Interviews with film crews from 1.23.09. Note: do not take these are direct quotes. I tried, but not all accurate. Watch podcasts and cite those for direct quotes. Sin Nombre crew (director/screenwriter Cary Joji Fukunaga, producer Amy Kaufman)

• Philosophy of the characters/title - the crosses they have on the border - nameless graves, immigrants that die. "Sin nombre and date." The nameless characters that die - kind of homage to them.
• Research process - interviewed hundreds of people
• Observational style - resepected the space
• Anti-over processed films - no super-saturation, no flashy cams/edits. The style fit the world
• "The greatest sin is risking nothing" - not familiar with scritprue, not sure what conenction between the idea of not pushing your life forward.
  
• Cary: trying to show - why people go, why uproot, why risk. Trying to appreciate the incredibly difficult/dangerous. Not just a one-night crossing of a desert. That risking all is an act of faith. Immigrant-wise - dangers were "in God's hands" - living day by day (that's Casper's style in the movie). Global economy so imbalance - when in central america milk costs 1/3 of your salary, why wouldn't you risk? As long as the imbalance exists, immigration will exist. Source of huge conflict -
• Sara goes forward - unite to a family that isn't there for her, latches on to Willy
• Cary: my Mom- married/divorced 5 times, dad 3 - incredible family experience
• I'm still trying to figure out what a family is
• Research was freeing - just meeting people, listening, asking, talking - not shoving cameras in face.
• In writing you have to like the characters and seek the good of them
• Met people you could feel the darkness in them - and othrs with this charismatic life spark.
• The gang members had this nervous, shaking almost 1000yard stare - but part of them that neve grew up,never got to be the kid who enjoys the world
• People capable of such terrible things - and yet still a part of them that want to live right, live well.
• In the devil's hands - mining hope in the depths of the evil. "I was just telling their story" - everything is going to be alright. Keep going is all you can do when there is nothing more to lose.

Paper Heart crew (editor Ryan Brown/cinematographer Jay Hunter) -

• genre-bending/blending style makes the romantic comedy fresh again
• Even the artificial parts had to be shot in same documentary style
• The reality tv part - feels handheld, zoomy, etc. - wanted to be like that,
• Very sincere and heartfelt - not a mockumentray, but treats them all with respect
• Many scenes that were mockumentary style got cut - took you out of the story
• Raw, organic, childlike, oral-history style story-telling.
• The biggest stumbling block - saying I love you. How do you have the courage to get to this point.

Adam team - (director/screenwriter Max Mayer/producer Miranda De Pencier) -

• conversation about the intersection of spirituality and cinema.
• Roots of the story in Max's hearing of an NPR story on Asberger's syndrome - felt compelled to tell the story
• Told via an amalgam of characters
• Miranda: didn't know how it would transfer to screen since it's such a character-driven story. The remarkable achievement of the actors given the pace, location, challenges, and limited resources. Never coddled, often challenged. Banded together as family - stay together even here at Sundance.
• When there is no money, no one is working for the money. We are there because of the story - bitter cold, middle of the night, central park - but passion at story.
• More money change the dynamic - sure more extravagance, but the restriction forces you to focus on the art and the community
• Max: theater background, serious actors respond to material.
• Craig: sweetness and childlikeness? Max - so individual, so honest. Can't read non-verbal cues, and say what they mean. The movies taps into the sense of innocence in the audiences.
• This is like a post-ironic film? Miranda - right convergence of timing. This era in our world and america - lots of gluttony, ego, and change in the air. People are getting back to hope and humanity and the things that matter. I hope it is a good day to have the film.
• Max - I like irony, but it is not basic.
• Max: the more I understand about science, the more questions I have that are fantastic. Go far enough and you get into theology. Scientists aren't going after first questions - sure, they go after the fascinating and needful, but the spiritual issues for individuals is where you need to get to. The limitation of that character in the film - how much can you get to, can Beth take him the direction of more than the factual?
• Is Adam named because of pre-fall? Is he the innocent, the pre-fall man? Yes - a bit heavy handed, I know. But there's a semi-militant group of people with Asberger's that believe we all need to move in their direction - more logical and reasonable, less emotional. We might last a little longer as humans on the planet.
• Bob: captivated by the idea of what is normal. Max: when you take what is said to you at face value, it is revelatory. It is literal. Don't psychoanalyze, backstory it, edit it - take it into you and you will be amazed at the assumptions that we so often make in everyday conversation. You work with them and you wonder: what are all the rest of us withholding?
• Miranda: we are so full of sarcasm and irony that we ignore the words.
• Very difficult for these actors to do these characters. The relationships can grow without the crutches that we all use.
• RE scenes with mirrors: An enormous amount of frustration when you feel you are on the outside of what is going on. "you all read each other's minds and I can't do it."