HANGING WITH: CARY FUKUNAGA

Cary Fukunaga entered the advertising arena with a storming Walt Whitman-inspired Levi's spot. shots.net caught up with the director whose debut feature film, Sin Nombre, has been receiving rave reviews.

You've just signed to Anonymous Content for commercials, why did you go with them?
I was actually already at Anonymous Content but I was signed up for features. I hadn't met the advertising side until the Levi's job. I was in Guadalajara when I got the call about Levi's. Basically W+K had only seen the trailer for Sin Nombre when they asked me to do the job. I guess I've got to thank the trailer editor for that one.

Go Forth was your first commercial - how did that experience compare with feature films?
It was very different for sure. In some ways you have more control and more freedom on features. Being the first time I had directed a commercial I wasn't used to having the agency and client on set. A good thing was that it was a very loose concept so it meant that I could come up with the shots and narrative.

Before turning to directing, you were a cinematographer. Does this experience influence your directing style?
In terms of directing it doesn't really affect me. But you do learn a lot about problem solving and good old-fashioned knowing how things work. It frees you up from worrying about things you don't understand, it gets rid of that mystery.

You've been jetting about promoting Sin Nombre, how's that been?
I'm just back from the Sarajevo film festival. And I was in Edinburgh for the festival a while back, which was great. When I headed north to Glencoe it was pure sunshine for the week that I was there. It's great to travel but it does get tiring. I can't complain about that - having nice dinners and been flown from place to place - but I've gotta work too!

Are there any directors you particularly admire?
Too many to name. And I can't name any single director that I look to for their style. I look at a lot of photography for my influences. With stills photography it's much more difficult to express everything you want in one frame.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?
Writing takes up a lot of my time, and I'm working on two feature projects at the moment.

So what are you working on now?
I'm writing a musical, which will be full of fantastical stuff. Sin Nombre was quite realistic and I wanted to do something with a social conscious. But it's not the only genre I want to work in. I like music and I want to work with bands. It's a tragic love story but there will also be humour. It's everything I didn't have a chance to do with Sin Nombre.

Outside of filmmaking, what are your interests?
I have a lot of hobbies. I majored in history and political science so I still do a lot of reading around that.

So did being a history buff play a part in accepting the Levi's job?
Definitely. I'm a big civil war fanatic, and Walt Whitman is a big part of that. When I was 14 I did a project on him at school - he had such an amazing beard.

Aside from the Levi's spot and promoting Sin Nombre, have you had a chance to work on any side projects?
I just did a short film for the Museum of Chinese American in New York. Kiwi Lotion is about two to three minutes long and it's about two teenagers planning on having sex. It's a light-hearted thing with lots of internal monologue. I had just come off the Levi's job and had a week and a half, so I thought 'why not?'

Check out the director's cut of the Levi's spot here.