claire cronin

Documentarian-filmmaker-videographer-designer and pizza-lover Mike Mills will host the first of Family’s Sunday cinema sit-downs this month, where he will present the deeply affecting Lovefilm. He speaks now to Nolan Knight about his wildlife book and his psychotherapy and he leaves details of his extensive resume (Marc Jacobs, Yoko Ono, Sonic Youth, Ed Templeton) to research elsewhere.

For your upcoming Cinefamily event you’re screening István Szabó’s Lovefilm, a lesser-known Czech New Wave masterpiece. When did you see this for the first time and what aspects of it impacted you?
It’s actually Hungarian. Hungarians rock—such a beautiful language. I saw this maybe five or six years ago. I think it’s my favorite film. It has a beautiful structure—I won’t give it away—and it’s such a hard-to-pull of blend of totally personal autobiographical details and slivers of memories that have no apparent meaning—besides being undeniably true—and all set against the history of Hungary during the Second World War as it’s becoming part of the Soviet Union. Such a personal film—emotional and historical, the history of emotions maybe? And so quietly progressive in its filmmaking. The other great Hungarian that I frequent is Milos Foreman. Kind of a similar vibe—Loves Of A Blonde and Fireman’s Ball.
And you’re in Berlin right now—what’s that like?
It’s pretty amazingly grey. And so hard to figure out the history here. You feel it everywhere, but so much has been erased. Bombed. I love all things Weimar Germany, and I’m trying to see it in the older buildings and famous platzes, but it’s kind of hard to get at.
What does a normal Mike Mills day consist of?
Psychotherapy til noon, then a full day of calisthenics.
How did you come across the novel Thumbsucker and what made you want to bring it to the big screen?
My friend Bob Stephenson literally read the back—or a review—and thought it sounded like me. And he was right. Walter Kirn taught me a lot about my family—put things into words in a way I couldn’t and with a humor that made all the discomfort actually appealing. I wanted to make a film for a long time—because I felt so close to the main character, I felt like I had permission to try and direct this. It was something I knew about. And no, I don’t suck my thumb—but yes, maybe I should have.
What was the experience like filming in Japan for Does Your Soul Have A Cold? Is filmmaking abroad more strenuous?
Filming low budget in Tokyo is a little bonkers. I had a great time, but we had many two-hour packed subway rides while carrying all our stuff. I have a lot of friends in Tokyo, so it wasn’t as foreign as it should have been. The biggest thing to swallow was caring for and getting close with all these people struggling with depression. They were quite heroic in what they gave to the film—each one really wanted to help others like themselves—but as a director, that’s a heavy load to carry—all that responsibility. A little self promotion—that film really didn’t get it’s fair shake, but if you want to see it you can download it on iTunes! That’s the only way right now.
Where do you find the most creative freedom—music videos or feature films?
Each video and each film is it’s own beast. That’s part of what makes it so fun and so hard. It’s like living with someone that forgets who you are every morning and you have to start over. But don’t trust anyone who uses the term ‘independent film’—that’s largely a brand name propulgated by people trying to make money via ‘authenticity.’ On one level, a film is really just a bank loan, and the bank wants their money back. On the other hand, you don’t have to sell tickets to see videos or ads even, so weirdly, there can be a lot of freedom there. Ads are selling things, but making films is like trying to start Nike itself.
Your resume transcends many mediums. When an idea or concept strikes you, do you automatically assign it a medium or let it evolve into its own self?
Things are always evolving and overlapping. It’s really all the same concerns and issues coming out in different contexts. When I was a kid, a favorite TV show would also have a lunch box, a song, clothes, stickers, books—the same story and identification with a character spread across a small world of goods. I think I’m just replicating that.
Who are a few artists who currently inspire you and why?
Jeremy Deller—especially his folk archive thing. It’s so accessible and such a relief.
Having done graphic design for Subliminal and Stereo decks—along with Deformer featuring Ed Templeton—are you still active within the skateboard community?
I go to the monthly community meetings and I make sure to vote whenever an important issue comes up. To be honest, all the union rules are a drag, but you do it for the health insurance.
I read that you have a book on wildlife photography in Los Angeles underway—true or false? If true, how did this come about?
Yes—yes, it’s called Together and its about how we in L.A. live with the most wild of animals—mountain lions. It’s really about wildlife corridors. Places like bridges and horse tunnels where animals such as mountain lions can travel across freeways and around developments to re-connect different pieces of their increasingly fragmented habitat. It’s a very key issue right now—there are about ten lions in the Santa Monica mountains, but they are trapped by the 101 and 405. Unless something happens, and they can get access to more habitat to hunt and breed in a more diverse gene pool, they will become extinct in this area. While mountain lions scare us, they actually don’t want anything to do with humans. You’re more likely to die from lightning, bees or dogs than a lion in California. They are amazingly stealth, making their way around very populated areas—Brentwood, Tarzana, or the Getty—in the middle of the day while never being seen. If you want to learn more, the best meeting point for this issue is the South Coast Wildlands Project. I’ve been doing the book for years now with the photographer Takashi Homma. We trudge around in the bushes finding GPS points where collared mountain lions have been and taking pictures.
What is the current state of your graphic line Humans?
I’m super happy to say you can get a lot of it at Family now. I’m working on my fifth year-slash-line of posters and fabrics and stuff now. It’s been a dream come true for me.
What’s in store for you next?
If the gods are willing, I’d really like to make my next film.

FAMILY PRESENTS AN EVENING WITH MIKE MILLS AND LOVEFILM ON SUN., FEB. 8, AT CINEFAMILY AT THE SILENT MOVIE THEATRE, 611 N. FAIRFAX AVE., LOS ANGELES. 8 PM / $12 / ALL AGES. CINEFAMILY.ORG. VISIT MIKE MILLS AT MIKEMILLSWEB.COM.