Croix Belgard - Interview

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Who's your biggest fan?  

My biggest fan is my girlfriend, Jessi. She has been there through thick and thin of every production I have been a part of.

What brings you inspiration the most?  

My inspiration is to be better than everyone else and to make the best film possible.

Which actor or director would you like to work with?  

I would love to work on a Christopher Nolan film because everything he shoots is almost annoyingly perfect and beautiful. 

Have you ever seen a film that was better than the book?  

One film that is better than the book is Shawshank Redemption. Even Steven King sold it for $1 because he knew it would be great.

What's the movie that taught you the most?  

The Godfather has taught me the most about story elements and character arcs which are the core of any film.

About your artistic career, have you ever had the desire to quit everything?  

I have never had the desire to quit, I only want to get better.  

On set what excites you the most?  

On set, that feeling when you film the take that you are 100% going to use in the final cut, excites me the most.   

And what scares you the most?  

What scares me the most is non-compliant actors who are difficult to work with.  

What's your next project? 

My next project I am producing, re-writing, and co-directing another short film titled Uncle Pete. 

You can steal the career of an artist you really admire, who do you choose? 

If I could steal the career of one director it would be Kubrik. He got to make films the way he wanted with amazing budgets and all the time in the world. Those films are perfect because he is so meticulous. On the other hand I would also love to have every Scorsese film in my portfolio. 

A director is made of.... 

A director is made of steel because they endure the most intense pressure on set. We get it from all angles. 

For you Cinema is.... 

For me cinema is an extremely personal and creative form of storytelling. 

Do you think Black and white movies have a powerful impact? 

B&W movies have an immense impact because they did not have the technology to be able to trick the audience's emotions by using certain colors or lighting. The lighting used in black and white film is genius. 

Have you ever dreamed of winning an Oscar? 

No, I have never dreamed of winning an Oscar. I dream of making great films.

Do you think you're gonna win it? 

No, I do not think I am going to win it. 

 If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

If  I could work with anyone in the world, it would be Daniel Kaluuya, the  star of Judas and the black messiah and Jordan peele’s Oscar winning  “Get out”. 

Tell us something most people don't know about you.

I worked as an accountant/Audit associate in one of the big 4 accounting firms before deciding to chase my filmmaking dream.

The one person who has truly believed in you throughout your career.

Not  just one person, but both my Mom and Dad have truly believed in me and  my career. Even when I decided to leave accounting behind, they were in  full support till this very moment. I greatly appreciate having  supportive parents by my side. 

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as filmmaker?

Learning  from your mistakes is key. Every project you embark on, you learn  something from it that will make you better at your next project. If you  are not learning from your mistakes then you’re doing it wrong. 

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?

I  think it is way harder to keep going. A lot of people start and  eventually give up. I know tons of people who gave up and decided to do  something else. I had to conquer self-doubt and build believe and trust  in my craft. As far as you put in the work, there will be light at the  end of the tunnel. This isn’t an easy business. 

What keeps you motivated?

Knowing  that putting my maximum effort and working really hard will get me to  my goals and ambition. This makes me want to stay motivated. As they  always say, hard work beats talent. For my talent to pay off, I have to  put in the work. 

On set, the most important thing is:

For  me the most important thing is communication and respect. Communication  is key, for getting the job done, whether it is the pre-production  stage, production or post. Adequate communication is needed at all  levels. Respect is something I do not joke with. On my sets I am very  respectful regardless of the pressure I face and I also hope that people  around me are equally respectful to each other. 

The project(s) you’re most proud of: 

The  project I’m most proud of is my last short titled “The Decision”,  winning tons of awards and nominations at the festival circus. It was a  crazy ride filming it with a lot of ups and downs.

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

The  Decision is is also my most challenging project. No matter how you  plan, unavoidable situations happen. You as a filmmaker need to deal  with it and solve the problem. I learnt that from this project.

What are your short term and long term career goals?

My  short term goal is to get my feature film green lit by fall. A story  based on my award-winning short film. Long term goal is to have 3  features directed by me and picked up for distribution in the space of  the next 5 years.

Your next projects?

Presently Co-producing a thriller feature, ‘The Sweepers” to be directed by the award winning Michael Matteo Rossi, slated to begin principal photography in October. Also in development is my directing feature debut titled “The Decision”. 

Equally producing a dance feature titled “Dear, Origin” slated for principal photography Winter 2021. 

