Sarah Christman

ST: Growing up was there a particular person or event or thing that influenced you to want to be a filmmaker and artist?

Sarah Christman: That's a great question. When I look back, I was really fortunate as a child to grow up with a lot of conditions to encourage my creativity. One, I was raised to be pretty independent. I had nurturing parents, but it was also the 1980s, and we were left to run a little bit more freely then more recent generations. I was allowed to play on my own with my friends and my neighbors, so I had a whole world of imagination and a lot of independence in that way.

I had an amazing art teacher in high school that really encouraged me. I can point to one

specific assignment that she gave in our drawing class. Basically we weren't allowed to draw a line for the first two months of the year. She had us only shading around the edges. She would take us outside and we would draw landscapes and buildings, but we had to define form in the negative space, and that was a really impactful exercise for me.

In high school I also took an anthropology class and we were assigned a feminist science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin called The Left Hand of Darkness, written in 1969. And in this speculative world, there's no gender. It was this non-binary way of imagining what our society might look like. It had a huge impact on how I began to see the world and identify as a queer person myself. Also, it has such strong cinematic

storytelling, and even though I'm a nonfiction filmmaker, it really had a huge influence on me.

ST: My next question is a follow up on that, so a lot of your films operate in cities and states close to open waters, waterways, and channels. I'm curious if you grew up in places geographically similar to that, and if so, did that influence how you viewed your environment and the films that you want it to make?

Sarah Christman: Most of my films begin with a connection to place and my own relationship to the natural world. I’ve lived in Philadelphia and New York City, both cities surrounded by rivers and close to the ocean. I've just always felt a really strong connection to the water, and the ways that urban and natural environments intersect.

ST: So environmental issues and their connection to human impact are really large themes that run through a lot of your works. I just wanted to know what’s the process for how you decide on a topic, or a story, to focus on your films?

Sarah Christman: I think I usually start with themes and questions that are just gnawing at me. Something potentially unanswerable. Usually, when something is unanswerable and complicated, I become obsessed with expressing something about it.

For example, with As Above So Below which is a film about my mother's experience of turning my stepfather's ashes into a memorial diamond. That film actually first began with my fascination with alchemy that came from my early undergraduate studies of religion, my interest in the natural sciences, and the relationship between alchemy and early science. It was also sparked by an article I read in the New York Times called “The Afterlife of Cell Phones” which featured the electronic scrap plant in Belgium, where I ended up shooting.

ST: Okay, right.

Sarah Christman: And [the article] described how the precious metals were extracted, and this really fell in line with the kind of ideas I'd been thinking about, a sort of 21st century alchemy. I'm interested in topics that might have historical relevance to them, and resonance to current events, and then usually there's some sort of synchronicity to something happening in my own life, where I can personalize the topic in some way.

ST: So you said you went to Belgium for filming As Above So Below, and I was wondering, as a filmmaker how did you get access to those locations like the landfill, the special metals facility and the waste management facility?

I emailed them, and in your case I think being a student helps because you

can use your student credentials. I'm a college professor, and so I think when they see that I'm associated with an institution, that gives them reassurance. I think, often for non-traditional filmmakers, we feel reluctant to contact people because there's an expectation that if you're a filmmaker you're going to make a certain kind of conventional film. So I always try to be upfront about my intentions and the overall vision of the film. But they were still surprised when we showed up in Belgium with a Bolex [camera].

ST: Yeah that's actually really good advice, because that is something I think about a lot. In terms of, if I do want to make films with the subjects that I want to focus on, how do I get access to certain things? So I will definitely be keeping that in mind.

ST: Yeah in Swarm Season, the parallels were insane, seeing those hexagonal shapes [of the telescope] and having such a big contrast to seeing more natural spaces versus more industrial spaces. It's so harsh and I think it's sort of jarring as a viewer and that's what I actually really liked about it, along with the way that you worked with sound which I will touch on later.

