Interview: Ross McElwee On 'Photographic Memory'

We talk to the iconic first-person filmmaker about his latest film, how it relates to his others, and the shock of inspiring tourism in his fans.

This interview was originally published on the Documentary Channel Blog in 2012.

I was afraid I wasn’t going to get an interview with Ross McElwee, one of my favorite documentary filmmakers. And I was also afraid that I would get one. Whether it’s because I sometimes put my foot in my mouth or act too much like a fanboy with artists I admire, there can always be the chance that I’ll come across as annoying. Or, maybe I just imagine it that way.

Well, I did get to talk to McElwee last Friday, which is when his new film, Photographic Memory, opened in New York. It’s a wonderful personal first-person work that examines the director’s relationship with his son (whose birth we witnessed in Time Indefinite) and his own young adulthood, including a search for an old flame (an affair that’s interesting to think of in the context of McElwee’s most noteworthy film, the classic Sherman’s March). And I do think it went better than I could have hoped.

This is part one of our conversation, in which McElwee and I talked candidly with one another about the new film, how its inception and process were different than with previous projects, the way it sort of passes a torch, and also how fans of his are into visiting locations from his documentaries. After reading, check out part two here.