Please share with us where people can find you on social media, so our readers could keep track of your career

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/samuel_nk/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/samuel_nk_

Linked in - https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-nkwume-44b5a4147/

IMDB - https://www.imdb.me/samuelnkwume

 If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

I have admired Spike Lee for decades. He was also my professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. The screenplay for Mr. Lee’s iconic film, Do the Right Thing, was my screenwriting bible. It was a perfectly tailored film in which Brooklyn, New York’s simmering racist culture was brutally exposed on a hot summer day. I admire filmmakers who set the tone—the ambiance of a socially significant motion-picture while steadfastly keeping to a plastered season and are exquisitely able to spin a lamentable tale within the confines of the stifling beaming sun, ferreting out those rat racists of Brooklyn equipped with undertones of such sadness brought to the forefront in bitter sweet notes of comedy. Mr. Lee is a master of this fading genre. 

Tell us something most people don't know about you.

Most people who do not know me well, or those who attain merely a faint glimpse of my character do not have an inkling that I suffer from debilitating anxiety.  I have battled this fear of apprehension regarding the future, excessive nervousness and worry about not being accepted by my colleagues or my friends and family ever since I began to express this hounding angst as a child of ten, whence I commenced upon my poetical escapades and decided to become a poet or a lady of verse. I presume that those who come across this interview now know that I am an anxious being, so it is no longer my secret. 

The one person who has truly believed in you throughout your career? 

My mother is the one person who truly believed in my work throughout my career by supporting me through the harshest of financial times and the trying meanderings of an artist’s youthful follies to succeed in this most challenging industry riddled with hurdles at each turn.  My Mama and might I add, my grandmother, have held this burning torch of faith in my artistry and in my cinematic craft which I so deeply appreciate.  I am a mother myself and have come to the realization of how pivotal it is to support your children’s dreams whatever they may be. While my aunt always called me touched in the head and mad, my mother and her mother in turn, recognized that I had a spark of talent. I admire my Mama so much for believing in me and supporting me in my sincere and unfaltering desire to make movies. I would never have had the courage to make Used and Borrowed Time, had it not been for the support of my beloved Mama. 

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as a filmmaker?

Films are the most sacred form of artistic expression, but a director must not make a film out of revenge or hatred. I learned that filmmaking is an art of love and not an art of the battle-axe.  While I do not necessary believe that a director ought to shoot a film as a therapeutic experience—making a film, recounting a sad true story or conceptualizing a fairytale means that you must be married to your craft and that translates to never having to settle for mediocrity or insincerity but to shoot the film that you wish to make while keeping your artistic integrity in tact through the passion and admiration that you possess for this unique craft. In other words, directors warrant a committed relationship to their film projects, to their cast, crew and to their producers—there can be no mistresses involved, that’s sacrilegious to the art form and desecrates a film project from its conception with a dishonest approach. For an actor, I believe it is most important to believe in your character’s existence and to fancy yourself as that character. If the actor strays from the poignancy of the specific character trait that he or she must portray—the truth in that specific portrayal is lost and that is a grievance to the nature of the actor.  For screenwriters, I feel that the profession calls for a preponderance of stamina in creative but structured writing—it’s a craft and one that beckons a blue print outline with a definitive theme, plot points and solid drama.  The screenwriter needs discipline—if a writer procrastinates it may consume the project and send the artist into a drinking stupor—at least that is my personal experience with that particular inadequacy. 

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?

I firmly believe that it is much harder to begin.  There you are, staring at a series of blank pages, mortified to commence the creative journey. You are not certain where the ebbing paths shall take you and where your artistic choices will lead.  The debris—thick with heaviness way upon your soul and the obstacles mount against your hide with each blank hill of a page.  In order to conquer that debilitating fear in the pursuit of screenwriting, I have to clear my mind, find the inspiration and let my fingers do the talking.  Then my heart will pour itself onto those taunting pages and I find that I can sustain this fighting feeling for as long as I need to finish the screenplay. With filmmaking, I feel that once on set, the sustenance of continuing to shoot for lengthy periods of time in different turbulent locations is fatiguing and so one must call upon the muses to harness stamina in order to keep inspired and motivated. A director is the master of his own ship but there are pirates on deck to watch out for lest they hijack your entire film production and you are left with a grip devoid of an artist’s dream. 

