DECONFLICTION Directed By Edward R. Tyndall

Shane: Tell us about your film?

Edward: Deconfliction is a short documentary about Chris Highland. In utero during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Chris Highland grew up obsessed with the prospect of nuclear annihilation. After spending years studying the conflicts that led up to the Cold War, Chris accompanied Russian troops to Chechnya as a photographer and narrowly escaped with his life. During recovery he experienced an epiphany: the conflict he had been chasing all these years was inside him.  Deconfliction delves into the mind of an individual struggling to make peace with his conflicted gender identity; a conflict that Chris believes may have been caused by the Cold War itself.

S: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

E: I had been considering doing a film about Chris since she came back from Russia and told me her story a few years ago. (She was a He)

S: Was this a school project?

E: I made the film during my final year in Film School.  

S: How did you find your cast? 

E: I have known the subject of the documentary for several years.

S: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

E: About 7 months, but actual production only lasted 1 day.

S: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

E: It’s hard when you make films about people who are suffering in some capacity in their lives. The creation of a film always feels like a struggle but seeing your subject continuing to fight for happiness even after your film is finished really puts things in perspective.

One of the great emotional inconveniences of documentary film is that your subjects’ suffering, to some degree, becomes your own. The relationship, with all its ups and downs, continues long after the film is finished. I think making documentary films about people that you become close to forces the filmmaker to go through some hard adjustments themselves.

S: Tell us about the films festival experience so far?

E: Deconfliction has had an amazing reception. We are so grateful to the folks at Tribeca for the incredible opportunities the festival has provided us with. It has really opened up a lot of doors.

S: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

E: For me the best Q&A sessions are those in which the subject of the film is in attendance. People tend to have a huge amount of questions for Christina.  She is such a fascinating speaker. I could listen to her musings for a long time and I think the audience feels the same way.

S: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

E: I am really inspired by the work of Errol Morris and Werner Herzog (although I have sent Herzog several adoring letters and he will not respond to me…so we might be in a tiff).

 S: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

E: I love stories. It seems like the best way to have a life immersed in their telling.

 S: What is next for you? 

E: We (Mobius Films) are beginning work on a feature length documentary about the use of animals by people as tools and consumables. We hope to have it ready to premiere on the festival circuit by 2010.

S: What is next for the film?

E: We have sent the film out to several other festivals including Palm Springs and AFI. We hope it will continue to play and be seen.

S: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

E: Preparation and development mean everything to the success of a film.  You must prepare as if you are going to war, and your life depends on it.