Illustration by Ayalah Hutchins. Interview by Laura deCarufel.
This is the second part of our conversation with actor/director Nadia Litz, whose short, How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You!, recently debuted at TIFF. You can read the first part of our conversation here.
What inspires you, in film and life?
“Music would be my top three answers! What I’m listening to changes with what I’m doing and thinking about. While I was in preparation for How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused by You!, I was listening to Interpol, and Paul Banks’s solo project. Even gangsta rap—the energy that you can get from that, the bravado or confidence is super-inspiring. I also love people who love life, who really embrace life and what it means to be alive.”
Who are some directors you admire?
“So many, for so many different reasons. As an audience member, I really respond to female filmmakers telling their stories. Sofia Coppola doesn’t get even as much credit as she deserves, because of who her Dad is. I think she’s tapped into something about a girl’s psyche. Also, aesthetically, she’s amazing—her work is just visually really pretty. Julian Schnabel—I like a lot of his work. A lot of Japanese directors, too. In terms of the short [How to Rid...], the toughest thing was translating the gore part, as it was written on the page, into something visual that fit the tone of the rest of the film. I thought, ‘How can I make this scene not super gross?’ For that, I looked to Kiyoshi Kurosawa—the way that he handles violence is so elegant. And I love Akira Kurosawa too, of course.”
How would you describe your own personal style?
