![]() John’s story is one to inspire the masses of independent, struggling filmmakers. ![]() John’s education of filmmaking was (and still is) very much a hands-on experience having written, directed and single-handedly created ‘Days Gone By’, his success is all the more rewarding. Instead he studied advertising at a graphic design school, something which he is grateful for as his advertising experience proved useful when pitching the creative concepts of Days Gone By to potential cast and crew. He also admits that he finds the academic route of filmmaking to be expensive and very class-orientated. ‘They saw it as something low class, something similar to drug dealing…’ he says half-jokingly. His own parents wanted him to do anything but filmmaking. I wanted my friends to forget that they were making a film and just to have fun, and sometimes when that happens, it’s amazing.’ Despite his obvious interest in filmmaking and the film industry, John chose not to go to film school. ‘I’ll always look back at my childhood and remember the fun that we had. From a young age I was fascinated with the way pictures communicated with people.’ He wrote his first film at just twelve years old, a horror film, and persuaded his friends to star in it. ‘I thought it was amazing, especially being a kid alone in Germany, not speaking a word of German, and yet understanding this film. When he was six, his mother took him to the cinema to watch Spielberg’s ‘Hook’, and from that point on, John knew he wanted to make films. John spent his formative years in China, Germany and Washington DC, where he spent his childhood years stealing his father’s camcorder, making home videos with his friends and skateboarding. Each scene is like a snapshot story in itself (in one scene this is literal as we see Mitch go about his daily routine at the pharmacy in a series of photographic stills), little vignettes that are strung together to create a bigger picture. The visual and audio aftertaste of ‘Days Gone By’ lingers in the mind like a tape reel being unwound over time: the echoing strains of the violinist’s chords in the tunnel, the kaleidoscopic home video sequences, Trixie’s white bare back as she dances alone in an abandoned warehouse. A mesmerising performance by Julia Max (who plays Trixie) draws the two worlds together. On the other side of town lies an apartment where a decrepit former doctor lives with his delinquent son and daughter. ![]() Jennie Epland stars as the infected victim Shelley, rendered in full technicolour in the moments that an aching Mitch recalls snapshots of their life together. Jim Sturgess lookalike Kyle Walters steps convincingly into the role of Mitch, a pharmacist desperate to save his soulmate from the grips of a disease engulfing the small town they live in. This year’s Raindance Film Festival saw a significant increase of 62% at the box office compared to last year.įor such an incredibly low budget film though, it radiates raw artistic talent and captures the fleeting nature of human life, as well as showcasing young exuberance of the small cast and crew. However, if John had been referring to Monday’s screening of the film, he would have collected that and much more – people are becoming more and more interested in independent, self-produced films such as ‘Days Gone By’. “If everyone in that (Tuesday) audience gave me a hundred dollars, I would basically get all the money back that I spent on Days Gone By’,” filmmaker and writer John Zhao tells me. Riding an Endangered Eagle Lorraine Caputo.FOUR COLLAGES ON LONELINESS katiehamill.Litro #182: Experimental – The Book Fight Chihoi. ![]() My skin is a silver lining | LITRO LAB PODCAST Kathryn Tann.Duplex Cabaret Dreams | LITRO LAB PODCAST Robert Garnham.Spaces / Places | LITRO LAB PODCAST Caitlin Stobie.Tonantzín Coatlaxopeuh Robert René Galván.This Month on the Home Binge Office: UK Cinema Jason Bentsman. ![]()
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