Hal Hartley is a prolific American filmmaker who won awards at the Sundance Film Festival for his film Trust in 1991, the Cannes Film Festival for Henry Fool in 1998, and the Tokyo International Film Festival for Amateur in 1994. His other films include Simple Men (1992), Flirt (1995), The Book Of Life (1998), No Such Thing (2001), Fay Grim (2007) and the forthcoming Ned Rifle. His latest film, My America, is now streaming on Fandor. You can learn about his work at the Possible Films website.
In the first ever Talkhouse Film podcast, we bring together in conversation two pivotal figures from the recent American independent film scene: erstwhile “mumblecore” ringleader Joe Swanberg (Happy Christmas, Drinking Buddies) and Hal Hartley (Amateur, Simple Men), one of the smartest, wittiest directors to emerge in the ’90s. Over the course of their conversation, they discuss everything from film vs. digital and the changing landscape of the indie scene to the growing prominence of television and the role that technology plays in their lives, for better or worse. It’s the kind of conversation that only two filmmakers could have.
The music featured in the podcast is as follows:
1. Intro / outro underscore: “Plastic Man vs. The Giant Red Phase Of The Sun” – Iced Ink
2. “Arlene Blues” – Ned Rifle (from My America)
3. “Waiting for the Bells” – Joel Alme (from Happy Christmas)
4. “If You Got Somebody Waiting” – Joel Alme (from Happy Christmas)
Episode engineered and edited by Elia Einhorn
