5 Questions with Jessie Rabideau & Leland Bankowski ("jean-luc rabideau")

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

JR: Well, I studied architecture for almost ten years before I eventually made my way into making films. I would say it sort of just happened, kind of like this movie. Very spontaneously and organically. 

Space is experiential, and I guess I always viewed architecture as a way of telling stories, and then at some point I discovered I wanted to tell those stories through film.

LB: I moved to Manhattan in 1972 to go to CCNY, because I didn’t want to have a college campus experience—and it was free at the time!—and I lived near the original Anthology Film Archives, and I used to read Jonas Mekas’ column in the VV, so I went to see Stan Brakhage and see his films and hear him speak about them, and that got me interested because I realized you could make a film outside of Hollywood. And you could be uncensored, and it was cheap!

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

JR: I initiated it, didn’t I? I guess the idea was I am a narcissist; no, you know what? There was the initial image of me eating ice cream, so I shot that first and I didn’t know what I would do with it, but I shot that in October 2019, and I just set my phone up on a tripod and did the best I could; but that was inspired by a scene from “A Ghost Story.” I was inspired. I had a goal to make a movie in 2020, before all this sh*t happened. And then I got stuck in my apartment, and I said to myself, “I guess I have to make my movie now.” I didn’t even know how I would do it. 

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

JR: Quarantine afforded me not only the time, but the space to create.

LB: …and then it kind of miraculously happened…

JR: …that’s a good way of putting it. Not procrastinating…

LB: …so you started shooting scenes?

JR: I started shooting myself in my apartment. Because that’s all I had. 

LB: Did you know you were shooting a feature film when you started shooting?

JR: No, I didn’t think I would have enough material for a feature. 

LB: For me, taking hours of seemingly home video footage and crafting it into a 3 act experimental narrative film. A bigger problem was the heat, I remember it was a 105 degrees in your apt one day.

JR: I didn’t sleep that night, and you passed out.

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

LB: All 13 hrs of “Out 1,” by Rivette. I loved the risk involved in the making of the film from the actors to the shooting of it and how it plays out and you don’t know what to expect and how it resolves itself. 

JR: Chantal Akerman’s films at the beginning of quarantine, especially Jeanne Dielman - I love how simple they are, and I could see how I could translate this idea to my situation. It showed me a slower cinema was possible.

5) What’s next for you?

JR: Well, we might try to make a few more movies, I don’t know…

LB: I’m gonna go listen to Cage’s “4’33”.

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thisisafilm.com | Instagram >> JR: @rainbowbrite | LB: @mir13cccp