Alexis Neophytides is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator based mostly in New York Metropolis. Her work facilities round neighborhood and the way we discover which means in individuals and place. She is the co-creator, co-director, and producer of “Neighborhood Slice,” a public tv documentary collection that tells the tales of longtime New Yorkers who’ve held quick to their nook of the town regardless of gentrification. She produced and directed the collection “9.99,” for which she gained a NY Emmy. Her brief documentaries “Physician Kong,” “Coney Island’s for the Birds,” and Vimeo Employees Choose “Ethan 2018” screened at festivals worldwide. “Pricey 13” is her first characteristic size documentary. She is a Sundance Institute Documentary Movie Grantee for her second characteristic, “Fireplace By means of Dry Grass,” at the moment in post-production.
“Pricey 13” is screening on the 2022 DOC NYC movie competition, which is working from November 9-27.
W&H: Describe the movie for us in your personal phrases.
AN: “Pricey 13” is a documentary portrait of this latest era coming of age within the fashionable world – one I hope is uplifting and hopeful and genuine to the younger voices it portrays. The movie weaves collectively tales of 9 13-year-olds from France, Australia, Mexico, Nepal, and the USA. By means of their eyes, we see how urgent international points – gender id, faith, race, financial standing, and immigration – are shaping, and being formed by, younger individuals.
In Australia, Evie, a trans woman, begins her medical transition with confidence and optimism; in France, Oren prepares for his Bar Mitzvah whereas reckoning with anti-semitism in his hometown; in Brooklyn, Madeline finds pleasure and creativity on TikTok whereas contending with the pressures of the pandemic; in Mexico, Fany desires of breaking the mould as a feminine boxer whereas navigating her mother and father’ separation.
We had been actually fortunate to work with Dan Deacon, a very superb musician, on the rating. His dreamy soundscape underlines the complexity and wonder within the transition into maturity.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AN: I taught documentary filmmaking to 13-year-olds for practically a decade. These years solely confirmed my emotions about this age – it’s transformative and deeply magical. Past the hormones and bodily modifications, it’s the age we begin to grow to be conscious of the bigger world round us, and start to solidify a worldview that can carry us ahead into our grownup lives. It’s a pivotal time to be uncovered to new views and alternative ways of dwelling, to confront stereotypes and problem beforehand held views.
Regardless of the universality of this time, I by no means had fairly the suitable materials to indicate my college students. There are such a lot of fantastic documentaries about essential matters, however I discovered only a few that had been instructed from the standpoint of younger individuals themselves. And so I made this movie for my college students, to present them an opportunity to see their very own experiences on display mirrored again to them, and to reside for just a few moments in worlds they’d not recognized earlier than. I suppose ultimately it additionally grew to become a love letter to my 13-year-old self.
W&H: What would you like individuals to consider after they watch the movie?
AN: One factor that was actually essential to Trina Rodriguez — my long-time collaborator and editor/producer of “Pricey 13” — and me in crafting the movie was to have our younger movie members converse for themselves. We didn’t need any adults to talk for them. In truth the one grownup commentary within the movie is my very own, which we hope acts extra as a information by the totally different tales somewhat than an older individual deciphering their ideas.
Younger individuals are typically portrayed within the media in a considerably unfavorable mild, or in one-dimensional stereotypes. We actually wished to indicate our younger protagonists authentically, as they every had been: advanced, stuffed with hope and in quite a lot of methods, deep thinkers. I’d love for individuals to really feel hopeful about this new era after they watch the movie! I do know that’s how we felt in making it.
One other hope we had for the movie was that in watching, older viewers may be transported again to this time in their very own lives and keep in mind what it felt like, the issues that had been essential to them, the probabilities that also existed of their minds and to perhaps stroll away with just a little little bit of that optimism. I’d wish to think about that this movie can be a little bit of constructive vitality put out into the world.
W&H: What was the most important problem in making the movie?
