“Narcissister Organ Player is a hybrid performance/documentary film that explores how ancestral data is stored in our bodies, impacting the lives we lead. On the personal level, the film investigates how my complex family history compelled me to create the masked, erotic performance character Narcissister.”
How did this project come together for you?
I got a Creative Capital Award in 2015 and began shooting right away, I made it through 3 editors, 2 writers, many camera people, and countless different drafts before I made it to the finish line just in time for Sundance 2018.
What keeps you going while making a movie? What drives you?
I am a health nut! I took regular breaks from the edit to work out.
What was your biggest challenge with this project, and the moment that was the most rewarding to you?
The personal nature of the film was terrifying at first, I felt extremely anxious about how vulnerable I was making myself in telling this story. In the end it feels so rewarding that I was able and willing to expose myself so profoundly and that this actually has enabled more of a connection to people who see the film rather than my fear of the opposite result.
I’m about to get technical, but I would love to know about the the visual design of the movie; what camera did you film with, your relationship to the director of photography and how the movie was photographed.
There’s a great article with one of my cinematographers Ava Porter on Filmmaker Magazine that answers this question!
What would you say to someone who was being disruptive during a screening of your movie?
It’s painful to experience when it’s your own screening but we have all experienced this! I was in a tedious screening at MOMA the other day and a woman next to me got up and said “Excuse me, I need to get past you, I am leaving.” I laughed and said to her “But why?!” I knew exactly why she was leaving!
We have a lot of readers on our site looking to make movies or get into the industry somehow. What is the ONE THING you would say to someone who is wanting to get into the filmmaking business?
I am visiting the film world from the art and performance worlds. Given that I have an outside perspective, I would say that establishing a relationship with a grant writer seems essential.
And final question: what is the greatest movie you have ever seen?
I thought The Price of Everything was masterful!
Be sure to follow this movie online at www.narcissister.com!