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Interview with filmmaker Sanjna Selva

by Britt Trachtenberg
written by Britt Trachtenberg

Sanjna Selva called her debut documentary a product of translation. She wrote, directed, produced, and edited the short documentary “Call Me Anytime, I’m Not Leaving the House” (2023). Two days after Russia invaded Ukraine, two sisters connected via Facetime. One sister, Lesyba Verba, lived in Brooklyn as an artist and performer. The other sister, Odessa, lived in Ukraine. The film tackled subjects of family, love, national identity, and the impermanence of home. Recently, the New York State Film Festival featured the documentary. The film will premiere in PBS’s collection of POV Shorts.

Selva is an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Her career began as associate producer on the Sundance-supported feature, “Silent Beauty” (2022). Her films have screened at Woodstock Film Festival, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, and Indie Memphis Film Festival. Internationally, film festivals in France, Ukraine, and Romania have screened her work. She has received awards for best audience and short documentary. Read the interview transcript below regarding “Call Me Anytime, I’m Not Leaving the House.”

The Knockturnal: First, tell me a bit about your short film.

Sanjna Selva: Yeah, so, “Call Me Anytime, I’m Not Leaving the House” is a short film with a long title. It’s largely about the war in Ukraine told from the first days of the war breaking out. It’s entirely told through the frame of a single relationship between two separated sisters. One sister is based in Brooklyn, New York and the other sister has just entered a bunker in Odessa, Ukraine with the two children. It’s about their first phone call to each other at the moment that the war starts. 

The Knockturnal: Wow, that’s really interesting. My next question is: have you ever done any video projects before? If so, what are they?

Sanjna Selva: Yeah, I’ve worked in documentary for the past four years. This is my debut film. It’s my first film that I’ve ever directed, produced, shot, and edited that I released to the world. I worked mainly as a producer on other people’s films, mostly feature documentaries. They span multiple subjects. The first film that I worked on was also released this year. It’s kind of nice to have both films that I’ve worked on released the same year. It’s come full circle. But, the first documentary is really shot in the South. It’s about our directors’ experience going through childhood sexual abuse. It unnerves the culture of silencing in the South amiss caste-like churches. There’s been a number of projects that I’ve worked on, but this film is necessary. 

The Knockturnal: Okay. I think that your short film was in the New York State Film Festival.

Sanjna Selva: It was, yes.

The Knockturnal: Okay, so what was the process like?

Sanjna Selva: My process in getting my film out was very different than the typical process. The creative team usually meets after you finish your film. Then, you pick your editor. You get it colored and sound-corrected. You apply to lots of different festivals with it. You try to look for a distributor like Netflix or PBS. Mine is the opposite. I made this film in grad school and my professors were essentially my co-producers. It got acquired by PBS when it was in the rough cut stages. PBS signed off early and became my distributor. That’s how I prepared the funding to get it finished and submitted to festivals. Because I have PBS as a distributor, it helped give me the ambition to apply to lots of festivals. So, the process of New York City was [the film festivals’} last stop on its circuit, which is nice. I can come back to the city and screen it where it was made. Essentially, I shot the film mostly out of Brooklyn. Yeah, it was a great experience.

The Knockturnal: Okay. What challenges arose in the documentary-making process? How did you overcome them?

Sanjna Selva: That’s a good question. The biggest challenge is that this film is entirely in Russian and Ukrainian— two languages that I don’t speak at all. So, I shot the film entirely with the two characters speaking in Russian and Ukrainian to each other, not knowing what was going on. The film was discovered and realized through language translation. It was hard and scary to go in not knowing what you were doing. [It’s hard to] trust that their story would be powerful and genuinely conceived despite language, that people would be able to connect with it. Ultimately, that’s what the film is about. It’s about the first phase of the war in Ukraine. It’s also about two sisters who’ve been separated and that’s even more of a personal story.  It was challenging to only work with material in a different language, especially because I was the editor. I relied so much on my two translators. My primary translator, who translated all of the Russian, is one of my best friends. She did the project for me because she was witnessing what was happening in the Ukraine. As a Russian person in the U.S. wanting to help, she was able to find solace and help in her own little way. It takes triple the amount of time to work on translated material.

