Paul Farren talks to filmmaker Rob Nilsson, a director who works outside of the mainstream using improvisation, workshopping and non-professional actors.

A term that seems to have lost its meaning these days is 'independent filmmaker'. When you have people like George Lucas and the Weinsteins referred to as independent filmmakers you have to wonder. One person who truly deserves the moniker, and one of the most fiercely independent filmmakers working today is Rob Nilsson. Originally a painter and poet, Nilsson moved into film and directed the acclaimed Northern Lights (1978), which won the Camera D'Or at Cannes and the Grand Jury prize at Sundance. The film, which told of the plight of a small community of Farmers in Minnesota, was produced using both script and improvisation, and featured many locals who had never acted before.

Nilsson has continued to co-operate with community groups, fringe groups and street people, working with them to create films from their unique group experiences. Nilsson was one of the first directors to see the potential of video in the creating of feature dramas, his third feature Signal 7 (1986) was the first film to be blown up from video to 35mm. On a recent trip to Dublin as a guest of City Arts he took time out with his cameraman Chikara Motomura to talk about his Direct Action project and his work with non-professional actors.

The full article is printed in Film Ireland 104.