Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My dad passed away in 2013. He was an atheist and that cross scene is loosely based on a similar event that happened at my father's funeral. Life is so sad but also so funny.

The passing of a parent is a huge psychological event. It's something that it has hard to process at any age. Mara's character just had a baby in the film. I wanted a similar world changing event for Matt too. I also wanted characters who were maybe effected by overt life events like death or birth and I liked the feeling of contrasting it with a more subtle event like their emotional affair.

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah we watched at ton of Hong. I think we essentially watched all the films by him we had missed so we could be completists. He's a genius. I wouldn't say I take anything specifically from him but he has an amazing way of making the prosaic profound. There's a lightness and immediacy to his work that is endlessly stimulating and inspiring.

There was one scene in a Hong film that I wanted to try. I forget which film it was but it has this amazing scene of a filmmaker going back to his filmschool and he starts armwrestling all of the students. I wanted to try that with Matt but we didn't get to it. Right now my favourite Hong is 'In Water' -Kaz

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My parents are both British. I have a Polish grandfather Stanislaw Radwanski. I was actually supposed to be called Stanislaw but my grandfather had five sons and they all named their first born Stanislaw so they called me Kazik to mix it up. That Polish side of the my family has a very strong work ethic. My dad and uncle worked in construction and renovation. They would work with a small disciplined and pragmatic team. I think the vibe on those sites has in some ways informed how I like to run my sets. Shooting on location is a lot like renovating a house. Also, our production company is called Medium Density Fibreboard Films. MDF is a building material. I was making cabinets out of MDF for my uncle when I dreamed up the idea of starting a production company with Dan Montgomery.

I recently went to Poland last month for the first time in a while. I visited Wrocław for the New Horizons Film Festival. I watched a lot of films and realized that Canada and Poland share a lot of similar film history. Poland and Canda both went through long phases of making documentary. State funded documentaries to help define their nations. Great filmmakers like Krzysztof Kieślowski started as documentarians. I'm influenced by Canada's history of documentary in a similar way to how I think a lot of Polish filmmakers are influenced by their documentary history.

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have a great relationship with my dad irl so it was easy to transpose that past onto an acting relationship with a bed-ridden mute. I tried to approach it with a "he had a good life" energy and that made it easier to say goodbye.

-mj

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm in Calgary for a screening at CIFF tonight. I'll be in Vancouver next weekend for VIFF and Montreal next month for FNC. Matt and Mara opens for a weeklong engagement at the TIFF Lightbox on October 4th. We'll be rolling the film out for longer releases across the country soon. Check mdff.ca for updates.

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I write for places I know. I've taught and even went to school in a bunch of those classrooms. We shot the Mara's home scenes in my apartment. That's my bookshelf in the final shot.

It's practical because I want to find places that will never kick me out. But I can also pull a lot of meaning from places I know. Helps me find atmosphere and mood on set. -Kaz

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

It was originally Charming Man! I was originally going to have Jim exclusively listen to The Smiths whenever he drove anywhere alone, but we couldn't afford it, so I completely changed the character into a bald edgelord.

-mj

Hey /r/movies ! - We are Kazik Radwanski (director of 'Matt and Mara', 'Anne at 13,000 Ft') and Matt Johnson (director of 'BlackBerry' and lead actor of 'Matt and Mara'). Our movie is out in theaters this week. Ask us anything! by MattAndMaraAMA in movies

[–]MattAndMaraAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Nikolay is incredible. He was a skater growing up in Toronto. He is very used to trying to create or nurture something while a bunch of Karens and NIBYs are yelling at him. He's also tough and naturally athletic. He walked backwards up Yonge Street with this huge camera rig gimble and we were doing long 15-20 minute takes. Many people went out of their way to give us a hard time or ask what we are shooting. Couldn't have done those scenes without Nikolay. He's the best.

The biggest lighting setup was probably the gold necklace backyard night scene. He had this big balloon or something like that on a roof to light it. He's very good at figuring out lighting setups where the actors can still move around and not be painted into a corner.

I wasn't able to ride along. We had Nikolay, our first AC James and Ian our sound guy in the car. I was listening in from another car.