04.28.10
Faces of the Festival: Carmel Winters
Tweet
Meet the writer/director of the Irish film Snap, the very intimate story of a mother and son navigating a difficult relationship.
Carmel Winters
TribecaFilm.com: Tell us a little about Snap.
Carmel Winters: I see Snap as a love story that should-have-been between a mother and son—a portrait of two people for whom loving seems the riskiest thing a human being can do.
TribecaFilm.com: What inspired you to tell this story?
CW: I invented the characters and a little of their story as a training scenario for psychiatrists. The psychiatrists were profoundly intrigued and moved by this mother and son's relationship. They so wanted to understand this painful tension of attraction-repulsion between Sandra and her teenage son and I shared that fascination. That's what drove me to write first the play and then the film—the recognition that these characters could open minds and touch hearts.
TribecaFilm.com: What do you want audiences to take away from the story?
CW: I want audiences to see Snap. After that it's a private—and very intense—contract between the audience and how they respond to the film.
TribecaFilm.com: What's the craziest thing (or "lightning strikes" moment) that happened while making the film?
CW: I don't remember any “lightning-strikes” moments in the shooting. I felt we were strangely blessed, that life was conspiring to ensure safe passage of this unusual film.
TribecaFilm.com: What's the biggest thing you learned while making Snap?
CW: Snap affirmed my philosophy that who you choose to work with is what you have to work with. Choose well!
TribecaFilm.com: What's your advice for aspiring filmmakers?
CW: To aspiring filmmakers I would say—make something that no one else but you could have made.
TribecaFilm.com: What has the audience response at Tribeca been like?
CW: Tribeca audiences are the first to see Snap, and I am thrilled to see them partnering the film, investigating the rarely lit chambers of the human heart.
TribecaFilm.com: If you could have dinner with any filmmaker (alive or dead), who would it be?
CW: I would have dinner with Thomas Vinterberg, maker of Festen (The Celebration), because that film has a huge heart, and I'd like to spend time with the heart that made it.
TribecaFilm.com: What piece of art (book/film/music/tv show/what-have-you) are you currently recommending to your friends most often?
CW: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels is a book I would gift to anyone and everyone. It resonates with profound humanity while illuminating inhumanity.
TribecaFilm.com: What would your biopic be called?
CW: My biopic would be called For the Love of Life.
TribecaFilm.com: What makes Snap a Tribeca must-see?
CW: Snap is a Tribeca must-see because it is a film that will stay with you. As long as you let it...
Read more about Snap, and find screening times.
Find out where and when all films are playing in the 2010 Film Guide.
Become a fan of Tribeca on Facebook.
Meet more Faces of the Festival!
Rate this Article