AN: The largest problem was sticking with it. Making an impartial movie can take so very lengthy! For us it was a 5 yr lengthy journey from idea till the world premiere, with quite a lot of ups and downs alongside the best way.
W&H: How did you get your movie funded? Share some insights into how you bought the movie made.
AN: This was a very impartial movie by and thru. We had been fortunate sufficient to get a considerable grant on the very starting that actually propelled the challenge into being. We had just a few small impartial donors who believed within the movie alongside the best way that stored us going. All through this complete time interval I used to be working different jobs and scrounging frequent flier miles to journey, so it was a scrappy affair!
And at last, earlier this yr we acquired a grant from the NYC Ladies’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, which actually got here on the good time and allowed us to complete the movie.
W&H: What impressed you to grow to be a filmmaker?
AN: I’ve liked tales and storytelling since I used to be just a little child – I all the time had my nostril buried in a e book. The street to filmmaking for me was not a transparent, direct path however ultimately I feel it got here again to a love of tales, and curiosity about life and actual individuals.
W&H: What’s one of the best and worst recommendation you’ve acquired?
AN: Greatest recommendation: All the time pack snacks in your digital camera bag.
Worst: Don’t present your work to the individuals in it till you’re completed with every little thing.
I can’t consider this was the mentality in our trade for therefore lengthy! Lately there’s a push for better transparency between filmmakers and their movie members. I heard somebody not too long ago describe the documentary panorama because the Wild West when it got here to filmmaking ethics, with no actual guidelines or tips for folk to observe.
Fortunately there’s a large shift taking place in our subject and a few actually essential work being completed by teams like DAWG (the Documentary Accountability Working Group) that provide guiding ideas for non fiction filmmakers to look to all through their filmmaking course of.
W&H: What recommendation do you may have for different girls administrators?
AN: One of many greatest challenges for me has been navigating making work whereas additionally needing some exterior approval to make it occur, whether or not that’s within the type of funding, movie competition acceptances, gross sales executives, and so forth. It’s actually exhausting to attend round for gatekeepers to allow you to in whereas making an attempt to maintain your vitality targeted on creating.
My recommendation could be to attempt to not focus an excessive amount of on one individual’s opinion of your work. There are many ’em on the market! And if one door doesn’t open, attempt to be malleable sufficient to bend in direction of different alternatives. There actually are so many various paths in direction of making significant work.
W&H: Identify your favourite woman-directed movie and why.
AN: Certainly one of my favourite movies is “Cameraperson,” directed by Kirsten Johnson and edited by Nels Bangerter. I really like that movie a lot – the rhythm of it and the best way they wove seemingly disparate vignettes collectively into one thing so significant. I watched it many occasions for inspiration whereas we had been enthusiastic about learn how to put our movie collectively.
W&H: What, if any, tasks do you suppose storytellers should confront the tumult on the earth, from the pandemic to the lack of abortion rights and systemic violence?
AN: Documentary filmmakers are uniquely positioned to inform essential tales that may shift public opinion. Tales about urgent matters are undeniably essential, and sure, I feel we do have a duty to make use of the instruments and energy we maintain as storytellers not solely to doc what is occurring in as truthful a means as attainable, however to impact change.
I do additionally consider that there’s worth in movies that aren’t particularly problem oriented. Any alternative we now have to broaden the best way individuals suppose and present life from totally different views helps to create better understanding and a extra inclusive tradition.
W&H: The movie trade has an extended historical past of underrepresenting individuals of colour onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — unfavorable stereotypes. What actions do you suppose should be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world extra inclusive?
AN: Whereas there are extra sources obtainable to help underrepresented voices today, I might supply that past funding initiatives, our trade ought to problem the best way we take into consideration filmmaking extra holistically. Listening to and giving area for brand new voices requires time, and sources to help that point. I feel it calls for some radical rethinking of the best way we help filmmakers and the buildings round them.
Supply: Women And Hollywood