What keeps you motivated? 

Writing and shooting a compelling story keeps me motivated. Memories from the heart are like souvenirs to share with the audience. Film graces you with the favor to hold an audience captive while unleashing a story of a human struggle, a tender desire, or a wanton ill which shackles and stifles society.  If I can move a soul to ponder over humanity’s plight; that serves as my sincere motivation.  Naturally, I aim to entertain, above all, but I do not wish to reel an audience hook line and sinker with frivolity. There exists a plethora of mundane works of art that circulate in the sphere of cinema and that’s a pity because it diminishes the beauty of capturing that sacred art form on celluloid or during these progressive days, on digital. I wish to tantalize a spectator’s mind or to touch the soul of a viewer through submerging the audience in Dante’s Inferno and seeing if the audience can forgive me for the gratification of presenting life as I see that life, entangled in the webs of its virtue or entrapped by the horrors of its vice. 

How has your style evolved? 

My passion for film shall never dissipate and while I have been writing plays for the theatre for nearly twenty-five years, when I commenced my writing career, I dabbled with themes of sentimentalism, deep romanticism and drama phantasma for the screen.  After attending Fordham University Law School and majoring in International Human Rights Law, I have seen my writing gain a socially conscious purview. I seek to make movies which call for social change, an adherence to the rule of law, and a plea for equality and tolerance. I am distinctly aware of the injustices, racism, bigotry and biases which dog our contemporary society and it is my goal to shed light on these inequities while refraining from preaching like a charlatan, pastor upon a soap box. I am not a politician nor a talk show host. I want to show and recount the truth which we face as marginalized folk, as those working on the periphery of time and slaving against the grain of what is expected, even if it is ruthless in cinematic presentation. Even if a spectator cannot fathom swallowing their meatloaf after what I have shown on the silver screen—and if that’s the effect of my work, I’ve moved a spirit to quit eating and start thinking with a cause for change settled in the crevices of the mind. My favorite author, James Baldwin, did not shy away from dragging the will and shrieking sound of defiance to the forefront to take swords up against discrimination and intolerance. My style has evolved to face the music but not to simply listen to the sound but to hear the words echoing in the halls of the heart, screaming for societal change and equitable justice. 

On set, the most important thing is:

On set, the most important aspect is to be cool, calm and collected. As a director, I seek to unleash effective convincing performances from my cast. I must be endearing and leisurely while at the same time I must be ready to crack a certain whip so that momentum is not lost. A director should be versatile, sensitive yet bold, a commander in chief but not a fool and eager to listen to suggestions—open to ideas. I believe a director should learn from the cast and crew by using soft words when needed, gentle persuasion where expected and brash domineering force when required, especially when seeking a momentous performance or when imprinting for cinematic posterity that once in a life time Gone with the Wind Love Scene shot atop of the emerald hill overlooking a field of chaos whist still awaiting paradise to march in and salvage that day for night shot on the set, before the director shouts: “Cut!” 

The project(s) you’re most proud of…

I am most profoundly proud of my film, Poor Liza, which starred Academy Award Nominee Ben Gazzara and Academy Award Winner, Lee Grant.  Although the sentimental tale revolves around a young peasant girl who is romanced and then deplorably abandoned by a callous nobleman in the 18th Century—it is a lamentable tale of how class struggles within the constraints of society conscript a true act of love to utter and insufferable futility. I was very proud that this film had won the Grand Prix Garnet Bracelet for Best Motion-Picture at the Gatchina Literature and Film Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia and that I was able to gift my beloved mother with this coveted film award at such an early stage in my film career. I am also significantly proud of my three stage-plays which were produced while I was under contract at La MaMa Experimental Theatre in New York.  “Love in the Eyes of Hope, Dies Last,” was an auto-biographical play which dealt with the hardships of immigration and assimilation.  “Coyote, Take Me There!” was a folkloric biblical musical which also revolved around the dislocation of refugees from Eastern Europe and the impoverished wise asylum seekers from Mexico and Latin American countries. “Defenses of Prague” was an Obie Nominated mystical play in verse which was about the legendary Golem of Prague coming face to face with the Roma of Prague set against the backdrop of the brutal invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Soviets in 1968. 

What are your short term and long-term career goals? 

