1) What have you been up to since we last spoke in Jan for "That Doe Zone"?

The question is really funny because... I think we've all been up to the same thing since early this year. I've just been, you know, bearing the weight of this crushing moment in American history and like, trying to read and be useful and avoid going insane. Recently I have been editing stuff and making video art in my apartment. I fell in with a group of editors who are re-editing commercial moves and making all these new codes. Lately I've been thinking about decontextualizing commercial images and trying to create some kind of film space liberated from commodification.

2) What was the initial idea for "I Love to Wait" and how did it evolve from there?

I 'm not sure exactly... I was in Brooklyn and the idea started creeping up on me. I think it has to do with this formation in a lot of modern relationships, where people kind of take turns being all in. I sat down on a bench outside and wrote the whole thing on my phone. Then I didn't make it for like two years, until finally the moment presented itself. Gratitude to the Eyeslicer Radical Film Fund, which partially funded the film -- and also my pal David Brundige for playing producer and helping put the pieces together.

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

The whole thing was easy and pleasurable. When we shot in January of 2019, there had recently been raging wildfires in Malibu... So the natural idea was to film amidst that charred area for the segment of the movie set in a wasteland 2000 years in the future. On the day of that part of the shoot, it was raining apocalyptically, and because all the brush had burned away, the terrain was slippery and kind of treacherous. By the time we finished, DP Ben Mullen and I were both completely covered in mud from slipping and tumbling around. But I think the footage turned out really special.

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

I haven't been watching many movies lately... mostly I've been obsessed with the TV show Terrace House. But a few nights ago I wanted to break the seal, so I watched SEX AND LUCIA -- a movie I used to always notice on the rack at Blockbuster when I was a kid, but had never actually seen. And you know, I dug it. It's totally of the ilk of like late 90s, early 2000s, gently surreal, self-consciously stylized romance-adjacent movies (on a family tree with like Amelie or maybe even... dare I say, Trainspotting). It looks very dated -- like it was shot on DV or something, and frames are constantly blown out... but that's sort of endearing? And there was some formal jazz I really appreciated. Ultimately, it's cool. I recommend it. Also want to go on the record here and say that I hope people seek out the movie TITO d. Grace Glowicki, which I caught at Maryland Film Fest last year and truly loved. Think it's out now. Run, don't walk!

5) What’s next for you?

I mean, it's all up in the air. I'm casting a feature now, but feels like the schedule for production is pretty dependent on the virus of it all. Same with another experimental guerrilla feature I wrote. Would love to make stuff like that soon, but the desire to be in production has to be couched against practical concerns like keeping people safe. And as the fabric of society is roiling like a turbulent sea, and as basically everything is everyday feeling ever more apocalyptic in this country, I'm actively trying to be engaged with finding ways to unify my filmmaking practice with my desire to help make a better world out of the ruins of this disintegrating one. And that's a process of imagination, because I think it's obvious that a lot of our codes and structures are obsolete.

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http://www.harrisonatkins.com

IG: @hhharkrr

5 Questions with Harrison Atkins