The Knockturnal: Okay. What has become your favorite part of the documentary process? 

Sanjna Selva: I think it’s the part that happens with all of my films. I become close to the protagonists and the characters. I think that’s my approach to filmmaking. I never go in without building trust in the characters. I never go without informing everyone of the process. It’s important that they have a say and feel listened to. I’m able to form a connection and share a journey with these people. I can pursue their growth too. Our time together hasn’t ended just because I finished shooting the film. That’s kind of a relationship that I’ve gained from. [Talking about “Call Me Anytime.”] It’s been nice to see them go through some recent joys in their life. This is post the traumatic phone call we initially filmed almost a year ago. The film was shot back in February. 

The Knockturnal: What do you hope viewers will get from watching the documentary?

Sanjna Selva: I hope viewers will enter the conversation. I’ve never been separated from my family due to conflict. I do live apart from my family. [The film] made me miss home a lot. It made me think about what I would do if my home-country was war-stricken. I would pick up the phone and call my loved ones immediately. I hope that people are able to see themselves in the conversation between these two loving sisters. I hope that people are able to think about other topics. I tried to tell anyone that the film is about Ukraine. At the start of the war, Ukraine got a lot of media attention. That’s primarily because it is a war in a western country. There are other stories though. Stories of loved ones separated by conflict exist outside of the western world that don’t receive the same media attention. I hope that people can think about and know it’s a universal story of conflict in the west.

The Knockturnal: Okay. Thank you. What advice would you give to someone just starting out in video production, directing, or making their first documentary?

Sanjna Selva: I feel like I’m so fresh in the process. I would say ‘go out if you have an idea.’ This idea came to me and I could kind of see the film so clearly. If that happens to you and you want to make something, go out and just do it. Do not listen to anyone who has anything else to say. Just push through it and hold your ideas strong in yourself. I could’ve never thought that my film would’ve ended up on national TV just through a single, simple idea. Also, surround yourself with good community and friendships.  I worked on this film with some of my closest friends. I experienced such joy supporting, making art, and working with my friends. I couldn’t imagine I would have finished [the film] without people. You are never an island. No film is made with an island. Community is really, really important. So, if you see someone whose work you really admire, reach out to them. See if you can collaborate with people. It’s always super important in doing whatever you want to work on.

The Knockturnal: Okay. Thank you so much for joining me today. It was a pleasure talking to you.

Sanjna Selva: Yeah, thank you so much!

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EntertainmentFilm

Film Review: “Babylon”

by Ethan Singh
written by Ethan Singh

Cinema is dying. It’s hard to believe given the glut of options we have being released every week on the myriad of streaming services that lay themselves at our feet for a mere pittance, but it’s something I ungraciously believe. A body without a soul is nothing more than a corpse and a movie without a point is no different. A lot of the movies I’ve seen in the past couple of years have had nothing to say and if a movie has no voice, then it has very little point in existing. But every so often, there is a flicker of life in the midst of every ashen pile that reminds you even embers may burn again. Babylon is one such flicker and Damien Chazelle is the perpetrator of this.

First and foremost, this film is not a love story or even a drama as Chazelle has done in the past. Rather, it’s an epic, which I would categorize as a genre all on its own. I couldn’t help but laugh to myself seeing one being made today after I, along with the other great film writers at the Knockturnal, discussed this topic on one of our more recent podcast episodes. An epic is an old style of making movies, filled with grand shots and numerous plot lines, but with an overarching theme. These are films that have incredible scope and often span years, acting like literal novels come to life. Each scene is less a fluid story and more a highly connected and interrelated series of vignettes that epitomizes the central theme and often time period. Babylon is very much so an epic which follows the lives of different characters during the late 1920s in Hollywood as the industry moved from silent films and the raucous age of the roaring 20s into the slowly sterilized but pioneering golden age of film which began with the onset of “talkies”, films with sound.

