Revolution in Three Acts: An Interview with Valerie Veatch and Eden Cale

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By Nicole Holland

A few days before the anticipated New York International Independent Film & Video Festival’s screening of “Revolution in Three Acts,” IFQ sits down with Director/Screenwriter Valerie Veatch and Actress Eden Cale as they discuss Nihilism, the spirit of independent filmmaking and their latest film.

IFQ: Why did you choose to independently create and produce “Revolution in Three Acts”?

Valerie Veatch: At the time I don’t think we really saw another way to go about producing the project, other than to do it ourselves. The resources available to independent filmmakers are so vast that pretty much anything is possible with a group of energetic people. I was basically like “let’s make a movie, in the dead of winter, with no budget!” And we did.

IFQ: How did the concept of this film evolve?

VV: The initial idea for the film wasn’t too far from the final piece. I really liked the idea of three groups functioning as devices to discuss three different ways I see ‘young people’ engaging in the US political sphere.

IFQ: How does the film’s subject matter reflect your own personal beliefs?

VV: I think our generation hovers on this strange divide in American political culture. I was 18 during the 2004 election, flush with idealism and youth, I suppose. I remember being amazed by the complacency of so many of my peers, and then by my own political disinterest that grew out feeling like I really didn’t have a direct voice in what was going on. Politically, we are so removed from the effects of our actions it is easy to slip into a kind of reactionary nihilism that, in some cases, morphs into general political apathy. The film is really a critique of representative democracy and our generation’s response to it.

IFQ: What ideas and themes do you think the film is trying to express?

VV: This project is really about that apathy, that decay of our political system from the inside out. To me, the Nihilists really represent a vapid, dark, draining force that plays its way into our generation through a bland hipster cynicism.

IFQ: Why did you choose to set and shoot this film in New York, as say, oppose to 1860’s Russia where the Nihilist movement developed?

VV: It was important to me to establish a sort of parallel universe, where a fable about political action could unfold without actual politics impeding the story line. For that reason I tried to create three groups that would reference certain styles of activism and inaction, without getting mired in particulars.

IFQ: Why did you choose to shoot the film in black and white and on DV? Do you think the black and white enhanced the tone and mood of the film’s subject matter?

 

VV: Discussing sets and costumes over coffee with my sister, Veronica, she noted that due to our budget constraints black and white would make fabric sourcing and general prop gathering much easier. In retrospect, building the film around the limitations placed by time/experience/finances was actually creatively invigorating.

IFQ: Valerie, as a writer and director, how did you prepare for this film?

VV: Loads of cigarettes. Also, my roommate at the time was going through a Fassbinder phase. So I was watching quite a bit of Fassbinder and smoking a lot of cigarettes, which probably led to the development of the Nihilist Character: the performative one-dimensional femme fatale.

I sat down one day and wrote out the script in a couple hours. After that, it seemed like any other project. It was just a matter of getting all the details in order. Austin Scott, our supremely organized co-producer, played a huge part in structuring the production. We had an amazing cast and crew, all of who maintained the most professional attitude throughout the eleven days of shooting. We had people coming out of the woodwork, it was kind of amazing how a film community really crystallized around us for that brief production period.

IFQ: Eden, as an actress, how did you prepare for this film?

Eden Cale: Mittens. DayQuil. Eyebrows. No, it was actually quite a challenge. The relationship between the Lead Nihilist and Young Woman didn’t come organically. We had to spend a lot of time flushing out what was really going on under the dialogue. I think it was the night before the first shoot, while rehearsing our blocking in the thin passageway between Valerie’s kitchen stove and bookshelf, that we finally glimpsed the relationship between the two characters. I think the character arch of the Young Woman’s disillusionment mirrors what the Lead Nihilist went through to arrive at her present state.

IFQ: Did you research Nihilism in contemporary cinema?

VV: When I was writing this, everyone I talked to about the project asked me if I’d seen “The Big Lebowski.” I still haven’t. Nihilism is a tool I use to talk about the state of mind that disenfranchisement and disengagement lead to. So in that sense, the Nihilists are not meant to necessarily provide any point of literary reference, but function more as a symbolic reference.

