Director of Brendan Fraser’s Newest Film ‘Brothers’ Explains Why He Is a “Total Sweetheart”

Hugh Jackman’s bold announcement sparks questions from fans: ‘I am not sorry’
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https://news-break.co.uk/blog/hugh-jackmans-bold-announcement-sparks-questions-from-fans-i-am-not-sorry/Director of Brendan Fraser’s Newest Film ‘Brothers’ Explains Why He Is a “Total Sweetheart”COLLIDER: I have a few curveballs before we actually get into this. I read that you trained with Werner Herzog in Cuba. What the hell is that about?

MAX BARBAKOW: I saw an ad for a masterclass with Werner on IndieWire — this is after I finished film school at AFI — and applied and got in. It was essentially three weeks with, like, 49 other filmmakers from around the world at the national film school in Cuba. He gave us a prompt, which was “through a window,” and you were supposed to just go make films out in the bush, in the town, around the campus. It was great. It was an incredible experience.

Was 49 other students too many, or did it work all work?

BARBAKOW: It was perfect. Everyone was kind of a one-man-banding it. He was trying to train, as he does, soldiers of cinema. The only stipulations were you could make a poem, you could make a narrative movie, you could make a documentary, just no journalism. Then he just sent you out to do your thing.

He has made some amazing films, and he has the greatest delivery of any person.

BARBAKOW: Oh, the best. I remember I showed him a cut of the thing I was working on, and it was so nerve-wracking. You’re watching Werner watch your thing. Then he turns to me, and he’s like, “You are finished. Do not touch a frame. If you continue working on this, I will stab you in the back with a snow shovel.” But his point was, I wasn’t great, it’s just like “It’s imperfect. You’re done. Go keep making things.” Which, you know, you’re in Cuba with Werner Herzog. We all made a bunch of stuff. It was really an incredible experience

What do you wish more people knew about being a director?

BARBAKOW: Truly, how much your collaborators matter, and how collaborative the art form is. If you’re doing it right and things are going well, it’s almost like you’re conducting or you’re steering a ship or something like that. It can be very hands-off on the day when when you’ve inspired your department heads, and you’ve had a good prep, and how enjoyable that can be. It could be stressful, of course, but when you’re in the zone, and you’re in the flow state, and everybody knows what the vision is, it could be a very blissful, transcendent experience.

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