When thinking about the Swarm Season, I think the portrayal of indigenous communities in film is important, and especially when talking about the climate crisis. I liked how the film played with these shots of the bee colonies as this metaphor of the ‘bee without their Queen’ and the connection and homage to the last Queen of Hawaii, and that as a way to think about the imperialism of the US over the indigenous people of Hawaii.

In the film [Swarm Season] there's clearly a lot of conflict with what people determine as ‘land’ versus what other people see as it's much more than ‘land,’ it's their experience and it's their connection to land. And I was wondering if there were any obstacles when filming either dealing with the state or the government that the subjects, or you and your crew, experienced when trying to like capture this?

Sarah Christman: Okay, so yeah and, in particular you're asking about the portrayal of the protest movement around Mauna Kea?

ST: Yeah.

Sarah Christman: We filmed on the Mauna on the anniversary of a protest action where construction of the telescope was first halted. We went up with Earl, Manu’s father, who I already had a relationship with, and listened as he and the Mauna Kea Protectors “talk story,” a practice of retelling their experience of that day. We were one of a number of different film crews and photographers who were documenting this public event and it felt like a respectful way to represent this important land rights conflict in the film, while acknowledging my role as an outsider. But no, I didn’t personally experience any obstacles like that with the authorities.

ST: That's good, I’m glad to hear!

So something that I wanted to circle back to was how you incorporated this fantastic composition of sound in Swarm Season. It created this ominous tone and tense atmosphere that really just drew me in. I know that in Swarm Season your sound designer, Kevin Allen, is someone you've collaborated with on past projects. I was wondering if you could tell me how you two envision the sound design and constructed it for the final cut?

Sarah Christman: Yeah I love sound design and it's the part of the filmmaking process that I enjoy the most. Often when I'm in production it's more primary to me than even the image. Kevin T. Allen is a really talented filmmaker and sound artist who, as you noticed, I've worked with before. He did the mix on Broad Channel, which was the first film that we worked on together, and then I've completed every mix with him since then. I do a lot of sound design in the editing process, so I come pretty far along before I sit down with Kevin.

Something that we really developed when we were working on As Above, So Below was challenging the idea of the human voice as primary in the hierarchy of information -- that everything else needs to be beneath it in service of the clarity of the human voice. I'm really interested in non-human sound, sometimes music yes, but really creating a fabric of layered sound design. This comes from my experience of working in 16 millimeter, and capturing the sound separate from the images.

But with Swarm Season, it was a much more involved mix and we spent six months on and off working on that. We would sit together for a weekend and work non-stop and then he would go away for a month and kind of tweak little things, and then we would have another intensive period of working together. I love working with Kevin, he's one of those collaborators where we just have a mind merge.

ST: Can you tell me more about the mix?

Sarah Christman: We had a lot of sound recording of inside the hive and swarms as they're happening. I'm a beekeeper myself, and when you are going to tend to a hive you can tell a lot about the temperament of the bees when you open it. And so, together with my assistant editors, we had logged all of these different sounds. I came to Kevin with all the distinct sounds and the design, but I also had these libraries of different bee sounds to layer which we logged as “calm bees,” “stressed bees,” “sci fi bees.” We had this wonderful score by Vika Kirchenbauer, and her music project called COOL FOR YOU, so we also had the narration with Manu.

ST: I liked how you brought that voiceover narration from Manu, which really struck me because we don't get to see a lot of children in the forefront of these sort of issues depicted in film, so getting to see that world from her perspective was really interesting.

ST: In Swarm Season you have very different storylines that are all interconnected, and it was interesting to see what Manu and her mom [Allison] do during the day as beekeepers trying to preserve these wild populations of bees. With women in the forefront of these issues, I wanted to ask you how you define the term feminist and feminism in your personal life?

