Concerning three groups of children from disparate upbringings, A Black Hole is a Black Hole in the Ground intimately depicts the strange, ephemeral realities that arise on evenings of play, when dimensions of space and time, not fully cemented by adulthood, begin to dissolve.

Interview with Director/Producer/Editor Sophia Feuer and Tyler Macri

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Having gone to film school in upstate New York, both of us fell in love with some of the more quirky cities and rural communities up there. Specifically, we saw kids doing a lot of silly (albeit darkly off-putting) things and developed an interest in childhood in those areas. We started asking, “How might the mixture of curiosity and violence we see amongst all these kids be a symptom of American culture?”

So we spent a lot of time going between kids around the area from very different social settings (filming intimate moments of play, taping strange conversations, etc) then sat down with the footage and the field recordings and tried to find the through-line. We were asking questions, mostly. Trying to find the threads through powerful photography, mood and non-conventional storytelling.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

The personalities of the children really are what make the film worth a watch; they were so honest and fun, but also cruel, even angry at times. We hope the audience can get the feeling that they’ve been let into these kids’ private lives — that they’re seeing an underbelly to childhood that isn’t often depicted in the non-narrative film.

A Black Hole is a Black Hole in the Ground

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The film is structured around three small vignettes, each taking place in a community unlike the last (a farm, a project building, a brownstone in Brooklyn). We wanted these different portraits to act as social microcosms — examples of the ways that death, violence and the unknown are explored by American children.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

While we did have a concept and a structure coming into production, we treated it mostly as a jumping-off point; the kids, with their chaotic play, encouraged (maybe even demanded) that we stay curious and flexible as filmmakers, so we ended up making most decisions spontaneously (especially when it came to the discovery and photographing of strange, intimate details.) We spent many afternoons just playing with them, letting them show us how they were going to fit into the project, getting them comfortable around the camera and the sound gear. They loved wearing the headphones and listening to themselves through the microphone, looking through the viewfinder and seeing the world through those old 16mm lenses we used.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We think that because childhood is universal, people are able to bring different interpretations and relate to it in a personal way. We also wanted there to be an open-endedness to it. Sometimes people feel nostalgic while others seem more so disturbed, which is an interesting contrast (we often left a day of filming feeling disturbed or perplexed ourselves). The kids’ intelligence and emotional complexity was somewhat unexpected.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

We’ve definitely gotten a lot of constructive feedback from folks who have seen the film and this project kind of feels like a sketch for something a bit more developed we’d like to make down the line!

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We’re hoping that the film can connect with more people who can add to the conversation. Of course, as directors fresh out of film school we’re hoping to find a platform and an audience for our work as we continue to develop our style.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

At this point, we're looking for partners or platforms to distribute the film!

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

- [ ] Our interest in children stemmed from their infectious sensitivity — hopefully, people watching the film can connect with the details from early youth the film contains and come out with interesting conclusions.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

How do children reflect nuanced cultural habits? What does their play say about our contemporary media landscape?

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

We’re currently in the middle of two projects. Space Lady (dir. Sophia Feuer) is a short experimental doc that is currently in post-production. The Colossus (dir. Tyler Macri) is a short narrative that’s currently in pre-production, which is expected to shoot in New England in the fall of 2020. Both films build off the style developed in A Black Hole is a Black Hole in the Ground and hope to further push the boundaries of genre and conventional storytelling.

A Black Hole is a Black Hole in the Ground poster

Interview: January 2020

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

A Black Hole is a Black Hole in the Ground

Length: 13:01

Director: Sophia Feuer, Tyler Macri

Producer: Sophia Feuer, Tyler Macri

About the writer, director and producer:

New England filmmakers SOPHIA FEUER and TYLER MACRI met at Ithaca College, where they created multiple 16mm short films. Their work, often dark but keenly playful, hints to styles ranging from ethnographic documentary to weird fiction and genre cinema.

Key cast: Kaiden, Tristan, Jeramiah, Macie, Jett, William, Julia

Looking for: distributors, film festival directors

Instagram: @sophiefeuer

Website: www.sophiafeuer.com/blackhole

Other: IMDb

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? 01/26/2020; Slamdance/Park City Utah - 01/30/2020; Slamdance/Park City Utah