Oscar-winning screenwriter and director Charlie Kaufman, who took the honor for penning 2004’s Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, is known for wonderful films, from Being John Malkovich to Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York, is at KVIFF to receive the President’s Award and to present his study of loneliness and the hazards of anonymity, Anomalisa.
Do you think it’s necessary for an artist to be personal for his art?
Yes. There’s nothing else as important, including skill or craft. I think all that stuff is secondary to putting yourself… making yourself vulnerable.
Is it dangerous in some way for an artist to put himself out there?
Yes, that’s what being vulnerable is. It’s putting yourself in danger of being exposed, being embarrassed, feeling ridiculous. But you have to do that, because otherwise, you do superhero movies. Which is fine, I guess, but it isn’t real.
Your main character in Anomalisa is a pretty lonely guy. Is that normal? I’m 32 so will it be like that for me in 10 years?
I read in reviews, ‘This is a midlife-crisis male.’ When I wrote this I wasn’t thinking that at all. I was thinking this is a human issue. I could have written it for a younger person, I could have written it for a woman. The specifics of the story would have been different to fit that person, but this is not about that for me. This is about something else. This is about connection – which is something I think you can experience at any age.
You can read the whole interview in today's Festival Daily.
