Allison Otto is an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker, cinematographer, and visible journalist. Her documentary brief “The Love Bugs” was awarded Greatest Quick Documentary within the forty second Annual Information & Documentary Emmy Awards after screening on “POV Shorts” Season 3. The movie was additionally shortlisted for a 2019 Worldwide Documentary Affiliation Award and is touring globally with the American Movie Showcase. Her journalism purchasers have included Nationwide Geographic, BBC America, NBC, the Sierra Membership, Journey Channel, Atlas Obscura, and Lonely Planet. “The Thief Collector” is her first feature-length documentary.
“The Thief Collector” is screening on the 2022 SXSW Movie Pageant, which is happening March 11-20. Discover extra info on the fest’s web site.
W&H: Describe the movie for us in your personal phrases.
AO: This story is an entire mind-bender! The day after Thanksgiving in 1985, one of the audacious and puzzling artwork crimes of a era unfolded. Willem de Kooning’s “Lady-Ochre,” one of the priceless work of the twentieth century, was sliced out of its body on the College of Arizona Museum of Artwork earlier than two thieves vanished with it into the Arizona desert. Thirty-two years later, the portray, now price an estimated $160 million, resurfaced, hanging in an affordable gold body behind the bed room door of two deceased, retired college academics in rural New Mexico.
“The Thief Collector” dives deep into how, and why, this mild-mannered couple pulled off one of many best artwork heists of a era, and it explores the sophisticated dynamics of household and simply how far folks will go to weave their very own grandiose narratives.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AO: I’m drawn to quirky, character-driven tales about individuals who go to colossal lengths for the issues they obsess about and gather. I’ve all the time discovered collectors to be deeply relatable of their idiosyncrasies and dedication. In 2019 I made a decision I’d do some digging into the perplexing theft of “Lady Ochre” and its discovery.
I quickly found that the theft was simply the tip of the iceberg. This story was an ideal storm of singular characters, weird synchronicities, fascinating psychological angles, and outlandish motivations. My previous movies have centered round people whose passions led them to construct unconventional collections that finally turned out to be of immense instructional worth. Ultimately, their devotion to their obsession ended up benefiting the world, they usually had been validated.
In “The Thief Collector,” nevertheless, the obsessions of the 2 predominant characters and their want to gather leads us on a very totally different journey.
W&H: What would you like folks to consider after they watch the movie?
AO: This story haunted me for months once I first heard about it. I hope viewers discover it as thought-provoking as I did, and I hope they take pleasure in all of the twists and turns. It’s not a typical by-the-books artwork crime and the motivations had been unconventional.
I feel it raises questions on how far we’ll go for the issues we covet, what we’re prepared to do for the folks we love, and the way untethered life turns into when our self-curated narratives and fantasies about our lives collide with actuality.
W&H: What was the most important problem in making the movie?
AO: One of many greatest challenges in making the movie was piecing collectively simply who the Alters actually had been since they weren’t right here to reply so many questions on themselves. Since they had been virtually reclusive, it was virtually like nobody knew the “actual” them, so we needed to piece them collectively from “tidbits” of data from a lot of folks and the components of their story that they left behind. However in piecing them collectively we had some wonderful breakthroughs and found surprising twists that added one other dimension to every part!
W&H: How did you get your movie funded? Share some insights into how you bought the movie made.
AO: We acquired a improvement grant from the Catapult Movie Fund + SFFILM and starter funds from DocLands DOCPITCH. Then, we had been so honored to associate with XTR Studios and personal traders to convey the movie to life.
W&H: What impressed you to grow to be a filmmaker?
AO: I started my profession as a sports activities journalist, however after a number of years I spotted I wasn’t feeling creatively fulfilled and didn’t see a future for myself within the newspaper business. I wished my tales to include a extra immersive and visible element, so I transitioned to video journalism.
I filmed and created content material for Nationwide Geographic, the Journey Channel, Lonely Planet, and BBC America amongst others. Studying to movie, direct, produce, and edit finally led to directing brief documentaries like “The Love Bugs,” which aired on “POV Shorts” in 2020 and acquired an Emmy in 2021 for Greatest Quick Documentary. “The Thief Collector” is my first function documentary
W&H: What’s one of the best and worst recommendation you’ve acquired?
