Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
Three local filmmakers worked on the independent film Anora, which won the highest prize, the Palm D’Or, at the Cannes Film Festival and is now nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Editing. (Please note it is “R” rated for a reason.)
Ryan was also in on the interview.
Stephen was away at the Sundance Film Festival where Peter Hugar’s Day, another film the three worked on, was to have its premiere as we spoke.
As high school students, the trio, plus brother Jonathan Phelps and friend Max Van Scoy, worked on the opening and closing videos for the South High Marathon Dance. All graduated in the early 2000s
As the Ravacon Collective, the group and their local friends had a show of experimental shorts and music videos on local channel Look TV, then TV-8.
They made national headlines 20 years ago when Christopher, dressed famously as “Banana Boy,” was arrested by a Hudson Falls police officer while fighting a foe on the street who wielded a prop knife.
In 2014 Ravacon produced the award winning horror film Lake Nowhere.
Today, based in Brooklyn, their production company Ursidae Parade makes indie films, shorts and music videos for artists including the Black Crowes.
They still work often from their original studio-shop in the basement of the Shirt Factory in Glens Falls.
Anora is a sort of dark, comic (and fiercely graphic) Cinderella story about a sex worker in New York who marries the young son of a Russian oligarch after a whirlwind romance — and then fights for her marriage against the Russian goons and lawyer who try to force a divorce.
Stephen was Production Designer. Ryan was Art Director. Christopher was Set Decorator.
They worked closely with director Sean Baker, a rising star also known for The Florida Project starring Willem Dafoe, among other projects. The local team oversaw the art department and designed sets and props for the feature length film.
“We work on a lot of projects together as a team,” Christopher says.
Since the The Palm D’Or at Cannes, Anora has won 91 film festivals and garnered five Golden Globe nominations, as well as the six Oscar nods, they note.
They won’t attend the Academy Awards. “There’s not enough plus-ones,” they said, adding they may yet try to make it to Los Angeles at least for the after-parties. Or they’ll stick closer to Brooklyn and gather to watch with fellow Anora cast, crew and supporters.
The trio were on another movie shoot when they got word in October 2022 that Stephen and they were up for Mr. Baker’s new movie. They pushed together a pitch, “really with no time,” they said.
“We knew it was going to be an important project,” Christopher says, “because of Sean’s history as a filmmaker. Anything he was going to do next was going to be worth trying to be involved with.”
Ryan said Mr. Baker is known in the indie world as “a filmmaker that makes movies about sex workers, sex-positive movies about people in that line of work.”
“It’s telling stories that aren’t really told,” Christopher said. “It’s trying to give voices to people who aren’t really heard as often.”
“Florida Project and Red Rocket both drew a lot of acclaim in indie circles,” Ryan said. “They’re fantastic films that we’d all seen and been very enthusiastic about.”
Even from the “scriptment” outline they received, Ryan said, “You could definitely tell this one was a little more commercial. There’s action, there’s sort of thrills, there’s a lot going on here that would appeal to a broader audience.
“Maybe this will actually be in wide release in theaters, and maybe our friends and family can go see this one, which is a big deal for us,” they both laughed.
They said it wasn’t a surprise Anora made it to Cannes, where Mr. Baker has shown before. But the win was “unexpected,” up against big-budget heavy hitters by Francis Ford Coppola and the like.
Christopher went along to Cannes.
“I would get tickets to go see films and then cancel them, I hate to say, because I was more excited about being out there and experiencing the place and meeting up with the Anora people, just taking it all in. It was a lot of fun exploring the Old Town, going to restaurants and just eating delicious food and spending time with the crew and celebrating in that way.
“I was at the premiere, and saw the movie for the first time with everybody else. And it was just awesome. The audience was hooting and hollering, like for a big budget movie…with superheroes, but just for a good movie. That was special.”
Ryan and Christopher talked at enthusiastic length about the kinds of problem solving involved in making the movie work — from researching numerous different materials to create fake snow that would flutter in the wind, stick to trees or on the ground; an icy patch that plays a key role in one chase; a classy glass-topped table and lamp fit for a mansion and then a popcorn machine in a candy shop that all get smashed as the feisty, resourceful lead character fights off her assailants — plus three different airplane interiors pictured in three different scenes.
“As an art director,” Ryan said, “you’d usually be dealing with construction and painting, and I oversee the budget, that type of job. But on this, it became more aiding in any way possible to get to our goals.”
He said, “It’s pretty non-stop when you’re in production. You’re like, in it, but it’s a lot of fun. You really gotta give it everything.”
“It can be very stressful, but it is so worth it,” Christopher agrees.
“Our goal is to make films,” Christopher says. “This kind of path opens up connections. We just know so many more people that could help us get things done,” like a film of their own, they said.
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