Robert E. Hull

‘The author was afraid about somebody making this into an exploitation movie, like a zombie or a sci-fi film, and missing the point of the story’

The Oscar-nominated director of Blindness talks to Robert Hull about tackling taboos and surviving test screenings.

RH: What did you do to finally convince author José Saramago to sell you the rights to the book – after you, and other filmmakers, had tried and failed before?

FM: I read the book in 96/97 and approached him to buy it. He said no, so I accepted that. Then Canadian producer Niv Fichman called him and was also told no, but Niv flew to the Canary Islands, where Saramago lives, and stayed for four days – and after those four days he agreed to sell him the rights.  I think Saramago was afraid about somebody making this story into an exploitation movie, like a zombie movie or a science fiction film, and missing the point of the story. (more…)

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‘When you have a four-year-old celebrity it says interesting things about fame’
Screenjabber’s Robert Hull talks with director Amir Bar-Lev about his controversial documentary My Kid Could Paint That, in which a four-year-old art prodigy and her family find themselves part of a brutal media circus — and the filmmaker becomes a character in his own movie. (more…)

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‘I actually think you can deal with more issues in comedy than you can in drama’
It’s the US teen pregnancy comedy that has set box-office records and earned an Oscar-nomination for Ellen Page in the title role. Screenjabber’s Robert Hull met up with the film’s director Jason Reitman, its writer, Diablo Cody, and co-star Allison Janney (of The West Wing)…. (more…)

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