To be perfectly candid, I do not hold long-term career goals. My late sister who passed at the tender age of eighteen and to whom I have dedicated practically all of my work in the theatre, had written in her diary that she was going to eat the most delicious Granny Smith apple on Saturday afternoon but she had passed on Friday.  I’ve learned not to make plans lest God holds other plans for me and for those around me. Perhaps God even snickers at my plans so I am resolved to adhere to short term career goals. I would like to make another socially conscious change seeking film within the next two years, should I live so long. It would also be lovely to work with some actors whom I thoroughly admire, such as Adrian Brody and Marisa Tomei. 

What are your upcoming projects?

At New York University, I had a professor who had taught a class on Vladimir Nabokov and the students were assigned to read practically each of his novels.  I was a young lady who was touched by the story of Mashenka which in my opinion served as a prelude to Nabokov’s infamous banned novel Lolita.  In Mashenka, a young man, recuperates from typhoid fever, clenched in the clutches of boredom and thus conjures up his ideal love—a girl whom he actually meets a month later. Mashenka is the love of his life. Nabokov describes the lass: “a girl with chestnut scythe in a black bow, burning eyes, a swath face and a rolling carted voice.” Once the protagonist, Ganin, catches a glimpse of this girl, he is instantly smitten with her much like the lewd character of Humbert Humbert was possessed and consumed by Lolita’s underage visage and licentious aura.  Mashenka and Lolita are primary examples of young girls who are victims of solipsism. The two young girls exist only in the sole minds of Ganin and Humbert Humbert as they appear as clip-on identities and not as real youthful ladies imbued with distinct individual characteristics. In a sense, these unfortunate girls are victims of a contrived perverse imagination. I am currently engaged in writing a screenplay revolving around Lolita’s perspective regarding Humbert Humbert in which I depict her every reaction to his haughty elicit sexual advances towards such a young girl.  I believe that as a woman I am equipped to ascertain and portray Lolita’s version of Humbert Humbert’s infatuation with a twelve-year old Dolores Haze and to express Lolita’s vision of this rather sick seduction of a pubescent girl. While the term “Lolita” has been sadly assimilated into our popular culture as a description of a young girl who is “precociously seduced….sans the wicked connotations of victimization,” I aim to prove on the contrary (drawing from a similarly situated experience) that Dolores Haze is indeed a victim and not a seductress, at least not a conscience one due to her obvious inexperience, fickle pre-teen posture, youth and fleeting innocence which is prone to serve as sensual prey of worldly educated men like Humbert Humbert. I feel that a film based on Lolita’s response to Humbert Humbert’s despicable physical and emotional advances may be timely in the era of meaningful social change movements seeking female empowerment while holding guilty men accountable for their horrendous acts against women, such as the #metoo movement demonstrates. I would also very much like to shoot an adaptation of my play, which premiered at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre, entitled, “The Blacklist,” which is a quirky yet prophetically poignant political satire about an afterlife party hosted by the Grim Reaper during our flamboyantly tumultuous, politically divisive times.  

If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

Isabella Rossellini. 

Isabella was my go-to during the 1980s, but with her experimental films, I  have been even more inspired. I  want to explore different thoughts and ideas on her interpretation of a feminist collective. 

Tell us something most people don't know about you.

Besides being married fifty times I love a good smoky scotch. 

The one person who has truly believed in you.

My Mother!

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as filmmaker?

Learning to be flexible and embracing the process. 

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?

For us, it was challenging to keep it going. This particular production took place in a foreign land (China) with a language barrier. But, with persistence, we were able to overcome our obstacles. 

On set, the most important thing is:

Participants will and team support!

The project(s) you’re most proud of:

Maria the Korean Bride (2013) Documentary. It took me nine years to complete - almost a decade. 

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

Maria the Korean Bride (2013) Documentary. It took me nine years to complete. Driving alone, seducing, and documenting - being a one-woman show was not easy. 

What are your short term and long term career goals?

Short and long terms are the same for me: Make ART always!

Your next projects?

The next documentary will be on how Covid19 has changed women’s lives, especially for those in the Arts. 

Please share with us where people can find you on social media, so our readers could keep track of your career

https://www.instagram.com/mariakoreanbride/

https://www.facebook.com/ghostmarriages

https://twitter.com/thekoreanbride

https://www.youtube.com/user/nycmaria

If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

That is such a tricky question. Valentino, again. Purely for love. 

Tell us something most people don't know about you.

Laughs. The things that people don’t know - are the things I like them not to know. 

