Subway Stops
A cinematic experience of the New York subways, featuring the commuters, panhandlers, and performers passing through.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Editor Joe Zakko
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you and thanks so much for featuring this film.
I was always in love with the beauty and iconography of the New York subways with all the characters that populate it, and I long had a feeling that it was a good backdrop for something that explores the essential elements of cinematic language; a short that has many different pieces, different in style and character, that come together.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think, hopefully, for something cinematically experiential, something that is a visceral sight and sound experience, that functions more like music than narrative.
But also to see some of the greatest subway artists, like Larry Wright and Mike Yung, who are pioneers in the world of underground performance.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
I think the tension between those two is one of the most important things behind all art. The degree to which a work is trying to show a specific and unique perspective, while also connecting with an audience and making the viewer feel less alone, and feel seen. Are we all alone or all connected?
I think that’s the key theme of this film. As the camera makes its journey from character to character, each is struggling with the weight of moving forward, but that struggle is decidedly different for each of them. There is a loneliness in the incommunicability of it all, and an irony in that loneliness uniting us.
I hope this film gets an audience to think about the ways all our journeys are connected or disconnected.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
A lot. I couldn’t quite figure out how to write a film for real people playing themselves when I didn’t know who those real people would be, so set it aside and eventually started shooting tests without a script, where I’d meet people I shoot, exchange info, and write them into the script. Many different drafts were written as I’d meet different people. And then covid happened and everything had to evolve to take that into account.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Very little as Slamdance will be the world premiere and I haven’t had any test audiences, but the limited amount of reactions I’ve gotten have been very encouraging.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Still too early to answer that one I think.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I want this film to reach the widest, most diverse audience it can.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Certainly journalists, buyers, and distributors, for this film to get more exposure and for it to find the right home after its festival run.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope it inspires people to grab a camera and make a film. That you don’t always need the whole apparatus to make a film: the trucks, dozens of crew members, permits or permission. And that there can be intimacy in that approach.
But I just hope people like it first.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I think since the film sort of tries to be about everyone, there are a number of different lenses to view it through. Since I’m most excited when films are formally ambitious, I certainly hope it could inspire conversation of a formalistic nature.
For example, I think the film is a little unconventional in its approach to structure and the lack of a strict narrative. It also blurs the line a bit between documentary and narrative, taking inspiration from filmmakers like Kiarostami, Reggio, Marker, etc.
It’d be nice if it gets people to debate what a film needs to be a film, narratively and otherwise. About what constitutes a documentary and the degree of control a filmmaker can exercise while still calling his/her film a documentary. I’m always asking myself ‘what is cinema?’ and I like the idea that there's no clear answer to that.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I feel I’ve got some unfinished business with the triptych (which I employ briefly in this film), and am gearing up to shoot something very simple that is just three scenes, each a triptych.
I’m also developing some more ambitious projects, but I’m a slow writer and those’ll take some more time.
In the meantime, I’m looking to direct for others, particularly music videos.
Interview: January 2023
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
Subway Stops
A cinematic experience of the New York subways, featuring the commuters, panhandlers, and performers passing through.
Length: 17:59
Director: Joe Zakko
Producer: Joe Zakko
Writer: Joe Zakko
Key cast: Bashir Berkley Brown, Larry Wright, Mike Yung
Looking for: sales agents, distributors, journalists and buyers
Instagram: @jzakko
Hashtags used: #subwaystopsfilm
Website: www.subwaystops.com
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Slamdance Film Festival/Park City, Utah - 1/21 @ 7:45pm and 1/24 @ 5:30pm
More to be announced soon, follow @subwaystopsfilm on instagram for updates!