Babylon essentially opens on a large, off the rails party filled with every form of debauchery you could imagine, as well as you few you didn’t. The music is bombastic, the setting is ostentatious, the attire of the party goers is shocking to say the least, and their behavior is purely a degeneration of social norms. In fact, the scene itself is loud in every single way you can imagine, aside from the dialogue, which is almost unintelligible. At first, I thought this was a shortcoming of the sound mixing team when I realized that this was the point. Drowning out the sound of dialogue is the pure spectacle of the moment. Not to mention the fact that Chazelle is such an adept storyteller that even without understanding what’s being said at all moments, it’s clear what’s taking place. This opening act spans the first thirty or so minutes of the runtime but it perfectly exemplifies the spirit of the film and the silent era: it’s one large party that’s hit its peak, but it’s on its way to a downturn.

It’s beautiful and is not unlike the rest of the film which carries on for another 150 minutes to a total runtime of three hours, which sounds like a lot, but it’s not. Most movies I find myself watching today are so slow and poorly placed that I’d rather repeat a year of high school than finish the sleepy mess I was watching. I’ve seen movies this year with the usual 120-minute runtime that were 90 minutes too long. And yet, Babylon almost feels rushed at 3 hours. I actually wish it was 4 hours. The only flaw I could find in this movie is that because it tells the stories of so many different characters, there are scenes which aren’t given enough time to breathe and there are no scenes that I would cut. That and the fact that writing dialogue has never been Chazelle’s strong suit.

This is an interesting review to write. I’ve been a writer for nearly seven years and in that time I don’t believe I’ve reviewed a single epic. It takes me back to my days in film class and learning why John Ford’s How Green Was My Valleywas a masterpiece, even though it never really quite clicked for me. Looking back, I was too young and unbothered to understand the depth of that movie, but today I can appreciate the beauty of it. Babylon is much the same in that I don’t believe this film will receive the audience reaction it deserves. Honestly, I’m not even sure it’ll receive the critical praise it’s rightly owed. It’s a bold step that seeks to revive something from the past that most have decided to leave in the grave it found itself in. However, Chazelle has shown that once again in this film that he has in the past, anything old and underappreciated, like the genre of musicals, can still work if under the watchful hand of an extremely talented auteur. That is what Chazelle is now, by the way. With this film, I feel the argument is more than clear cut than ever that he is a true auteur, one who can tackle and navigate the choppy waters of the most under-appreciated and overlooked genres. Looking at this film as a standalone piece of work may seem like an almost experimental test of what a movie can be. A take on an old format. However, consider this in the work of everything Chazelle has done and it makes for an incredibly interesting piece to the creative psyche he portrays so well in his work.

I believe it was the director Howard Hawkes that once said that a good movie is one with a few good scenes and no bad ones. By that definition, Chazelle has certainly made a good movie and I feel it’s the best scale to grade this product by. It’s a piece of cinema for cinema lovers, but sadly, I’m not sure a regular audience member would enjoy this. I certainly don’t see a regular movie goer like my Dad going to a theater and saying it was time well spent. Movies of this style are ones that require an acquired taste, made specifically for the movie goer with a developed palate in the pursuit of something more that regular run of the mill production won’t provide. It saddens me to say that. I remember hearing people laugh at what may be one of the most tragic and heartfelt scenes of the film and thinking to myself that this is not going to be appreciated by movie goers and probably not even by critics. In time this film will get the critical praise it deserves, but it may go as a misunderstood masterpiece from an era where Hollywood had a creative drought.

Babylon will be in theaters on December 23rd, 2022, and I sincerely hope that against all odds that it’s a smash hit.

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The Janes: A story of power and resilience.

by Sanjana Sarna
written by Sanjana Sarna

The janes is the story of an underground network of women who banded together to provide safe,  affordable, and illegal abortions in the late 1960s and early ’70s in Chicago. Defying state law, the catholic church, and the mob, they risked arrest and a lifetime in prison to save women’s lives.

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“Retrograde” Director on Filming Under Fire in Afghanistan

by Dano Nissen
written by Dano Nissen

What happens when a never ending war ends?

Director Matthew Heineman captures the final months of the 20 year long war in Afghanistan in his new documentary “Retrograde.” Heineman is known for his Oscar-nominated doc “Cartel Land” and his narrative feature “A Private War.” His films are gonzo in the most dangerous and intimate of moments. His unfettered access lets you feel like you’re there — often in places you feel like you shouldn’t be.

