Decade: Ramin Bahrani on “Man Push Cart”

I was in Paris when Bush began to bomb Afghanistan, and I thought: “who were the Afghans I knew outside of Iran?” They were push cart vendors in New York City. Then I thought of Albert Camus‘s “The Myth of Sisyphus.” The image of a man dragging his cart on New York’s streets seemed to be a modern day version of that myth. I came back to New York City in 2002 and began working on the film.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced in either developing the project or making and securing distribution for the movie?

There were parts that weren’t challenging?

How did you finance the film?

Films are made by people, not by money.

What are your biggest creative influences?

For this film: New York City. Push Cart vendors. Albert Camus. Rumi. Doestovesky. Bresson. Cassavetes. Kiarostami. De Sica. Taxi Driver. Flaherty.

What is your definition of “independent film?”

One made by someone who has not censored himself for economic reasons or by dreams of success.

What are some of your all-time favorite films and why?

“L’Age d’or,” “Man of Aran,” “Pickpocket,” “Au hasard Balthazar,” “La Dolce Vita,” “Where is the Friend’s House?” “Life and Nothing Else,” “L’Eclisse,” “L’Avventura,” “The Tree of Wooden Clogs,” “Taxi Driver,” “Vivre sa vie,” “Accattone,” “La Terra Trema,” “Stroszek,” “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie,” “The Decalogue,” “The Apu Trilogy,” “The Boys From Fengkuei,” and…

What are your interests outside of film?

Film.

How do you define success as a filmmaker?

Last night we were shooting a scene for my new film in a junkyard in Queens and I wanted an above ground train passing by in the distant background. In the shot, the lead (a 12 year old boy) has to walk down a dirt road near a pool of water. We wanted the water to have slight ripples. I was amazed that there were 3 PAs willing to take turns riding a bike though the water to create the effect!
Of course I wanted to do the shot 10 times… and it was 2am… and the train would only come every 20 minutes. Let’s see who shows up for work today.

What are your personal goals as a filmmaker?

For every person who likes my films, there will be someone who hates them.

Previous:

Decade: Darren Aronofsky on “Requiem For a Dream”
Decade: Kenneth Lonergan on “You Can Count On Me”
Decade: Mary Harron on “American Psycho”
Decade: Christopher Nolan on “Memento”
Decade: Agnes Varda on “The Gleaners and I”
Decade: Wong Kar-wai on “In The Mood For Love”
Decade: John Cameron Mitchell on “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”
Decade: Michael Haneke Talks “Code Inconnu” and “The Piano Teacher”
Decade: Alfonso Cuarón on “Y Tu Mama Tambien”
Decade: Mira Nair on “Monsoon Wedding”
Decade: Todd Haynes on “Far From Heaven”
Decade: Gasper Noe on “Irreversible”
Decade: Andrew Jarecki on “Capturing The Freidmans”
Decade: Sofia Coppola on “Lost in Translation.”
Decade: Michael Moore on “Fahrenheit 9/11”
Decade: Miranda July on “Me and You and Everyone We Know”
Decade: Andrew Bujalski On “Funny Ha Ha”
Decade: Gregg Araki on “Mysterious Skin.”
Decade: Noah Baumbach on “The Squid and the Whale”
Decade: Ryan Fleck on “Half Nelson”