Newspaper Page Text
March 20, 1991
Flagpole Magazine
Page 11
[try to] remember techniques or anything. I just
think, in a real general way, it all sunk in. Taught
me I like "this over "that" and "this" over "that."
FP: So basically, you learned what was cine
matic.
McKay: I mean, I've always really liked black
and white films and at least then, I was a real
admirer of very slow, patient film [and] filmmak
ing. Now, I don’t know if I have quite the toler
ance for it that I did. Although, I actually went
and made Lighthearted Nation.
FP: Yeah, that was a very, very patient film.
Something I wanted to say about Lighthearted
Nation is that I v/as glad there was no narration.
McKay: Good. It was a terrible struggle when
it came down to it. I worked on editing it for a
long time and hit some real potholes where I
couldn”t work anymore. That was the thing, it
was like, do I want to explain this for people or
do I want it to explain itself. I felt like, well I
wanted it to get on TV, PBS or something and if
I want it to get on PBS it has to be, you know a
typical documentary: "Here are these men and
this is why they’re important." Actually, what
changed it was I saw a film called Vernon,
Florida. Have you seen it?
FP: No, but I’ve wanted to see it.
McKay: Yeah, I had seen Gates of Heaven
before and I think it’s a great film, although I
have a few reservation about it. [However]
overall, I think it’s really an amazing feat. And,
I’d heard about Vernon, Florida, and I’d wanted
to see it, but when I finally saw it, it took the
purpose of Gates of Heaven much further. It
was an earlier film.
FP: Where did you see it?
McKay: I saw it on video, it must have been '87
or so. Anyway, it’s an entire film of just people
talking to the camera. It’s just incredible. It’s a
really beautiful film, funny and sad, I mean it’s
everything. Never does someone come on and
say, "These people are eccentric characters, all
living in the same town, but somehow sharing
the joy of ...", you know? And still though, in
editing and presentation I did need to explain a
little bit. What are these guys doing? That’s why
I had David Greenberger in it.
(David Greenberger is the editor of The Duplex
Planet, a magazine composed of the thoughts
and sayings of nursing home residents in Bos
ton and Schenectady, NY., Ed.)
Anyway, I got over that hump and finished it. It’s
interesting, because [LightheartedNation] came
out, it got a little attention, it sold actually, pretty
well, and then that was kind of dying down.
[But], then it got the festival in upstate New York
last summer, then I got invited to the Wexner
Center in Ohio to present it two months ago, and
I thought maybe I’ll have something reliable, but
now it just didn’t get into the Atlanta festival.
Maybe that’s over.
FP: How about public television?
McKay: I sent it around and they didn’t go for
it. It’s difficult, because it starts so slow. Be
cause, it takes about ten or fifteen
minutes into [the film] to even figure
out what it’s about or what’s going on.
People [who] screen films for broad
casting, they see so many ...
FP: They've just got to move through
them quickly.
McKay: Yeah, the real meaning of
that film never is spoken until the very
last thing in the video. Ed Rogers is
talking about patience and you kind of
go, "Oh, OK, now I get it", but you’ve
gotta wait 45 minutes for that to really
come home. But anyway, I was happy
with that and now I’m looking forward
to moving on and making something
else.
FP: So, what are you working on, your
next documentary?
McKay: I’m in the very, very pre-pro
duction, mostly idea and research
stage of a feature documentary about
the grassroots, environmental and
social justice [movement]. So, I’d like
I’m looking forward to
moving on and making
something else.
to do something on that. I'm still figur
ing out how exactly I can do it, be
cause I don't have any money to start.
I think by this summer I will have formed
some kind of decision about exactly
how I can get there. I'm gonna proba
bly have to work with some other people
on it. I'm gonna have to get grant
money. It's a very big project.
The reason I want to make the film
that I want to make is, because of my
sense of what's going on right now. The last
elections should be taken as a very clear indica
tion of the direction the country’s going in, and
that is down. Not only the people who were
elected, but the issues that got voted down, like
Big Green. That should tell people something,
that is, don't try and do giant things [all] at once.
At the moment, a lot of people really are inter
ested in global warming, and it might not be as
pressing a thing as a dump in someone's back
yard. While I think global warming is an impor
tant topic, and it’s good that there are groups
working on that, I've made a personal decision
that, that's not where the emphasis should be.
So, if I do work environmentally, I would like to be
in groups like, Citizens Clearinghouse for Haz
ardous Waste and Environmental Action.
FP: Hugh Dixon, the regional coordinator for
CCHWspoke on campus recently at a Students
for Environmental Awareness meeting.
McKay: They’re a great group. My original idea
was to have the film set up around them, Lois
Gibbs and her story. (Lois Gibbs, the founder of
CCHW, was a former resident of Love Canal.,
Ed.) Show [how] what happened with her, af
fected all these people. The fact that someone in
Alabama has this vibe that something bad is
happening, can call Citizen's Clearinghouse
and get all this information about how to deal
with what's going on, and fight their own fight
and basically start from scratch. So, I think that
it’s a real interesting story and I think that people
need to be shown that other people are doing
this. That you don't have to be a mathematician
or scientist, or a politician to fight a giant corpo
ration. Let’s be realistic, a lot of environmental
ists grow up in middle-class, upper-middle, white,
sub-urban environments. Up until now, it's been
like a luxury to think about things like the environ
ment. That’s not the case, it hasn’t been the
case, but now people are realizing that it’s not.
It’s the same as reaching out to labor and reach
ing out to the working class. It’s everybody's
problem, and you’re not going to solve it by just
getting all your friends together and doing an ad
performance. I think you’re going to solve it by
actually reaching out to the people who are
affected and making contacts that are impor
tant. So, sometimes with the PSA’s I feel ...
(pauses) We started the PSA’s, because we're
filmmakers and we're also socially motivated,
and here’s a very quick, effective, main stream
genre that we can infiltrate. But I often look at
them and think, “Is this going to do anything?
Does it really matter at all?" Somedays, I think,“No,
not at all.’ It’s just jerking off. But other days, I
think the media is the biggest tool that we have.
(There will be more of this interview in the
next issue of Flagpole. For more information
about C-00 and Direct Effect write to: Direct
Impact, P 0. Box 646, Athens, Ga. 30603)
Stephen Crawford