HOLE PUNCHED EAR, 8min., USA
Directed by Alan Yammin, Ben Tull
In a dystopian Chicago, a poet, bound by a strange countdown clock, struggles to finish a poem as her sister tries to free her.

https://holepunchedearfilm.wixsite.com/home
https://instagram.com/hole_punched_ear/

Get to know:
Directors Ben Tull (BT) and Alan Yammin (AY), Post Production Head Blake Huang (BH)

1. What motivated you to make this film?
- (BT & AY)) The story of the film in which the world building elements, character relationship aspects, etc.
- (BH) The creative part of the film, as we don't have traditional dialogue, there are so much space for our creativity to go wild and tell the story through different elements of filmmaking.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

- (ALL) 2 years

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
- Hope and Perseverance

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
- General production matters. For example; working in an abandoned, dark location with no power. It was tricky because we had to rely on the generators, which gave us some trouble. Another challenge was managing the recruiting process. Right before the production, we had several department heads leave the production without notice.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?

- (BH) It's always exciting to see how people react to our hard work. My first reaction is surprising, there are so many interesting perspectives. With no dialogue but just poetic voiceover, the viewers are watching our feelings, and us watching the audience's feedback is like watching them feeling our film, this mutual relationship can get surprisingly intimate and personal to me.

- (BT) It felt great to hear how well the audience received it! The whole cast and crew worked incredibly hard on this film, so to hear people pointing out these specific aspects of the production we had put a lot of effort and care into, and to see that a lot of these things were landing just the way we were hoping they would land makes me feel very proud of everyone who worked on this film. For an audience to take away everything you were hoping to convey with a story is the best you can ask for as a filmmaker.

- (AY) It is an honor

I'm grateful for this feedback, which deeply touched me. While hearing that, the audience connected with the story and the world of "Hole Punched Ear". I was also satisfied and excited, considering that the audience engaged with the idealism and the main message of the film. I am delighted by the audience's feedback regarding the deliberate choices that we made that shaped the story of the film. It made me happy that the incredible efforts of the entire cast and crew are really valued.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
- (BT) When I was making little movies for fun, then playing around with VFX, and slowly putting more and more effort into them.
- (AY) When I was doing photography and decided to transition into cinematography.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
- (BT) Probably either Little Stuart 2 or Ratatouille
- (AY) Alan does not recall, Arthur and Miniputs is one of his childhood movies.
- (BH) Frozen

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
- General connections with industry professionals with potential job opportunities.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
- As someone who is new to the platform of FilmFreeway, we are finding it very user-friendly. We would, however, very much like to receive more analytical data regarding our distribution. This would include the data that shows what kind of festivals our film is doing well, which would show better guaranteed opportunities.

10. What is your favorite meal?
- (AY) Pasta
- (BT) Pasta Bolognese
- (BH) Ramen

11. What is next for you? A new film?
- The next project...