Bird's Eye View

Director Mary Harron answers our questions

Mary Harron, the wonderful director behind American Psycho, The Notorious Bettie Page and I Shot Andy Warhol, touched down in the UK last night to attend her Masterclass and Retrospective at the festival this year. She is very very cool, and we just couldn’t resist asking her a few little questions before you can do the same at her events this weekend…

Rachel Millward: We are so excited that you are coming to the festival! We  know that you will bring huge amounts of inspiration and learning to our audiences and aspiring filmmakers. But, from your side – what single thing would you like to leave behind / give to our London audience?

Mary Harron: A sense of determination.

All your films grapple with the implications of gender. Has this  affected your audience?

It sometimes seems that women don’t get ‘American Psycho’ and men don’t get Bettie Page.  That’s not always true, of course.  But the films do divide people.

If you had to start out again, and were forbidden from being  a film director, what profession would you pursue?

A writer. Or a pastry cook.

What is your greatest achievement?

My daughters, although I can’t take much of the credit.  And getting my first movie made  against ridiculous odds — and sticking with it.

Can you remember the first time you decided you’d make a  film? Was it something you’d always dreamed of or did you suddenly ‘catch the bug’?

When I was 15 I used to go to National Film Theater on my own to watch films like ‘Double Indemnity’ and ‘M’.  Back then I didn’t imagine I could be a director, but I thought I might write screenplays.  I became a journalist instead.  I remember seeing ‘Bladerunner and thinking “that’s here the excitement is.  I wish I could do that.”  Blue Velvet and Drugstore Cowboy had a big effect one as well, showing a completley different kind of American film.

Our festival this year has a focus on Screen Seductresses and sex on screen. What is your favourite erotic moment in cinema?

Something with Greta Garbo or Gong Li.

Do you think it’s important to bring a woman’s perspective of sex to cinema?Why?

Because male fantasies so dominate cinema,  they are taken as reality.

How have you juggled family life with making movies?

With  the constant help of my husband and  a wonderful babysitter. And  because I don’t make movies that often.  Mostly I’m at home, trying to write or talking on the phone.

What attracted you to the Birds Eye View film festival? Do you think it’s important to specifically celebrate women filmmakers?

Someone has to!  And it’s a chance for neglected films to be seen.  Film festivals are one of the great consolations of a difficult profession.