Free Range Film Festival - Gut Hack
A former NASA scientist turned bio-hacker attempts an experiment that makes him confront the multitudes inside.
Interview with Directors Mario Furloni and Kate McLean
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
We met our subject, Josiah, by chance. When he described an experiment he was about to undertake, we knew we had to film it.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
It's not for everyone. It's about a poop experiment.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
We hope the audience feels some of the complex emotions we felt while making it. It is universal in the sense that Josiah is a person you can empathize with.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
This is not scripted, but it certainly grew and changed in the edit room.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People seem to be intrigued.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on
www.wearemovingstories.com?
We are happy to get the word out about the film
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We are all set in this regard.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
The film has hadgreat life at festivals and appears in the OpDocs section of the New York Times, which has created a lot of dialogue.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a
conversation about this film?
How do you feel about this experiment?
Would you like to add anything else?
We don't encourage DIY fecal transplants like the one depicted in our film.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Working on a feature length film together.
Interview: August 2017
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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
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Gut Hack
A former NASA scientist turned bio-hacker attempts an experiment that makes him confront the multitudes inside.
Length: 12:34
Director: Mario Furloni and Kate McLean
About the writer, director and producer:
Mario Fuloni (Co-Director) is an award-winning Brazilian filmmaker and cinematographer based in Oakland, CA. He is the cinematographer and co-producer of the critically-acclaimed documentary “The Return,” which chronicles the end of California’s three strikes law through the eyes of former lifers. “The Return” won the Audience Award at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival, and the Golden Gate Award at the 2016 San Francisco International Film Festival. It was the opening film shown on the PBS series POV this year, and was nominated for a Peabody
Award.
Mario has directed a number of short documentary and fiction projects, including “Gut Hack” (NYT OPDocs 2017, SXSW, SF Film Festival) and “Pot Country” (national finalist for the 2012 Student Academy Awards, Hot Docs 2012, winner of USA Short Film Festival), as well as the
Brazilian short fiction film “Tem Alguém Feliz em Algum Lugar /Someone is Happy Somewhere” (San Francisco Film Festival, AspenShorts Film Festival).
Mario shot the short documentary “After My Garden Grows,” by Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Megan Mylan, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2014. He was awarded a Kenneth Ranin Foundation screenwriting grant (previous winners include “Fruitvale Station” and “Short Term 12”) and a residency with the San Francisco Film Society. He has a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Kate McLean (Co-Director) is a filmmaker and producer living in San Francisco. She has co-directed a number of short documentaries: “The Caretaker” (Cannes Film Festival, New York Times OpDoc, POV Broadcast), “Marathon” (New York Times OpDoc, POV Broadcast), and
“Gut Hack” (SWSW, New York Times OpDoc).
Kate is producing Jamie Meltzer’s documentary “True Conviction,” which was supported by Sundance, Tribeca and the MacArthur Foundation, and tells the story of a group of exonerated men who form their own detective agency. The film premiered this year at the Tribeca Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize. It will be broadcast on the PBS series Independent Lens next year.
She is also the producer of Jason Sussberg and David Alvarado's film “Bill Nye: Science Guy,” which premiered this year at SXSW. She also produced their previous film“The Immortalists,” which screened in competition at SXSW, BFI, and CPH: DOX in 2014.
Kate is a 2015 Sundance Creative Producing Summit Fellow, a San Francisco Film Society KRF Grant winner and an SFFS Film House Resident. She has a master’s degree from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
Laura Heberton is a producer (and sometime writer/editor) of award-winning, ground-breaking narrative features and narrative and doc shorts that have premiered at top festivals worldwide, including Sundance, Berlin and SXSW. Recent features include Robert Machoian and
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck's "God Bless the Child" and Alison Bagnall's "Funny Bunny" which both premiered at SXSW 2015 and a number of short films, including Kate McLean and Mario Furloni's doc short "Gut Hack" (SXSW 2017) and Robert Machoian and Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck's doc short Oh My Father (AspenShorts 2016)
She works with some of the most exciting and original filmmakers on the independent scene. She serves on the board of Union Docs and Silver Eye Center for Photography, and
task forces at a number of arts organizations. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from NYU, writes fiction and poetry, has been an editor at a number of major glossy magazines. She started her career as a reporter-researcher at The Wall Street Journal.
Funders: Fandor
Made in association with: The New York Times