Amazon Prime 2019 – The Texture Of Falling
In The Texture of Falling, the lives of a filmmaker, pianist, painter, and architect collide and intertwine in a multilayered tale of love, art, violence, and power dynamics that ultimately asks, what is real?
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Actor Maria Allred
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you so much! My debut feature film, The Texture of Falling, was inspired by an experience in my life of unprecedented opening and then profound loss and grief. I think I’m a bit opposite than the norm in my evolution—when most people were falling in love in their teens I was hitchhiking cross-country on a wild adventure of both hardship and spiritual awakening. I had to grow up in certain ways really fast while other parts of me were left unattended.
Also, for a long time, I considered myself a love skeptic. I didn’t believe in the intoxication of “falling in love,” (I always felt true love was growing in love). I relegated it to chemicals and fantasy projections. So, when cupid finally struck me with his arrow, a bit later than most, it really rocked my fundamental sense of self.
And when I fell, I fell hard.
I knew by the intensity of the falling that it could not last, it felt obvious from a pure physics perspective. And I was right about that, but what the experience did do was open me up to the creative muse, and while I was running madly through the proverbial night like a wild animal with a knife in my heart I was simultaneously on fire with a wave of creation that gripped me and didn’t let go. That became The Texture of Falling.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This is a film for those interested in a non-linear, poetic exploration of the intersection between love and art, and ultimately between reality and fiction. This is a film for those who like riddles, subtly-woven satire, and who crave something different. I’ll say honestly that it’s not a film for everyone. As someone mentioned, “this is what happens when artists make films.” In that, it’s really breaking outside of the cinematic box.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Well, I mentioned the personal and some of the universal above. But briefly, I will say that I think we are all looking for our passion and purpose on some level, and that is what this film is ultimately exploring, both directly and metaphorically.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The script for The Texture of Falling changed a lot through its development. At first, I meant it to be an anthology of interwoven short films, but it transformed into one film with a riddle of interwoven stories.
Also, I used a style of filmmaking for one of the main storylines (and a couple subplots) called process-oriented filmmaking, which actually draws upon the filmmaking process itself to inform the content and direction of the story. So, the story that I acted in, across from Benjamin Farmer, was very loosely scripted and we allowed the inner narrative to find itself based on our actual interpersonal dynamics that arose.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Wow, that’s been a fun one. I have received feedback across the board, it’s been extremely polarized. The film has been called “an arthouse masterpiece” and it has been deemed “junk,” and then everything in between.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Some of the criticism has been extremely difficult, in that it’s only my worst nightmare realized on an emotional level and why I think there was part of me that wanted to just hide from my true purpose for many years.
I was in the middle of the film’s theatrical release when the critiques began rolling in and I had so much on my plate on the practical level, that the main response I could muster was mostly shock and then repression. Since then I have been able to unpack it and appreciate the various points that the critics made.
My deepest desire it to grow in my craft and honestly at this point, I feel like such a beginner who has so far to go. I am humbled to my knees and anxious to learn, and some of the feedback has given me valuable insight into my blind spots and weak areas.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
My first feature is like my first child and I want to give it all the love and room to grow that I can. I want it to find through having my work on We Are Moving Stories is its niche audience for its unique, one-of-a-kind voice.
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 mostly need journalists to amplify the film’s message. So, thank you!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope that its surrealistic and riddlesque nature cause pondering, wonderment, and conversation.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Where are the layers of satirical melodrama and why?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
At this time, I’m prepping to shoot a short film in North Chicago this summer called, Little Nations. I am also in development for my second feature, an existential, dark-comedy/drama called, The Watcher’s Game.
Interview: May 2019
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
The Texture Of Falling
In The Texture of Falling, the lives of a filmmaker, pianist, painter, and architect collide and intertwine in a multilayered tale of love, art, violence, and power dynamics that ultimately asks, what is real?
Length: 1:15:00
Director: Maria Allred
Producer: Maria Allred
Writer: Maria Allred
About the writer, director and producer:
MARIA ALLRED is an award-winning independent filmmaker from Portland, who recently relocated to Chicago, IL. The Texture of Falling is her first feature film for which she took on an impressive number of roles including writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, art director, actor, and investor. The film won a multitude of awards in the festival circuit including Best Picture at the Oregon Independent Film Festival, was released theatrically across the US and is now rolling out on streaming and VOD platforms, starting with AmazonPrime.
In her young career as a filmmaker, she has had three short films with television premieres on OPB’s Oregon Lens and one on Oregon Art Beat. She graduated from Portland State University in 2012 with a B.S. in Liberal Arts, focus on film. Since childhood, Maria has passionately studied painting, poetry, creative non-fiction, philosophy, and various forms of dance. In addition, for nearly a decade, she’s participated in Jungian-based process groups with the author, Paul Levy. Not coincidentally, her filmmaking—strongly informed by visual art, music, philosophy, and movement—is poetic, symbolic, lyrical, and visually driven.
Key cast: Maria Allred (Sylvia), Julie Webb (Louisa), Benjamin Farmer (Michael), Damien Genardi (Anthony), Patrick D. Green (Luke)
Looking for: journalists
Facebook: The Texture of Falling
Twitter: @ALLREDFILMS
Instagram: @thetextureoffalling
Hashtags used: #TheTextureOfFalling
Website: allredfilms.com
Other: IMDb
Funders: We used Kickstarter to raise initial funds and then I had various private equity investors come on board from there.
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Amazon Prime