Alexis Neophytides is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and educator primarily based in New York City. Her work facilities round group and the way we discover that means in folks and place. She is the co-creator, co-director, and producer of “Neighborhood Slice,” a public tv documentary sequence that tells the tales of longtime New Yorkers who’ve held quick to their nook of town regardless of gentrification. She produced and directed the sequence “9.99,” for which she gained a NY Emmy. Her brief documentaries “Doctor Kong,” “Coney Island’s for the Birds,” and Vimeo Staff Pick “Ethan 2018” screened at festivals worldwide. “Dear Thirteen” is her first function size documentary. She is a Sundance Institute Documentary Film Grantee for her second function, “Fire Through Dry Grass,” at the moment in post-production.
“Dear Thirteen” is screening on the 2022 DOC NYC movie competition, which is operating from November 9-27.
W&H: Describe the movie for us in your personal phrases.
AN: “Dear Thirteen” is a documentary portrait of this latest era coming of age within the trendy world – one I hope is uplifting and hopeful and genuine to the younger voices it portrays. The movie weaves collectively tales of 9 13-year-olds from France, Australia, Mexico, Nepal, and the United States. Through their eyes, we see how urgent world points – gender id, faith, race, financial standing, and immigration – are shaping, and being formed by, younger folks.
In Australia, Evie, a trans woman, begins her medical transition with confidence and optimism; in France, Oren prepares for his Bar Mitzvah whereas reckoning with anti-semitism in his hometown; in Brooklyn, Madeline finds pleasure and creativity on TikTok whereas contending with the pressures of the pandemic; in Mexico, Fany desires of breaking the mildew as a feminine boxer whereas navigating her mother and father’ separation.
We have been actually fortunate to work with Dan Deacon, a very superb musician, on the rating. His dreamy soundscape underlines the complexity and wonder within the transition into maturity.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AN: I taught documentary filmmaking to 13-year-olds for practically a decade. Those years solely confirmed my emotions about this age – it’s transformative and deeply magical. Beyond the hormones and bodily modifications, it’s the age we begin to change into conscious of the bigger world round us, and start to solidify a worldview that may carry us ahead into our grownup lives. It is a pivotal time to be uncovered to new views and other ways of residing, to confront stereotypes and problem beforehand held views.
Despite the universality of this time, I by no means had fairly the suitable materials to indicate my college students. There are so many fantastic documentaries about necessary matters, however I discovered only a few that have been advised from the standpoint of younger folks themselves. And so I made this movie for my college students, to provide them an opportunity to see their very own experiences on display screen mirrored again to them, and to dwell for a couple of moments in worlds they’d not recognized earlier than. I suppose in the long run it additionally turned a love letter to my 13-year-old self.
W&H: What would you like folks to consider after they watch the movie?
AN: One factor that was actually necessary to Trina Rodriguez — my long-time collaborator and editor/producer of “Dear Thirteen” — and me in crafting the movie was to have our younger movie contributors communicate for themselves. We didn’t need any adults to talk for them. In truth the one grownup commentary within the movie is my very own, which we hope acts extra as a information via the completely different tales slightly than an older individual deciphering their ideas.
Young persons are typically portrayed within the media in a considerably unfavorable gentle, or in one-dimensional stereotypes. We actually wished to indicate our younger protagonists authentically, as they every have been: advanced, filled with hope and in quite a lot of methods, deep thinkers. I’d love for folks to really feel hopeful about this new era after they watch the movie! I do know that’s how we felt in making it.
Another hope we had for the movie was that in watching, older viewers is likely to be transported again to this time in their very own lives and keep in mind what it felt like, the issues that have been necessary to them, the chances that also existed of their minds and to possibly stroll away with slightly little bit of that optimism. I’d prefer to think about that this movie might be a little bit of constructive vitality put out into the world.
W&H: What was the most important problem in making the movie?
AN: The greatest problem was sticking with it. Making an impartial movie can take so very lengthy! For us it was a 5 12 months lengthy journey from idea till the world premiere, with quite a lot of ups and downs alongside the way in which.
W&H: How did you get your movie funded? Share some insights into how you bought the movie made.
AN: This was a very impartial movie via and thru. We have been fortunate sufficient to get a considerable grant on the very starting that basically propelled the undertaking into being. We had a couple of small impartial donors who believed within the movie alongside the way in which that saved us going. Throughout this entire time interval I used to be working different jobs and scrounging frequent flier miles to journey, so it was a scrappy affair!
And lastly, earlier this 12 months we obtained a grant from the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre, which actually got here on the excellent time and allowed us to complete the movie.
W&H: What impressed you to change into a filmmaker?
AN: I’ve liked tales and storytelling since I used to be slightly child – I at all times had my nostril buried in a ebook. The highway to filmmaking for me was not a transparent, direct path however in the long run I feel it got here again to a love of tales, and curiosity about life and actual folks.
W&H: What’s the very best and worst recommendation you’ve obtained?
AN: Best recommendation: Always pack snacks in your digicam bag.
Worst: Don’t present your work to the folks in it till you’re completed with every little thing.
I can not imagine this was the mentality in our business for therefore lengthy! These days there’s a push for larger transparency between filmmakers and their movie contributors. I heard somebody not too long ago describe the documentary panorama because the Wild West when it got here to filmmaking ethics, with no actual guidelines or tips for folk to comply with.
Thankfully there’s a large shift occurring in our subject and a few actually necessary work being carried out by teams like DAWG (the Documentary Accountability Working Group) that supply guiding rules for non fiction filmmakers to look to all through their filmmaking course of.
W&H: What recommendation do you’ve for different girls administrators?
AN: One of the most important challenges for me has been navigating making work whereas additionally needing some outdoors approval to make it occur, whether or not that’s within the type of funding, movie competition acceptances, gross sales executives, and so on. It’s actually laborious to attend round for gatekeepers to allow you to in whereas making an attempt to maintain your vitality targeted on creating.
My recommendation can be to attempt to not focus an excessive amount of on one individual’s opinion of your work. There are a number of ’em on the market! And if one door doesn’t open, attempt to be malleable sufficient to bend in the direction of different alternatives. There actually are so many various paths in the direction of making significant work.
W&H: Name your favourite woman-directed movie and why.
AN: One of my favourite movies is “Cameraperson,” directed by Kirsten Johnson and edited by Nels Bangerter. I like that movie a lot – the rhythm of it and the way in which they wove seemingly disparate vignettes collectively into one thing so significant. I watched it many occasions for inspiration whereas we have been desirous about how you can put our movie collectively.
W&H: What, if any, duties do you assume storytellers need to confront the tumult on the planet, from the pandemic to the lack of abortion rights and systemic violence?
AN: Documentary filmmakers are uniquely positioned to inform necessary tales that may shift public opinion. Stories about urgent matters are undeniably essential, and sure, I feel we do have a accountability to make use of the instruments and energy we maintain as storytellers not solely to doc what is going on in as truthful a means as doable, however to impact change.
I do additionally imagine that there’s worth in movies that aren’t particularly problem oriented. Any alternative we’ve to broaden the way in which folks assume and present life from completely different views helps to create larger understanding and a extra inclusive tradition.
W&H: The movie business has an extended historical past of underrepresenting folks of colour onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — unfavorable stereotypes. What actions do you assume should be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world extra inclusive?
AN: While there are extra sources accessible to assist underrepresented voices nowadays, I’d supply that past funding initiatives, our business ought to problem the way in which we take into consideration filmmaking extra holistically. Listening to and giving house for brand spanking new voices requires time, and sources to assist that point. I feel it calls for some radical rethinking of the way in which we assist filmmakers and the buildings round them.