AO: Greatest recommendation: “You need to know that you’re the one who can transfer a ship over a mountain.” — Werner Herzog talking in regards to the absolute conviction {that a} director must have in believing that they’ll accomplish one thing that looks like an unimaginable pipe dream to others. Herzog famously moved a 320-ton steamship manually over a mountain within the Amazon basin for his movie “Fitzcarraldo.”
Worst recommendation: “You want a movie college diploma to be a reliable filmmaker.” Really, you don’t. I feel you possibly can be taught much more by being within the discipline, working with others on set, and watching movies and movie tutorials. I feel your first movie is your best trainer.
W&H: What recommendation do you could have for different ladies administrators?
AO: Take inspiration from the well-known feminist rallying cry: “Nonetheless, she persevered.” Persist within the face of those that let you know that you simply’re not proficient sufficient, sensible sufficient, or succesful sufficient.
The movie business is at present one by which the gatekeepers and the important thing manufacturing roles are overwhelmingly staffed by males. In line with a research performed by the Heart for the Research of Ladies in Tv and Movie, in 2019-20, 97 p.c of the printed applications sampled had no ladies DPs, 86 p.c had no ladies editors, 75 p.c had no ladies administrators, and 71 p.c had no ladies creators.
I feel it’s essential for girls within the business to elevate one another up. In my case, I used to be actually lucky to work on “The Thief Collector” with sensible, top-tier feminine producers in Jill Howerton, Caryn Capotosto, and Mary Kay Cook dinner, and assistant director Saro Melero Bonnin.
W&H: Identify your favourite woman-directed movie and why.
AO: I’ve three that tie for high honors.
“For Sama,” directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts: That is probably the most intimate and shattering documentary I’ve ever seen in regards to the feminine expertise of struggle. For 5 years, Waad filmed her life in Aleppo as she fell in love, received married, and gave start to her daughter whereas the Syrian battle raged round her. I’m in awe of her and this movie!
“In The Similar Breath,” directed by Nanfu Wang: That is by far one of the best documentary in regards to the COVID pandemic, in my view. Nanfu possesses a singular and spectacular skill to navigate round authorities censorship in her native China and achieve entry with a purpose to inform groundbreaking exposés woven in together with her private experiences. Nanfu is an amazingly courageous, persistent, and considerate filmmaker.
“Stray,” directed by Elizabeth Lo: I feel Elizabeth is likely one of the most visionary and unique documentary filmmakers within the discipline right now. “Stray” is a masterclass in creativity! I like how she adopted three stray canines round Istanbul to inform a charming, profound story about beings — each human and canine — who stay within the shadows.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life through the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you protecting inventive, and in that case, how?
AO: It’s undoubtedly been a course of! Luckily, I used to be capable of take part within the post-production stage of “The Thief Collector” remotely. I’m spending extra time at dwelling, so it’s a good time to start analysis and improvement on future initiatives. I nonetheless haven’t mastered the artwork of not letting my canines upstage me on Zoom periods, although.
W&H: The movie business has a protracted historical past of underrepresenting folks of shade onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — adverse stereotypes. What actions do you suppose have to be taken to make it extra inclusive?
AO: Though there are various actions that have to be taken, there may be one which feels probably the most pressing to me proper now: Statistics present that too typically the tales about communities of shade that finally get championed by festivals and funders are informed by a privileged white gaze. Regardless of how well-intentioned the filmmaker is, their positionality in telling the story can unconsciously perpetuate adverse stereotypes about communities of shade—and even assist these adverse stereotypes achieve alarming traction.
Algerian-American filmmaker Assia Boundaoui wrote a really thought-provoking, insightful essay about this in January for the Worldwide Documentary Affiliation journal. In her essay, she writes in regards to the persistence of Islamophobia when the narrative is managed by privileged, white filmmakers.
Within the doc house, I feel funders and competition gatekeepers have to extra broadly champion movies made by filmmakers of shade who’re weaving nuanced, highly effective narratives about their communities. I feel the gatekeepers ought to extra rigidly query the authorship of the story, the positionality of the director, and whether or not the story might trigger grave hurt to the communities it depicts. Movie generally is a highly effective, persuasive software. If the gatekeepers don’t undertake these practices, the normalization of adverse stereotypical narratives will proceed to result in racist insurance policies and to the potential endangerment of communities of shade.
Supply: Women And Hollywood