Sarah Christman: Well, I am a feminist and I believe in equality for all people. And I define it that simply. One of the ways that I can confront hierarchies, norms, and unequal systems in my chosen medium of film is to challenge our assumptions about who is a protagonist. Swarm Season has an associative, vignette structure. To me, this is closer to my own experience of the world than a traditional narrative structure. It leaves a lot more room for interpretation, complexity, and multiple meanings for the viewer to bring their own experience, and to challenge their own assumptions. For me, that's a feminist take.

It would be easy to set up a conflict between Alison and the commercial beekeepers portrayed in the film. I really wasn't interested in creating that conflict because it would become overly reductive, and once you start reducing I think that's when you fall into the traps of narrative filmmaking, which is an oversimplification for the story’s sake. There's so many more exciting alternatives!

ST: Another thing I wanted to touch on with Swarm Season, which was the experiment that the researchers did where they simulated life on Mars in a station on top of one of the mountains in Hawaii. It reminded me of this response to the climate crisis by looking for options beyond earth. I was wondering if you could touch on that storyline?

Sarah Christman: I don't think that colonizing space will solve our problems. I set up

this metaphor of the swarm, where half of the population flies into the unknown and then the younger generation stays behind in the hive. That's what a swarm is. I think that space exploration is amazing, and there's no way that that can't capture your imagination. But it was not lost on me that in Hawaii, you have these two mountains: Mauna Kea where native Hawaiians are trying to protect it from future development, and then beside it, Mauna Loa where you have all these scientists who are simulating life on Mars. It's a troubling parallel. The film asks us to try and pay attention to what's here, and to protect what's here.

ST: That honestly gives me a lot of like clarity about the film, and those parallels to Manu

representing this younger generation who are feeling left behind to deal with this climate crisis. I think it's interesting how people of all ages get to experience that through the film. You mentioned you had the opportunity to show your films to a variety of audiences. I’m curious what it's like to have your films be featured as part of these prominent film festivals, centered around environmental issues, and what's the festival scene like as a director?

Sarah Christman: Well, in the experimental film world where people are showing mostly shorts it's just a wonderful community that feels non-competitive. For me it was always a really inclusive experience that was separated from sales. As soon as you make a feature film, there's pressure because it's a more expensive process to make the film. Then it's so much more competitive to exhibit a film, and premiere status becomes important, so you’re expected to be strategic.

I definitely felt like with Swarm Season it was like diving in the deep end. When I was deciding on the premiere of Swarm Season, I went back to my experimental roots of where do I want to be? Who are the programmers that I really admire who are programming films that are really daring? The festivals that I got to attend with Swarm Season were filled with programmers, filmmakers and audiences who were really excited and supportive. So I think overall, it can be what you make of it, but it can be stressful. It's always hard to put yourself out there, but watching a film that you made with an audience is just an incredible experience.

ST: Is that something that you want to pursue more, feature films?

Sarah Christman: Yeah I think I'm pretty hooked on feature films now, and I'm just in the very earliest research stages of my next project, but it feels like a five year commitment. I'm also really excited about the idea of exhibiting in a non-theatrical space, and thinking about doing more installation work. That's going back to what I originally was doing before graduate school, so maybe returning to those roots.

ST: How would you describe yourself as an independent filmmaker and how does that play into how you think about experimental film?

Sarah Christman: I come from a background in visual arts. I thought if I went to film school, then I could bring a certain level of technique and craft to the video art that I was making at the time. Instead I came out as an ‘experimental filmmaker.’ My thesis graduate film called Dear Bill Gates, is an essay film shot in 16 millimeter that incorporates archival film, screen capture, and voiceover. I don't do very well with those categories. Even when I was making Dear Bill Gates I hadn't been exposed to essay filmmaking that much. I didn't even know what I was making, as I was making it.

With all the work that I've made since then, I find new forms with each work, and I'm a strong believer that the content dictates the form. I knew when I began the research process of Swarm Season that I was moving in a more expansive and collaborative direction, and I was ready to bring on a cinematographer for the first time, rather than shooting it all myself. So I see myself as a nonfiction filmmaker, who often works in essay filmmaking and experimental modes.

