Keepin' it reel

MANILA, Philippines - So here we are, the first issue of the new year. We wanted to put together a filmmaker issue because films, documentaries, and music videos excite our visual senses and take our minds on a creative journey that we never knew existed. Whether clearly or subliminally, they continue to inspire, touch hearts, give insight, or just entertain us. The amazing thing is, they have the ability to change our lives in just one sitting.

From the moment we started Status, we have always considered ourselves more fashion/music/party people, so it was a little intimidating to enter the world of moving pictures. But all of us are very visual people (if you have not noticed already), so this gave us enough courage to enter uncharted territories. We started this issue right before the holidays, and I gotta tell you, it was tough trying to get interviews with everyone in the middle of their winter vacation. (Sheesh!) But we persevered and started locking in a lot of our interviews early this year.

Charlotte Gainsbourg shares how she rose from the dark pit of a skiing incident while making her latest music album IRM and shooting Antichrist for which she won Best Actress in Cannes 2009. It took countless e-mails and phone calls to get this stunning beauty on our cover (Thanks, Thierry!), but it was worth all our efforts.

Newbie to the Hollywood circuit, actress Greta Gerwig is stepping out of her indie shell with her latest film Greenberg and shares with us how it feels to transition to the flashing lights of Hollywood.

On the other side of the camera, director Marc Webb who started out as a music video director graduated to feature films with his quirky romantic comedy (500) Days of Summer. He still has a hard time believing his success, but we’re pretty sure that being hired to be the director of Spiderman IV might be the reality check he needs.

Joe Swanberg leads a pack of directors with this independent film movement termed mumblecore. We love this guy who keeps it real by portraying the characters in real-life situations complete with sometimes awkward dialogue. We also included rough and tumble documentary film directors Ty Evans and Jon Reiss for capturing raw skate and graffiti lifestyle. Of course, we couldn’t leave out music video directors Vashtie Kola and Chris Robinson who add the glitz and glam in the music videos we rabidly consume.

But with all the established and famous names we mentioned, we could not leave out the young directors featured in the New Kids in the Block section. They are the new soldiers on the filmmaking frontline fighting for their vision (and decent film budgets). Regardless, they continue to use filmmaking as a medium to release creativity.

Beauty, truth, ugliness, and fiction — this bunch of filmmakers has the ability to transport you to another world, open up your mind, and enlighten your soul. We think there is not only a bit of genius in them, and with these geniuses lie some driving madness beneath the surface — that’s what we’re crazy about.