STICKIN’ IT TO DA MAN
Filmmaker Steve Wong Talks
Interview with Bob Kao
Experimental filmmaker Steve Wong’s AXIS OF EVIL: COWBOYS OR INDIANS premiered, in a 30-second version, last October at Visual Communications’ fundraiser, PAST/FORWARD, and was subsequently expanded for its screening at VC FILMFEST 2004. We caught up with Steve and asked him to explain himself.
What message do you want to get across with this film?
A laugh. and how similar Bush rhetoric resembles little kids arguing. It's also a fun look at the unstable and uncertain dialectic of good versus evil. Furthermore, it explores the divisiveness of political rhetoric and how a doctrine is disseminated, and then played out amongst the most impressionable.
What was your inspiration for the film?
Bush.
How did you come up with the subtitle text?
Bushisims.
How did you find the actors? How did you explain the film to them? What did you tell them to say?
The actors are my cousins. I told them we were making a video and they would act in it. I just put the camera in front of them and started them off by asking who wanted to be the Axis of Evil? For the most part the did the rest on their own.
Why did you choose to do this in black and white?
Color didn't seem to add anything to the piece. Often I ask my self, "Why was that shot in color"? The yellow subtitles are more effective.