The one person who has truly believed in you throughout your career.

Oh, I have been so blessed to have so many very committed and generous art teachers - as practitioners to study with. Every one of them has left an impression. 

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as filmmaker/actor/screenwriter?

The most important lesson. Well, my feelings on that change depending on what is happening in the work, and where I am in the moment in time. I would say, perhaps understanding shifts between different beats. That’s a big one. Perhaps also how to bring “fire” to a character - to have “aggressive” moments and still to feel at ease and entirely embodied and present. 

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?

For me, it was getting started. I had to work through a lot in order to “clear the way” for me to get started. Once I was in it; I never wanted to stop. I only ever wanted to keep exploring all of the corners that this work has to offer. 

What keeps you motivated?

New challenges. The beauty of being an actor is that there is just so much material to try out against: film, television, theatre, musicals. Various characters. Various genres. Old material or more contemporary. The journey is unforeseen. 

How has your style evolved?

I think as I have gotten older I am being sent characters to work on that embody more “power". I think perhaps it has something to do with the shift in depiction of female characters generally, in material. Which is a great thing. 

On set, the most important thing is:

On set, the most important thing is trust amongst all of the people helping to create something together. 

The project(s) you’re most proud of:

The one I am currently working on. The reason being is that I am trying to take many of the lessons that I have learnt from, Chiara and to apply them and then stretch myself by including various new elements: variety of characters, movement, and other instruments.

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

Most certainly, Chiara. This was owing to the fact that I was the writer of the script, the writer of the melody and lyrics and the lead performer. I was also the Creative Director for the show and film. And so there were many details to the project to be considered at various stages of development. 

What are your short term and long term career goals?

Short term and long term: I would like to continue working on my second show whilst I am also self-taping for parts. If I can somehow manage to balance both of these ambitions, I will feel really happy. 

Your next projects?

Luna - musical show. 

Please share with us where people can find you on social media, so our readers could keep track of your career

I have only just started a brand new IG account: @__claudia_corrieri (x2 underscores at the beginning).

What’s your all-time favorite film and why?

Probably my favorite is one from Brazil “ O AUTO DA COMPADECIDA’. Literally 'The Compassionate Woman's play. It's a comedy but has a lot to say about religion and many other topics. 

It really focuses on the realities of Brazilian life in the 1950s. The film drifts in and out of realism but it is so well done, with such great performances. If I am sad, I can watch it and it cheers me up. If I am happy, it enjoys life with me.

If you could work with anyone in the world, who would that person be?

Angelina Jolie, and Leonard de Caprio. And Selton Mello a Director and Actor from Brazil

Tell us something most people don't know about you.

I love extreme sports like, Skydiving, Race car driving, Zip lines, Bungee jumping.

I also speak 8 idioms.

The one person who has truly believed in you.

My Family, my husband, my Friends. But if my Father were alive, he would be the number one.

What was the most important lesson you had to learn as actress and producer?

I am still learning, but the challenge to switch characters, as I did for BEFORE SUNRISE, playing all five parts, that did make me want to dig down more and more into an acting side I didn't even know I had! 

As a Filmmaker, I think it was realizing how much power the sound and lighting have in telling a story. But I love every part of it.

Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?

I think it is harder to get started, because it is all about discovering and learning and preparing. Once you have started you have to keep going. 

Well, with BEFORE SUNRISE, it was the filming here in the US and being directed remotely from Brazil. I don't know how many films have been made that way but that was quite a challenge.

On set, the most important thing is:

Concentration, and being true to the character and the project as a whole.

The project(s) you’re most proud of:

I am proud of many of the philanthropic projects I have been able to be a part of in my life but I think this film, BEFORE SUNRISE, I might be the most proud of. I created it, and it was done with all my heart.

The most challenging project you worked on. And why?

Well certainly BEFORE SUNRISE for the reasons I mentioned above. I did love working on CULT CARTEL, a feature film coming up early next year. It is a story about trafficking, but I was playing a Mexican cartel leader. That was fun!

What are your short term and long term career goals? Your next projects?

I am not really thinking in career terms. Maybe short films for the next couple of years and then I would like to do a feature.

Please share with us where people can find you on social media, so our readers could keep track of your career.

 www.julialrosengren.com

www.facebook.com/jlr0202

www.instagram.com/julialrosengren

https://youtu.be/z_Br0YzZOaE