ST: Great. Going off of your early works like you mentioned with Dear Bill Gates, how do you think you've grown as an artist and as a filmmaker since the release of that first work?

Sarah Christman: I think what that [first work] taught me was it's okay to change your ideas and the form of what you're making as you make it. I think you can kind of grasp that, when you're watching Dear Bill Gates, because you're seeing the process of the film being made as you're watching it. There were a lot of dead ends and a lot of failures. Making that film gave me the confidence to pursue all the dead ends and trust that the ultimate finished film will connect to that original idea and vision.

With every film that I’ve made since then, each one has surprised me in the end, but there's always that little shadow film inside of it, the one I thought it was going to be. It's that willingness to fail, but to stay curious and determined.

ST: So you were really close to it?

Sarah Christman: I was very close to it, but I was ready to say goodbye. For me, 7285 was about things that were about to come to an end. Again coming back to this idea of traditional narrative, there is something I find really interesting in our conventional three act structure. Right before resolution, right before things are going to end, that sort of moment before, where it's almost wistful and you can feel it ending. With the discontinuation of 7285, which ironically has now been brought back, I felt like one chapter of my filmmaking life was closing. A lot of things were coming to an end in my personal life as well -- a long term relationship ended, and my grandmother and my father both passed away.

ST: Was that cathartic for you though?

Sarah Christman: It was. I didn't fuss over this film; it just felt like a personal expression. I made it much more quickly in the editing process, and I didn't exhibit it very much. It was kind of like the film that I needed to make to move on.

ST: Yeah, that makes sense. So at my age, at 21, what were you doing? And if you could go back in time what's some advice you give to yourself?

Sarah Christman: Okay well at 21, I was moving to New York City for the first time. I moved there because my friends were moving there. And that would be my advice: to know your people. And then when I was 21, I also had my first desk job. I was a secretary at the Nature series in public television. It was a stable job; I had the best dental insurance that I've ever had haha. But I couldn't keep away from the editing room!

My job was to do contracts and support the executive director and answer phones. But I kept sneaking away to look over the shoulders of the editors who were making documentaries about an octopus, or an elephant or something. I quit the job to pursue filmmaking and editing. My advice would be to find stability in the people around you, and to take informed risks. I was fortunate that that path led me to graduate school, and that it also led to teaching at film school.

ST: Sort of touching on that, what's your experience as an independent filmmaker in securing funding for projects and with the editing process?

Sarah Christman: For me, teaching has been a really good balance with filmmaking because I support myself through teaching and it also extends my process because I'm my own editor. So I can film during breaks from teaching, and the most expensive part of nonfiction filmmaking is hiring an editor, so that's usually myself. Although with Swarm Season, I had assistant editors and additional editors who were really helpful, especially just making progress during the [school] semester.

It's a balance of being able to apply for grants and wait for the funding; it all just extends the process. I personally find that slowing down the process serves the films. I teach editing specifically, so I'm constantly working through revision with my students. I'm helping support a process, give deadlines, and creatively problem solve. That's inspiring, versus editing for clients which can easily burn you out. It slows things down, but I'm open and willing for things to change in the process because I enjoy a long editing period. Going back to the beginning of the conversation, you really need to become passionate about your ideas and stay really determined throughout.

ST: Great. Okay, I think I think we can probably wrap things up. But I just wanted to say thank you again for taking the time out of your day to participate in this project!

Sarah Christman: Yeah, it was such a pleasure talking to you Sarah.

ST: You too! Take care.

About the Author: Sarah Thornton is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of California, Davis. She is pursuing a BA in Anthropology and a double major in Cinema Digital Media. She has a passion for filmmaking, grant writing, and creative artworks. Sarah is also queer and non-binary, and interested into LGBT+ communities and artists. In the future she hopes to work in sound production for film and television, or work in the nonprofit sector as a grant writer for environmental organizations. This interview was conducted by Zoom call from Davis, California to Brooklyn, NY on March 1st, 2021.