quick cuts

QUICK CUTS with Lex Kimbrough

Interview by Iris Chan

In this eerie story, we see the arc of the main character’s grief and not being able to let go of his father. I really like how you've said that in the Black community, history is a precious commodity, and it adds to the importance of family and those who can hold on to you and who you are. Could you share a bit about your relationship with your own father, and the inspiration for this film? I’ve noticed in your director’s statement that your father is thankfully still with you – have you shown the film to him?

I really love that you brought up that point about history being a precious commodity. I honestly didn’t understand how true that was until after I made this film. It really became such a profound realization for me because, I was forced to take full responsibility for my relationship with my dad after admitting to myself how important he is to me.

My dad… amazing guy. He’s actually a pastor in North Carolina, which means, that I grew up listening to him teach from a pulpit for my entire life. On Sunday morning’s, I’d sit next to my mother and siblings and half listen to him as he stood in front of this crowd of people and took really complex ideas about religion, life, spirituality, and whatever else and simplified it for every single person in the room. I didn’t always understand how powerful something like that is for some people because, I didn’t understand how hard life could be. But, as I got older, and closer to my dad; I realized how much the people in those rooms relied on him to help guide them through that singular question we’re all trying to relentlessly answer; “How do I make it through life?”

When I realized that so many people were looking for a pillar of support or a fountain of knowledge to drink from that I had constant access to; I discovered a completely new appreciation for my dad.

I’ve told a few people that, originally, I set out to make a horror film. But, I accidentally made a drama. As I was searching for something that felt truly terrifying to me, I stumbled into this train of thought that lead me to what scared me the most; losing my dad.

He’s always been so supportive and poured so much into me; intellectually, spiritually and even emotionally. Because I rely on him so much for those things and he’s such a grounding force in my life; not having him around would be devastating. So I ran with it. The question that lies at the center of the whole film is “What would happen if you couldn’t bring yourself to let go.”

Luckily I haven’t had to face that reality yet and I’ve been able to sit with him and watch the film together. I was actually terrified to show it to him the first time so I made the whole family watch it together to make it a little less frightening. But, after we watched, I felt like an anxious weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Even though this was a really dramatic imagining of my personal fears about our relationship, I believe it brought us closer. And death doesn’t feel so foreboding.

2. Which filmmakers are you personally inspired by, particularly for this film and also in general?

Steve McQueen, Jordan Peele, Spike Jonze, Bong Joon-Ho… All directors that I am always in awe of. Steve McQueen has this ability to hone in on those moments in our stories that we often overlook and string together the most compelling narratives of personal and human struggle. 

Jordan Peele does such an amazing job of taking social commentary and making it simple and potent by making his movies fun in really unexpected ways. The most amazing this to me is that he can make these really polarizing, complex, and hilarious movies without watering down his perspective or compromising the stance that the film is taking.

Spike Jonze puts me in my feelings. He knows how to tell a friggin LOVE story. He makes so many crazy things but then turns around and shows us how the beautiful and imaginative possibilities for the world while being so emotionally fluid.

And BONG JOON_HO!!! Again, another filmmaker who knows how to translate his opinions, ideas, and beliefs into films so cleverly. He’ll wrap a story about classism and economic disparities into this hilarious and terrifying package so you’re almost forced to watch his films over and over to convince yourself that you’re not watching a different film every time.

I pulled a lot from McQueen and Bong Joon-Ho this time and was trying to build up my story telling muscles around small moments. They’re both amazing at detail oriented filmmaking that directs your eyes to point of interest while not beating you over the head with foreshadowing. It’s such a hard skill to master but I spent a good amount of time in pre-production trying to figure out how to do that with the camera. At the same time Peele’s work made me want to figure out how to step inside of the horror genre and twist it to make it less about jump scares or gore and more about anxiety and social repercussions. 

3. In a year marked by hardship and grief from losing so many loved ones from the COVID-19 pandemic, did this pandemic affect your story and filmmaking? What was it like to film during this time? Did you experience any setbacks, or surprise breakthroughs because of the pandemic?

It feels counterintuitive to say… but, the pandemic actually helped us to make this film. I originally planned to put this film into production in the early part of 2020. But, when the pandemic hit, money dried up, anxiety kicked in and funerals became a more regular occurrence. We had to slam on the brakes. After a few months when things had stabilized a bit and we’d lost all the momentum that would’ve helped us roll into production, I had to take a step back and figure out if and why making this film needed to happen. After some thought and checking my ego a bit, I approached the film as an opportunity to connect with people again and create an opportunity for a lot of local filmmakers to stretch their creative muscles once again. That turned this film into a much more collaborative effort. It wasn’t mine any more. I was giving it over to everyone who was itching to get back out there and start making art again.

Our biggest set back was just having to be flexible with the scheduling while trying to figure out how to be firm on our production plan. When you’re never quite sure if your whole production will come to a halt, it’s hard to set dates in stone.

Other than that, the most challenging problem to solve was catering. If we’re working two 12 hour days, we have to make sure the crew is fed. And if there’s a deadly virus being passed around, how do you keep the food and everything else sanitary so the entire crew doesn’t end up hospitalized the following week? That took a lot more planning than I thought. We did the best we could, and thinking back, we probably could’ve done a bit more. But, luckily no-one got sick and everyone was really respectful of the protocols.

But, after making a film in the pandemic. Everything else doesn’t seem so hard anymore lol.