“Fly on the wall” comes to mind when describing his films, but Heineman says he hates the term. “No offense to flies, but they don’t have a lot of agency,” he said. He, as a filmmaker, does, however. And he gained access to those “fly on the wall” shots by building trust with his subjects and pounding at bureaucratic hurdles and logistical setbacks.

After a Monday screening of “Retrograde”, the director sat down for a Q&A to discuss how the film came together.

“The goal is to become part of the fabric of the daily lives of our subjects so they can be comfortable,” said Heineman of his style of filmmaking. “You can have those surprising human moments you would never ever get if you just helicoptered in and tried to film.”

Heinman put himself in some life threatening situations. “A lot of people think I’m this adrenaline junkie and love getting shot at, which I don’t —for the record. I don’t do this for the thrill of it,” he said. “If you’re risking your life for something it has to be for some form of a greater purpose or story I really believe in.”

He recounted the filming of a scene where he’s backseat in a helicopter in a particularly dangerous area. The Taliban began firing. He said, “When you’re in the helicopter and rockets are being shot at you there is no object button. There is no I want to go home. You are there. You’re in it.”

He continued, “In those situations the only thing I have agency over is my camera. And that is what I choose to focus on. I focus on framing and exposure. I’m mixing sound when I’m filming. Those are things I can control. If I’m going to risk my life to get a scene I’m going to get it right.”

“Retrograde” is produced by National Geographic and available for streaming on Disney +.

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What A Wonderful Film! “Louis Armstrong’s: Black & Blues” Documentary Airs on Apple TV Plus

by Danielle Niecey
written by Danielle Niecey

December 5, 2022, Bryant Park Hotel, Manhattan, NY – On the evening of December 5th, a room full of media writers and press professionals filled the intimate screening room at the Bryant Park Hotel in Manhattan to view the October 28th, release of An Apple Original Film, Louis Armstrong’s: Black & Blues. The penetrative documentary on the life of Jazz Trumpeter and Vocalist, Louis Armstrong, was directed and produced by Sacha Jenkins; co-produced by Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Julie Anderson and Executively Produced by Brian Grazer, Michele Anthony and David Blackman.

The documentary film, Louis Armstrong: Black & Blues, takes the audience on a journey that highlights the life of the world renowned talent, soloist, jazz pioneer Louis Armstrong, more affectionately known as “Satchmo” the Ambassador.  For those who did not know, Louis received this derivative of his original nickname ‘satchel mouth’, a term he picked up from the way his lips cradled the mouthpiece of his trumpet. In the early 1930’s on a trip overseas to Britain, Melody Maker magazine editor, Percy Brooks, mispronounced the nickname he likely acquired while researching Louis’ musical career and accidentally called him,”Satchmo” in his greeting. For Louis, the father of scat and one of the most influential musicians in history, it phonetically made sense and he held tight to his colleague’s “bloop” (and the blip) for his namesake.

The tokens this documentary film offers to the audience are deposited that way. Archival footage and never before heard private conversations reveal the impassioned side of the musical prodigy that most never knew existed.  The film uncovers the mystery behind the ever-seen-grinning, “What A Wonderful World” singer.  Presented in the film are photos, with names, with dates, with detailed stories from his life, and short reflective segments in the form of letters narrated by one of my favorite living hip hop legends Nasir “Nas” Jones. Those who met and coincided with the beloved Louis Armstrong, helped to trace the outline of Armstrong’s past with lost footage; pulling from the roots of his humble upbringing in New Orleans, his natural inclination to work hard and hustle for every cent he earned, regardless of the social climate; to his discovery and exploration of music as a calling; his exposure to racism and its impacts on him professionally and psychologically; and his peaceful transition in his Corona, New York home, in 1971.

