Ross Brothers Interview

As part of The Times 51^st BFI London Film Festival filmchair.com was able to have its first ever face to face interview with a couple of documentary film makers. During the festival every other afternoon a afternoon tea event is held, The film itself is a reflection of a small town in the United States but it is powerfully funny, tragic, and interesting. To read the review please click here but for the interview please see below.

 

The Directors Bill Ross the 4^th and Turner Ross are two brothers from the small town in the USA who made a reflection of time. The two of them combined and made the film together.

 

Filmchair - I wanted to say something different to congratulations on the film but there is not really a lot more you can say is there, you hear it all the time. I really enjoyed it, it really surprised me. .

 Bill Ross 4th: – thank you, appreciate it.

 Filmchair – What was your connection to the town?

BILL ROSS 4TH: it was the town we where born and as soon as we could we moved away but there was memories and images that stuck with us. We wanted to go back and revisit all that.

 Filmchair did either of you play for the football team?

Bill Ross 4th: we did yes, I played tight end.

Turner Ross: I was running back and line backer.

 Filmchair Line backer is the big guy eh?

Bill Ross 4th: you wouldn’t believe it now but he was a big guy at the time.

 Filmchair I kissed a few line backers,

Bill Ross 4th: (laughs) – Include that in the interview please,

 Filmchair of course, I got introduced to that phrase a while ago and loved it. You obviously filmed 45365  over a few months was that annoying as you were not filming every day-

TURNER ROSS:- we tried to

 Filmchair oh really as it was almost as if you missed a few things, like one of the guys lost his front teeth in a fight and he wanted revenge and I don’t know if you did capture that on film but was it a case you turn up one day and the guys got no teeth and you are like how do we explain that one?

Bill Ross 4th: he lost the teeth before we got there and he did not seek revenge he went to jail instead. It was either or (regarding the revenge) but it was a good story.

Turner Ross: he did try to (take revenge) and we were with him at the time and he did find him, but then he backed out. He wouldn’t do it.

Bill Ross 4th: obviously he lost the first fight soo….

Turner Ross: he bashed his teeth out.

 Filmchair that must have been an experience as well, when you were with the police department you expect things to go down but when you were with this guy anything could happen. Did this make you nervous?

Bill Ross 4th: not nervous because 1 we had been filming with the cops so we were alright but even with a small town there is a seedy violent element. This does not need to be emphasized but there were people around that did not enjoy having me there with the camera, there would be problems.

 Filmchair. I found some of it hysterical, really really funny, (Turner Ross: thanks) now was this meant to be included? I was nearly in tears as I was pissing myself when watching this was when the police are doing a sobriety test and after 2 minutes which seam really awkward the copper say ‘we are nearly have way through’ and I was thinking what are you doing?

Turner Ross: you don’t need to do anything, you don’t need a punch line this is just what they do its fantastic as you don’t need to edit around it.

Bill Ross 4th: that shot was probably about 5 or 6 ,minutes long I shot that and as I am shooting it I was like, ‘this is ridiculous’.

 Filmchair the other thing that made me laugh and again it was always with the police man was the guy that called the cable company moaning about the cable being connect.

Turner Ross: it’s funny in real life so why should it not be funny in this, its good to laugh.

 Filmchair on the other side of thing did anyone in the town get frustrated with the filming? At one point a chap is getting a hair cut and he keeps talking to you and moving his head and you can see the barber is getting annoyed?

Bill Ross 4th: no we never had an issue unless, well if people were doing things the would not want recorded.

Turner Ross: no we really didn’t run in to that. like you were saying driving around in the car with those folks, when they go to buy crack that don’t want that recorded. That’s what I am getting at, he looks like he is about to kill me so we wont film. We are shooting something new now and again we are running into more of that but it is really that Sidney is unfamiliar of film crews so they don’t have the fear of exploitation or they didn’t at that point.

 Filmchair it starts with just a brief explanation that this is a small town called Sydney and this is the postcode, and then the other input was to just repeat this at the end. What was the thinking behind this as other documentries will ask questions of the subjects on the way through, but it free flowed, where did this idea come from?

Bill Ross 4th: it was personal taste but we really dislike films that have to tell the tale and dumb it down to leave nothing to the imagination, so with our stuff we leave it open ended and you can take from it what you like. My favourite films are the films that maybe you don’t quite like when you are walking out, 5 days later you are still thinking about it and 2 weeks later you realize that’s a great film, those films ask you to argue with them a little bit and they are what I like and that is the type of film I am trying to make.

Turner Ross: it was also not we had to say about the place but what those people had to say about that place and speak of their own experience.

 Filmchair you are working on something new, can you give us some insight on what is this is?

Turner Ross: its still coming so I don’t know how much we can talk about…

Bill Ross 4th: again like this one we don’t really know what we have or what we are working with until we are well into editing. We are shooting and collecting experiences in Louisiana right now, collecting moments.

 Filmchair did you have a big premier in Sydney was it a big thing in the town?

TURNER ROSS: no, there is no theatre, we did in Dayton Ohio 30 miles away and we invited everyone down.

 Filmchair was there not a drive in theatre in the town from the film?

Bill Ross 4th: there is but we did not have a 35 mm print, so we couldn’t do it but that is the goal. We want to show it where we saw jarrassic park for the first time.

Turner Ross: oh man it was the greatest where you could hide some beer in the trunk and go watch movies outside with your buddies.

 Filmchair so would you spend a lot of time down there when you were kids?

Bill Ross 4th: no a lot of time but you know it was fun no and then, take a bag of weed and watch Austin Powers.

 Filmchair how has your experience of London and the BFI Film Festival been?

Bill Ross 4th: we have been here since Saturday so about 48 hours and it has been amazing. We have been treated like kings. Everyone who has been involved with this festival has been generous and polite and very kind. We have had a driver where ever we want to go, they have sold out our screenings and last night everyone stuck around after to take a interest in what we are doing. Bill and I have not been to London and we have spent 2 days kicking around trying to meet people and not really been to the festival but its been a great time.

 Filmchair. Have you taken it to other festivals? BFI London is my first festival so

I have no experience, how do they compare?

Turner Ross: they are different, each unique and I would not say anything bad about them, but they are not a production like the London film festival is. We premiered at the south by south west festival in Austin Texas and I can only glow about them as well.

 

For the review of 45365 please click here.