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Alex is so great.
And its such a great editing job too.
[Note: OFlinn was nominated for a 2018 Independent Spirit Award for Best Editing.]
Because we never got money before we made the film.
That was after editing it, showing a cut to people, andthenthey come in with money.
So my first conversation with Alex, I was like, Oh, I feel really good about this.
Hes gonna get it.
The way me and Alex collaborate, and our temperament just works so great together.
And then get coverage, because we can use that.
Thats what I learned from my first film.
The scene that makes me think of that is the one where Brady is trying to break the horse.
Ive known that horse for a year.
Is the audience going to get bored?
Becauseweveseen it so many times.
But we really wanted people to see that hes doing it for real, you know?
I think as critics we tend kind of use the same language over and over to describe it.
Like stunning landscapes, big skies.
But I sense that there are a lot of unique choices going into how you shotThe Rider.
I ended up there, so thats what America gave me.
And so when you have a very good relationship with that landscape, you just show up to shoot.
And so do the people in it.
Its scary and brutal and beautiful at the same time.
And even in the editing, we tried to show this landscape from Bradys perspective.
So the people are really part of that landscape.
The light and the time of day I noticed a lot the quality of light.Yeah.
One thing with the Plains is, it looks the same wherever you point the camera.
Its all about the time of the day, and how much moisture there is the season.
I know Ive gotta shoot in September or October.
Its one of the most beautiful times.
In November, you risk a storm coming in, the Badlands change color.
Its very similar to how Brady works with the horses.
They would come out later in the day because its hot.
They would make this decision based on weather, and so would we.
Sometimes film shoot [schedules] dont make these decisions.
I wouldnt have even thought about that.
And those people have remained there for generations.
Your previous film,Songs My Brothers Taught Me, was also shot there.
What brought you to that region initially?There were a lot of things that lead to it.
I lived in Beijing and I fantasized about Mongolia, inner Mongolia.
This was all in my head.
Ive gotta go somewhere else.
You cant just go out of town on a weekend.
So I kind of got myself out of New York and got a drivers license and drove west.
So youre like, What is happening here?
Something is going on there.
And as a filmmaker, even just the noise itself, the industry, the constant opinions.
Who are you really underneath?
And Ill go on retreats into the mountains and come back to New York.
Maybe theres a lot of overlap between the two.
But how much did it feel like you had to do homework?Very little homework.
Because again, Im not an intellectual, and I cant make films from an intellectual perspective.
I cant, I wish I could.
So research wouldnt help me.
Thats a good gatekeeper.
Its difficult, because youre making a movie.
So you’re free to be more flexible.Yeah.
Right.Seans a longtime friend.
Ive heard him saying that.
Weve talked about this.
Werner Herzog said it best.
He said, Theres no such thing as actors and nonactors, theres only authentic performances and non-authentic performances.
So the idea of an actor being someone who can act is … Whats a professional actor?
Does it mean that person can act better than the other person?
It feels more like a professional delineation.
I guess this profession should be respected …
I can understand that for the purpose of unions and stuff like that.
If youre going to get technical.
I guess its sad for someone who wants to act to be called nonprofessional.
So I think actings the same.
Where do you draw the line?
Is Brady a professional actor now or is he still a nonactor?
Because hes not pursuing this full time, but now hehasacted.
I was going to ask about him pursuing it.He should.
I mean, no.
And that performance, I mean, you couldnt create that any other way.
Thats acting, you know?
Did he have a really instinctive feel for that?
So we had to go back to … its a lot of memory stuff.
Same with working with professional actors, no difference.
But the environment maybe was a little bit different, in that it was just me and him.
No cameraperson, no sound person.
We were just driving around by ourselves.
And if we had a professional actor that would have maybe been [different].
So,The Riderhas just been on a nonstop festival tour this past year.
He was born into slavery but escaped in the Civil War and lived among the tribes.
So its his life story.
And then a small little road movie, and a little sci-fi.
I think thats been really a joy.
Because Im not the number-one historical-drama fan.Me neither.
Its the same as me not watching a lot of Westerns growing up.
Theres a reason, because theres not much we can relate to.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
