From the film: Riley Keough, Sasha Lane, Will Patton, McCaul Lombardi, Isaiah Stone, Raymond Coalson, Dakota Powers, Chad Cox, Stefan Nordstrom, writer/director Andrea Arnold, producer Lars Knudsen, co-producer Julia Oh, executive producers Celine Rattray and Trudie Styler were in attendance.
Additional celebrity guests included Ben Foster, Laura Prepon, John Leguizamo, Norman Reedus, Alia Shawkat, Sofia Coppola, Phoenix’s Thomas Mars, Taylor Hackford, Griffin Dunne, Imogen Poots, Annabelle Dexter Jones, Lola Kirke, AnnaSophia Robb, Michael Zegen, Lyne Renee, Tristine Skyler, Maggie Betts, Michael Weber, Jerry Schatzberg, Debra Granik, Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden, Tamara Jenkins, Pippa Bianco, Benjamin Dickinson, Josh Safdie, Crystal Moselle, Alice Rohrwacher, Jeremy Saulnier, Leah Meyerhoff and Andrew Dosunmu.
Star (Sasha Lane) is a free-spirited teenager on the brink of adulthood who leaves her troubled home in the American Midwest and hits the road with a “mag crew,” itinerant laborers who peddle publications door-to-door for long hours during the day and party hard at night, never certain where the job will lead next. Led by hard-driving manager Krystal (Riley Keough) and her seductive enforcer Jake (Shia LaBeouf), the 15-strong 071 Crew becomes a surrogate family to Star, offering hope, possibility, love — and the freedom that comes from being on the road.
Sasha Lane
You had a pretty tough role to play for your first film, who or what do you think helped you capture the essence of your character?
SL: I feel like (the character) Star is very personal to me, so I took things from my own life—and I knew I was representing so many other people who had gone through the same things.
In what way did you find Star relatable?
SL: Just the type of life she lived and being out of place with nothing left to do, going out to see if there’s anything else other than how she grew up. All of it really; the free living and being impulsive and all that.
Did you do any form of acting before?
SL: No, not at all! Director Andrea, she found me on the beach last year. We had a long conversation and I did a little improv with her—by the end of it she said she wanted me in her movie.
How has it been since you’ve finished shooting? What have you been up to?
SL: At first, it was a lot of waiting. But now, a lot of prepping and just a lot of freaking out.
Was New York your first destination?
SL: No, we did Cannes first!
Riley Keough
Some may view Krystal as a rather despicable character, was there anything about her you did admire?
RK: I wouldn’t say she’s despicable. I think she’s just a little bit sad and broken, living in the circumstance that she’s in.
Do you think it was important that the leader or head manager of this magazine business was a female?
RK: Well that was the choice that Andrea wanted to make and I don’t know why she made that decision but she thought it was right for this particular mag group.
Following the screening, guests headed over to DL Rooftop for cocktails, canapes and dancing. The evening was presented by Film Society of Lincoln Center and A24 Films.
The film will be released in theaters on September 30, 2016 (NY/LA) / October 2016 (Nationwide).
Run Time: 162 Minutes
