. But I also, just personally, dislike seeing any kind of media about COVID right now. I don't need more reality, I want escapism and surreality. I want someone to take my brain somewhere surprising, to transform a topic I think I know very well into something bizarre and unexpected. So for 6FT., I tried to pair the raw reality of quarantine with surreal imagery; it's about the feeling it evokes more than unfolding a narrative. This short is for people who went through lockdown, or who are still in lockdown, but also anyone who's experienced isolation and alienation in a larger sense. Ultimately shooting it was a very instinctual process. Little time, little budget, a lot of experimentation and improvisation with really lovely collaborators.

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

We had a nasty SD card glitch and lost the first two hours of footage, which was a bracing experience. Luckily this shoot was a series of structured improvisational vignettes, which gave us a lot of flexibility, and everyone stayed upbeat and focused. The easiest part was working with Rae, our performer and costume designer. We've known each other since we were kids, and spent years running around rural NJ taking photos and writing stories and dreaming about moving to New York and making art one day. So it's always fun and easy to direct them because our brains are usually on the same weird wavelength.

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

I'd seen "Lemon" and "Man Rots from the Head," but I hadn't seen the rest of Janicza Bravo's short films. So between Youtube and Criterion Channel I've been making my way through the rest of her available short films, which are just as gorgeous and surreal as I was hoping. I love how she frames a shot, the length of scenes and how they transition, how she plays with sound and music, and the uncanny glamor and style of it all. I'm so excited for "Zola." She's a visionary.

5) What’s next for you?

I'm currently working on some new screenplays and plays, most of which are horror. I'm not big on gore, but I love psychedelic, surreal, uncanny things. I'm also hoping to shoot a narrative short later this summer, if the world stays open. I'm still new to filmmaking, and still trying to discover how everything works. And sometimes it's frustrating and mortifying, trying to make sense of the process and culture when you're shy and self-taught. So I try to keep making work consistently, every single day, in different mediums, so I don't get distracted by my ego or anxiety. I just want to make strange and beautiful things.

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francescapazniokas.com | IG: @f.am.p | Twitter: @fampily