How does an academic train himself to be a filmmaker?
The only way I have ever trained myself is by 'doing' and by surrounding myself with people who enjoy teaching. Larry Kamerman, a noted filmmaker, has produced both my documentary (based on my first book) and my fictional work.
Just as my professors pushed me to go into communities and meet people, Larry has pushed me to learn while making films, to allow knowledge to arise through practice and reflection. (Kamerman was a producer with Steven Soderbergh on Sex, Lies and Videotape, Traffic, Erin Brokovich).
The film is an extension of your investigation of 'others' that started when you went to study at the University of Chicago, isn't it?
It is. Sociology interests me because I can study communities and people evolving. I studied math as an undergraduate and I found it was intellectually engaging, but sociology provided this as well as a set of tools to understand my experiences in this country.
The Harlem neighbourhood in New York City. Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Advertisement