 

IFQ: What’s your opinion of the portrayal of Nihilism in the films “Fight Club,” “I Heart Huckabees” and “Broken Flowers”?

VV: Nihilism got a bad, albeit sexy, wrap in “Huckabees.” In “Revolution in Three Acts,” I cannot say that Nihilism didn’t also get a bad, albeit sexy, wrap. In all three of those films, Nihilism is a state of mind. In “Revolution in Three Acts,” Nihilism is an inevitable systemic side effect stemming from the failings of representative democracy.

IFQ: Valerie, how did you get Eden on board in this film?

VV: I plied her with wine.

EC: I won’t entirely refute that. Throughout the first few meetings I vaguely recall her telling me I would wear black and my character would be really bossy. Lots of black. Lots of boss.

VV: That seemed to be the selling point.

 

IFQ: Any memorable on-set stories?

VV: Our first few days of shooting were out in Queens at an old military compound named Fort Totten. The night before our first shoot we loaded up our U-Haul with all the props for the weekend. This included a few hatchets, a pair of antique muskets, about a dozen air rifles painted black, and other accoutrements generally associated with civilian militias, among other things. The next morning we met at 4:45 in Union Square, loaded up the actors and crew, and heading out of Manhattan caravan-style. As we snaked our way through the tunnel, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw some official looking character waving the U-Haul, which by then was a bit of an armory on wheels, to the side of the road. We pulled over and watched Alexander Porter, our line-producer-camera-man-at-large, hop out of the truck and congenially start chatting up the patrolman. Five minutes later we were back on the road. I’m still unclear as to the content of their conversation.

IFQ: When was your first interest in film?

VV: When I was seven my parents bought a video camera. My sisters and I discovered in-camera edits, vantage point illusions, stop-motion animation with our dolls, and how to generate a crew of dedicated professionals out of our friends and neighbors.

EC: Acting on film was, and still is, the only aspiration I’ve ever clung on to. At one point I also wanted to be a neurosurgeon, but then I discovered my biology-oriented limitations. Then there was my brief, yet poignant, career as a mathematician. This ended when I discovered I could satiate my mathematic passion with the sudoku widgit.

IFQ: Who are your film inspirations?

VV: Maya Deren’s outsider approach to making her projects really enriches the story of independent films.

EC: I’m a total Neil Labute fanatic. I’ve developed quite an obsessive collection of his work. Yann Samuel’s “Jeux D’Enfants” with Marion Cotillard and Guillaume Canet is one of most favorite movies. I also wish I could emulate Lauren Bacall’s voice in “To Have and Have Not” without necessitating a pack-a-day habit. Oh, to dream…

IFQ: Eden, you are also in the film “Edie: Girl on Fire.” Can you tell me more about the film? How did you get involved in this project?

EC: “Edie: Girl on Fire” was a documentary by David Weissman and Melisa Painter focusing on the life of Edie Sedgwick, through the lens of her close friends and family. David and Melisa were interested in incorporating a fresh view on The Factory so they contacted me about appearing in the film. The amount of unseen footage they managed to find made it a really special project.

IFQ: Out of curiosity and since you are a product of The Factory, what was your opinion on the Weinstein’s “Factory Girl”?

EC: As for “Factory Girl,” I think Sienna Miller did a phenomenal job in her performance. However, contrary to my own research on Edie’s life, the narrative woven by the filmmakers departs, on many levels, from the truth. When dealing with real people and real events, I believe the line between fact and fiction should be clear.

IFQ: Any upcoming projects?

VV: I’ve also been doing web development and flash animation—playing with interesting ways to present content online. I’m also writing another short, but it’s top secret and if I told you I’d have to kill you, and then I would look ungrateful.

EC: I’m shooting my first feature film this summer but, keeping in the spirit of confidentiality, I won’t disclose the title to simply appear mysterious. And also because I’m contractually obligated not to.

** The New York International Independent Film & Video Festival award nominated short film “Revolution in Three Acts” screens on Saturday, March 1st at 8:10pm at the Village East Cinemas, located at 181 2nd Avenue at 12th Street, New York, NY 10003.**