One of the buzziest films to screen during the festival circuit thus far (see: Sundance Film Festival, NEXT Fest) is a short film collaboration between director Eddie Alcazar and Grammy-nominated Flying Lotus. Unabashedly bold, FUCKKKYOUUU revels in elements of Grindhouse horror and experimental absurdity, not following the traditional “beginning, middle, and end” narrative formula we’ve come to expect, but instead takes the viewer on a mindbending visual trip. Alcazar, whose other films include 2014’s Tapia and the upcoming features Johnny and 0000, caught up with us after the Sundance premiere where he talked about his creative process and shared his pre-production storyboard drawings. We begin:
It’s been said that artists are ultimately driven by a need to be understood, on some level. With a film like this, to what degree is your message trying to be “understood”?
I believe that expression is most important. To be able to have a medium to explore and release visions and emotions like in film is a true gift. I also like the idea that multiple people will have different interpretations and I feel that the reactions that spark from projects are all very interesting. With FUCKKKYOUUU to be clear with narrative wasn’t the intention, it was more focused on exploring a new way to communicate with just visuals and music. It made me analyze my dreams and how we accept our dreams how they are, they are part of being human and a lot of times they don’t make much sense but we still feel them as we experience them, they don’t need to have a standard beginning, middle or end to make you think and strike emotion.
FUCKKKYOUUU is so strong and precise in its dark, old school horror aesthetic. Did you have a visual style or certain imagery in mind preceding the collaboration with Flying Lotus that you were looking to reproduce onto film? Or was the story the original thing you thought of first?
The original idea came to me very quickly after I heard some of Flylo’s music. I have been wanting to shoot on black and white reversal for some time so that also fit well with the idea. I knew without a doubt that I wanted that first vision I had to be in the film so we shot it right away. Then I was able to take some time away, edit and review that footage. It ending up inspiring more scenes which we shot later and then merged together to complete the film.
As a director, what does your inspiration/ mood board look like?
I created an actual book for this film. It’s pretty lengthy and everything was storyboarded in pretty strong detail. Maybe one day we will release it…
What have people asked you about the most after seeing the film?
How I came up with such a crazy idea.
What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken that you feel has paid off?
I think all risks pay off, sometimes they pay off in one area of your life but leave another part fragile and so you tend to focus on the negative instead of how beautiful it is to have the freedom to take the risk at all. It’s a rare thing for me to be truly fulfilled when creating. It’s a constant roller coaster when you try and venture into new territory, so you just have to keep busy and create more. I’m grateful that this film was able to be seen by a wide audience with the help of Sundance and other festivals and then Vevo and Vimeo. So, in that sense, it has paid off. But I feel there should definitely be more outlets and financing for short films so they can make money and, in turn, be able to create more films.
What do you have planned for 2016?
A feature about the multiverse.
Flying Lotus – FUCKKKYOUUU (a short film by Eddie Alcazar) from Eddie Alcazar on Vimeo.
