Interview. Cam Archer.

"The moment at the dawn of adolescence when hormones and daydreams swirl into a heady fog of confusion and longing is poetically evoked in Cam Archer's film Wild Tigers I Have Known," writes Stephen Holden, who then explains in the New York Times why he feels that the current version of the film "is a marked improvement over a longer one shown last year at the New Directors/New Films series."

"Cinematographer Aaron Platt marries the emotionally complex storyline with stylized images similar to those found in Archer's previous shorts, while brother/sound designer Nate Archer incorporates a moody backdrop ranging from songs by Current 93, Pantaleimon and Six Organs of Admittance to ethereal effects and voice-overs," writes Heather Johnson, introducing her interview with Archer at the main site. "The result is precisely the type of film that Archer believes has a deserved place in the cinematic landscape, but now wants to move away from: an art film for teens."

Karina Longworth at Cinematical: "The movie wears its ancestors on its sleeve - Tarnation and My Own Private Idaho, sure, but also Kenneth Anger, Warhol, Harmony Korine - and like all of the above, it comes alive when it abandons traditional storytelling techniques in favor of tableau."

"[Y]ou want to applaud Archer for making a movie that asks you to feel more than follow," writes Robert Wilonsky in the Voice.

"Archer is a fresh voice in American independent film, and he emerged from Sundance not as a mainstream wonder but as an artistic underdog," writes Mike Plante, introducing his interview for Filmmaker.

Matt Singer talks with Archer for IFC News; so does indieWIRE.

Posted by dwhudson at March 1, 2007 5:46 AM