Interviewing Christopher Nolan and Jeremy Theobald [part 2/2] Surprisingly they do win, together with two other films. We met them again right after the ceremony. Joep: Were you surprised? Christopher: Very surprised. I don't know, I have never really won anything in my life so it's kind of weird. Joep: So what did you win? Christopher: Oh, the prize is distribution in this country and ten thousand dollars as well. Joep: So you could make a film like this again. Christopher: It's more than we spent on the film to begin with actually. I'm really surprised, really happy and I'm grateful to the festival. It's been an excellent festival allround, so this was the icing on the cake. Joep: Did you know about any of the others in the competition? Christopher: I wasn't really paying attention, I was so nervous. They announced us in alphabetical order and we were last. Joep: What did they say about your film? Christopher: They said they were impressed with the unconventional treatment of the genre, which sounds good. Joep: What genre? Christopher: Film noir I suppose. They didn't say. Joep: This is a film noir kind of film isn't it? Christopher: Yes I think so. Joep: So did you look back on the past when making it? Christopher: Definitely. I think for me film noir is an influence, but not just in a visual sense. But more in the way film noir stories are constructed and in drawing from crime fiction stories like Jim Thompson, where very often you have a triangular relationship and the key to it all is that you have to judge people by their actions, not by what they say or the way they are portrayed or where the story dictates the character. It's more about who does what to who that's important. Joep: The actors in this movie are kind of classical in that sense. The girl (played by Lucy Russel) looks very much like Marilyn Monroe. Christopher: Well I think the black and white helped with that. Also as we progressed making the film it became a more conscious effort to just kind of embrace some of those elements of older films, especially from the selection of props and costumes, the lighting, things like that. We definitely worked further in that direction as we went along. Joep: The filmfestival guide mentioned that you started making films at the age of eight. Christopher: Seven actually, the guide is wrong. Joep: So you must have made many films? Christopher: Oh yes, short films. This is my first long film that I really finished and have been able to show people. I started making films when I was seven or eight, back then I was making films with a friend who also has a film here called 'Ghenghis Blues'. He and I were so excited to be here, because we have been making films together since we were only eight and these were our first films to get shown to a large audience. Joep: And he's doing really well too. Christopher: Oh yeah, they are doing fantastic. They just won an award at Sundance, the audience award there. And the screening here has been good too. I hope we will do another festival together. Joep: Maybe you could even get together and make a film again. Christopher: Maybe, but they are doing documentaries at the moment. If you compare these, they are two very different films, which is funny in a way. Tom: How many festivals have you been to with Following? Christopher: This is our fifth. Tom: So did you show it in England? Christopher: No I haven't shown it in England at all actually. This is the European premiere. It has only been seen in North America. Tom: How was it received there? Christopher: Really well. We got great screenings, great feedback in San Fransisco, Toronto, Vancouver and at Slamdance we won a prize for black and white filmmakers. Slamdance is this Sundance offshoot, they call it a parasite. But Slamdance was a lot of fun, it's a bit bigger and they got a lot of submissions this year and they had some sponsors, but it's still by filmmakers for filmmakers. You actually have to lure people into your screenings by handing out flyers. It's a very different approach. It's very much in line with the way we made our film, very appropriate. Tom: I can imagine your film being well received in America, because film noir is very much an American genre. Christopher: Yes I think so. I think it's a distillation of very American things. And I think also that the technical limitations aren't such a problem in America, because many people are used to seeing a lot of low budget films. There you can find an audience that will look past those limitations. Which is something which is still lacking in the UK. It would be interesting if we get to show it there, we are talking to a distributor at the moment. Tom: So how about the next film you're working on? I hear you're now based in America? Christopher: Yes I'm living in Los Angeles. Tom: Is it going to be mostly an American production? Christopher: We are working on two things at the moment. One is American and the other even though it is for an American company it's an English project and will be set in London. I don't know which of them is going to happen first, but it's kind of good I'm doing them both. And on that note Christopher and Jeremy said goodbye to go to the dinner party celebrating their prize. We hope to see them again. Perhaps at next year's edition of the Rotterdam filmfestival.