An Interview with Sam Kristofski
Words by Sarah Morrison
Kiwi filmmaker Sam Kristofski has become a paramount member of the music community for his nostalgic and other worldly cinematic creations.
My first interaction with his material came through the discovery of the Babe Rainbow; a psych musical act that primarily hires Kristofski for their visual material. I quickly became fascinated with his approach to capture other eras and bring them to life in a modernized form. It wasn’t long before his work quickly began to pop up in other artists video repertoire.
Kristofski was kind enough to speak on his up-bringing with film, his creative family, starring in his own short films, ‘Zieri Cosmos,’ the disappearance of ’The Rare Bird,’ and how he’s staying occupied in isolation.
At what age did you become fascinated with film?
When I was about 9 years old from memory.
Who inspired you/influenced you as a filmmaker?
Jim Jarmusch, Jean Luc Godard, Paul Thomas Anderson, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Coen Brothers.
Was film something you studied or something you gradually learned on your own?
I did study but I learned from doing more.
You have a very distinctive vintage style, what sort of equipment do you use in order to achieve that aesthetic?
This is mostly from my interest in film and the films I grew up watching. Using older equipment is hard and more limiting which helps you focus on your writing a directing a little more I have found.
Does being from New Zealand play any part in the end product of your work? How often do you find yourself back in the country?
I do come back to NZ every summer and I always will. I would love to make some NZ films too at some point. I much prefer to shoot here over the USA.
How do you decide whether or not to use film or digital? Is this something discussed per client or is that something decided after coming up with a concept?
It can be so many things, if it's my own project its not even a question I will only shoot film. If it’s a client then usually it’s a matter of budget.
How does fantasy play a role when creating a concept and filming a music video?
I love fantasy. I love anything supernatural or bizarre and I love to bleed that into the real world.
Within my eyes, your first bit of fame within the music community came when you began working with the Babe Rainbow. When and where did that relationship form and blossom into what it is today?
They are just really close friends from Australia that let me do whatever I like. We all don’t really take ourselves very seriously so leave a pretty open pallet to create visually and for them musically.
Forming a creative family is something you value and find very important. How much of an impact has it been to have a group of friends that range is a variety of talent?
This is the single most important thing to making films I believe. Making a solid group of collaborators around you and growing with them to create a world, style aesthetic, and family.
Behind the screen, some things aren’t always seen by the general public. This happens in the music industry but is very prominent within all artistic scenes. I’ve read that you’ve had to deal with some strange behaviour from others on set. Does this create any type of conflict with the work itself or with the on-set chemistry?
I think you can really avoid things like this from happening when creating a family around you that you trust and work alongside. You know where everyone stands before you head into any project and you know who you can count on with particular sections of the process.
Things get hard when people in your working family want to do what you're doing. Usually, then they have to break off and start their own world and this is where things can get really difficult. It's all about checking your ego I guess.
On a lighter note, what are some of your favourite projects you’ve worked on to date? What specifically about each made them special to you?
I really can't answer this one, I actually have no idea.
I have had really good experiences making things, then the final product is not what I wanted and I'll usually burry it. I have also really struggled to make things and then have the product is my favourite one ever. But the process was stressful.
There is the in-between where it's been so fun making and the product is great but I know I could do better so they are all in the middle.
Probably my most fav ones I still have yet to release. I have a huge pile of not finished short films I really need to finish.
You’ve managed to also star in some of your narrative work (Baddies Series), how different is it for you to be in front of the camera versus behind?
I try to get in front of the camera as much as I can. I stick to the DOP’s I trust so I never really question them, so jumping in front of the lens never has bothered me too much.
‘Zieri Cosmos,’ a personal favourite of mine, has a stellar line-up of other creatives (Alexandra Savior, Dr D Foothead, Connan Mockasin, Mikey De Vera, etc) when you developed the concept for the film, did you have that cast in mind? If not, what approach do you take when it comes to casting for your short films?
We shot this in less than two hours and kind of made it up as we went along. It was just an afternoon I had free in LA and whoever was available to feature in it. Connan’s shots were done in less than thirty mins and shot a few days later, he and his partner were on their way to a ’70s themed party at the playboy mansion and already dressed ready so we really didn’t have to do anything.
‘Zieri Cosmos’ was screened at TIFF the year it came out. Did you attend the Canadian premiere?
No, I wish I could have. I have turned this idea into a feature script actually and we were meant to be shooting right now but things have changed since the world stopped. So hoping next year things start to move along again.
Let’s talk about ‘Rare Bird.’ For those who may not be familiar with the film, can you just briefly explain the main objective behind the piece?
I took a whole year off in my life to this film with the Babe Rainbow in 2015. It was a pretty life-changing experience and it took us all over the world. It just started in NZ as a strange new wave surf film about a bird watcher named Huntington Beach who gets lost in the wilderness and stumbles across a group of surfers who promise to take him back to the nearest town but he ends up living with them.
As we were shooting we were contacted by Dave Rastovich who wanted to get involved and help us turn this into a huge surf movie which was never the main purpose, he got some boards that George Greenough had shaped and wanted us to premier the boards in the film so it took a major turn.
In the end, we ended up in southern France and the whole film was basically the reason I moved to LA. Its such a long story and so complicated that I don’t really know how to keep it brief but it changed my life for sure.
The following year in 2016 while moving house in LA my car was broken into and the whole film was stolen, every drive and back up drive. All the hard copies and only the film cans remained. I have since rescanned the film and will be releasing it as a book. The soundtrack by the Babe Rainbow and film will follow.
Most recently, you took a smaller role in helping with some shots for the latest GUM music video. How hard was it to shoot underwater?
I actually managed to get hold of an underwater 16mm camera that was believed to have belonged to Ron and Val Taylor. There was nothing wrong with it. Jay Watson is a good friend and basically lets me have creative freedom on most things I shoot for him.
With all that’s going on right now, how do you plan to utilize your downtown creatively? Do you have ideas for projects you might try and get started on later in the year? Will you spend the time conceptualizing new pieces?
I’m mostly writing right now. I like to spend a lot of time outdoors and get my head clear too. The thing I have found the hardest is finishing my short films. I really do need to get back and edit them.