Andrew Haigh on Lean on Pete, The North Water and State of Gay Film

Somehow Andrew Haigh has become one of the most down low cinematic auteurs working today.  He’s directed and written three critically acclaimed films in a row and guided the legendary Charlotte Rampling to her first Academy Award nomination in just his second film, “45 Years.”  And yet, he somehow hasn’t become the darling of the cinephile set or, cough, “film twitter” as of yet.  (And we haven’t even talked about his contributions to the landmark HBO TV series “Looking”).  Where is the clamoring for him to direct a “Star Wars” or Marvel movie people?  Can’t we have one gay filmmaker behind the camera for those franchises?  (Asking for a friend.)

“Lean On Pete” Saddles Up A Low-Key, Brokenhearted Drama [Review]

Haigh was recently in Los Angeles to promote his latest endeavor, “Lean On Pete,” which debuted at the 2017 Venice Film Festival and A24 is releasing in April.  The film is based on Willy Vlautin’s novel of the same name and centers on Charley (Charlie Plummer), a teenage boy who crisscrosses the upper northwest with his favorite horse in an attempt to find his one remaining living relative.  He joined the Four Quadrant podcast to discuss what made him want to commit to the film, his semi-secret upcoming mini-series “The North Water”, and the current state of gay film today.

You can listen to this episode in the Soundcloud embed below or on iTunes. If you do listen on iTunes please rate, subscribe and share it with your friends!

Check out previous episodes with “The Disaster Artist” screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, “Darkest Hour” screenwriter Anthony McCarten, two-time Academy Award winner Christoph Waltz,  Ben Mendelsohn,Blade Runner: 2049‘s” Denis Villeneuve, “Thor: Ragnarok‘s” Taika Waititi,  “The Florida Project‘s” Sean Baker,  John Boyega, get behind the scenes with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” producers and more on Soundcloud or on iTunes.

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