Hectah Arias, the art director on the film, does a remarkable job storyboarding the narration of Armstrong’s story, visually. Parallel to Louis’s freedom of expression, the visual art unfolds, echoing the likeness of a moving collage on screen. The brilliance of the visual design in the film shines through with the usage of reels, the placement of diagrams, excerpts and sound clips inspired by the musician, who intuitively knew that he would need to record the events of his life for future generations to build on. Whether hobby or heightened awareness, the prolific Louis clipped and saved parts of news articles, concert and show bills; or wrote by hand, the state of affairs of the world and the internal dialogue he often chose not share publicly until the latter parts of his life. Louis knew his influence and wielded his power with skill and tact, even to the detriment of the reputation he held within his community during the civil rights movements when he opted out of protest to “play his horn,” instead.

Another great feature in this documentary is that it is jam packed with detailed information to support the points it claims. For example, Louis Armstrong being considered the pioneer of modern Jazz music; the directors strategically place an archived clip of a media journalist explaining the intricate composition of Jazz music in a simplified way. He explains what made Louis Armstrong’s technique ahead of its time and explains the ways in which Louis weaved his instrumentation and vocals between notes. His mastery of the art form had not been done, or at least documented before with such wide reaching appeal or visibility.

At the end of the film, before the cocktails and the hors d’oeuvres, Directors Sacha Jenkins and  Sara Bernstein participated in a live Q&A where the audience members were able to ask questions about the film, the inspiration behind the making of the documentary and learned more about the directors’ experience working on this project as a collaborative team.  To our surprise, Director and Producer, Sacha Jenkins shared a paranormal encounter he and the crew had while visiting the home of the late Louis Armstrong and credited the “phantom spinning record” as a blessing and sign off from Armstrong himself, that he had his hand in the retelling of his life through his art.

What I love most about this film is that it is subtly educational and it offers more insight beyond the life of the man. As a music lover, I’ve always wanted to appreciate Jazz on a fundamental level and I was offered that opportunity to comprehend the genre through Louis Armstrong’s documentary. I applaud the film for educating me as a viewer on the historic events surrounding his career setbacks, such as him encountering legal troubles for marijuana possession or the legal ramifications he faced for participating in a hometown parade in blackface. For many years, I thought it to be a prejudiced joke that African Americans were depicted by this character in movies. I was further taken aback when I learned that its creation was to incorporate black characters into tv & film stories without needing to hire minority actors and actresses for the roles. This troubling realization was triggering and illustrated the aspects of Louis Armstrong’s career that he silently endured having to perform in hotels he was not even allowed to eat in, sleep in or relieve himself in. However, his tenacity and ability to maintain his composure and fill the world with his freedom in song spoke volumes of him as a human being; one that was able to leave behind a beautiful legacy for his community and the world at large. 

I highly recommend the film, Louis Armstrong’s: Black & Blues, for anyone that’s intrigued by splendid visuals on screen; those interested in exploring and understanding the origin of Jazz music; and peeking beyond the veil of one of the biggest influencers in American music culture, the polished yet animated Trumpeter, Louis Armstrong. What a wonderful film!

 

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Exclusive: Kelly Rowland, Omari Hardwick and Rome Flynn talk Fantasy Football

by Sydney Hargrove
written by Sydney Hargrove

Omari Hardwick’s newest role shows him stepping into a beautiful Father Daughter dynamic with Marsai Martin, as the two star as Callie and Bobby Coleman in Paramount+’s new heartfelt comedy, Fantasy Football.

In the father-daughter sports-themed FANTASY FOOTBALL, everything changes for teenager Callie A. Coleman (Marsai Martin) when she discovers she can magically control her father, Bobby’s (Omari Hardwick) performance on the football field; whatever Callie does in the video game mirrors what Bobby does on the field. When Callie plays as her dad, a running back for the Atlanta Falcons, in EA Sports Madden NFL 23, she transforms Bobby from a fumble-plagued journeyman to a star running back, much to the teen’s delight and the wonderment of his wife Keisha (Kelly Rowland). With the NFL playoffs looming, and the pressures of Callie’s new commitment to her friends on the robotics team mounting, Callie and Bobby must forge ahead to keep the magic a secret as they juggle the highs and lows of their newfound success – while
rediscovering what it really means to be a family.

The film is as heartwarming as it is funny and it’s perfect for all ages this holiday season. We sat down with the cast to talk all about it, check out the conversation below!

 

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