Hi8 is a new series of short interviews that serve as a quick hello to film figures we’re following. Inspired by the Walker’s 8-Ball Q&As, the series launches with a look at writers, producers, directors, and actors nominated for an Film Independent Spirit Award. In a self-navigated format, each artist picks questions from a list, answering those eight that best expose their current musings and fascinations. No two interviews are the same.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night effortlessly blends genres. One part spaghetti Western, one part noir, and one part graphic novel, the film follows a skateboarding vampire as she strategically chooses her victims and falls in love. Director Ana Lily Amirpour’s debut is nominated for Best First Feature, Best Cinematography, and the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch award. The film’s producer, Justin Begnaud, took a moment to talk about Viking funerals and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off via email. Begnaud is the Chief Operating Officer at Crimson Forest Entertainment and has been producing film, television, and digital media for the past 15 years.
1. What’s one of your guilty pleasures?
Oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips….hold on…I’m eating one right now.
2. What is your advice for young people today?
Get off your damn mobile device and live!
3. What’s your favorite place to people-watch?
Airplanes. Everyone looks miserable, and they all wear comfort clothes….which ain’t pretty either.
4. What’s your most vivid Minneapolis memory?
My dad was born in St. Paul and my uncle bought a 60 year-old cannery on the outskirts of town… used it as his house… and he had 7 couches inside… one to sleep on for each night of the week!
5. What was your favorite birthday like?
My friends surprised me by re-creating the entire day from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (rented a Ferrari, took me to a museum, a major league baseball game, and a fancy steak lunch… took me a while to figure it out, but once I caught on it was “so choice!”)
6. What’s your favorite comfort food?
Greasy Pizza! (From NYC of course).
7. What is your favorite place in the world?
South Island, New Zealand.
8. What do you wish to have done with your mortal remains?
I want a Viking funeral. Ya know, when they put you on a pile of logs, along with other flammable objects and get shoved out into the ocean abyss…then someone with a flaming arrow fires a shot toward my body. That’s honorable.
The Film Independent Spirit Award nominees screen annually at the Walker Art Center as part of a collaboration with IFP. Screenings are free for all IFP and Walker members. Click here for the complete list of screenings.
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