The Filmmaker
|
From filmmaker Aaron Matthews:
In this film, I hope audiences get to feel like they’re walking in the shoes of the main characters. When you see young people confronting pressing issues with a candid and questioning eye, you’re compelled to ask how you might respond to these same dilemmas. In the case of THE PAPER, two questions in particular hang over virtually every newsroom debate, and they are so basic they risk escaping notice: What is news? And how do you cover it?
As the American public grows more dissatisfied with its news media, these questions become increasingly urgent. As Jack Warren of the Chicago Tribune said recently: "There is a visceral distrust in us, a stated, increasing lack of confidence in the local papers." The American media—under attack and viewed as inept—is in crisis. I hope THE PAPER offers a way to look at our media in a new light, and that it sparks discussion and debate about how we might fix it.
His three favorite films:
Boy, that’s a tough one… so many genres, eras, epochs, to choose from. Just this past year I saw many excellent films. How about three documentaries I’ve seen in the past year at festivals that stand out:
The Protagonist, by Jessica Yu
Following Sean, by Ralph Arlyck
Fish Kill Flea, by Brian Cassidy, Aaron Hillis and Jennifer Loeber
His advice for aspiring filmmakers:
Don’t do it. Just kidding, couldn’t resist that. One piece of general advice would be to be persistent. It might be the easiest thing to do (and now even easier that video equipment is so much more cheap and accessible than film)—just keep at it.
Being alert and curious doesn’t hurt either. My curiosity—some might call it nosiness—might be my greatest strength as a filmmaker.
His most inspirational food for making independent film:
I really think we’re living in a golden age of documentary film. The work of my contemporaries continues to inspire and motivate.
Also, the quantity of stories out there. I grew up and lived most of my life in Brooklyn, New York and now live mostly in Central Pennsylvania. I’ve found you don’t have to travel far to find penetrating stories and the “colorful characters” everyone searches for. Many of those stories and characters populate half the barrooms and diners in America. There are often amazing things happening right under your nose.
Aaron Matthews
Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor
Aaron Matthews grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in English literature. His award-winning documentaries include the ITVS program A PANTHER IN AFRICA, which was broadcast on P.O.V. in 2004, received a Cine Golden Eagle Award and won best documentary at the St. Louis International Film Festival. His feature-length documentary My American Girls was broadcast on P.O.V. and the Discovery Times Channel, won the Best Documentary Award at the San Francisco Latino Film Festival and aired throughout Europe and Latin America. Matthews’ previous films Taddo and The Art of the Moment played at numerous festivals around the country and have been broadcast on the History Channel and public television.
Matthews has received grants from the Sundance Institute, the Jerome Foundation the New York State Council on the Arts, Latino Public Broadcasting and the Brooklyn Arts Council.
