Mora Stephens gives directions on set with her film crew during the making of "Conventioneers" which Stephens describes as a "Romeo and Juliet love story between a Republican and Democrat." (Photo: Hyphenate Films)
By Omar P.L. Moore October 2006
Love and inter-political affiliations -- for sure, a
volatile mix. High-profile names like Maria Shriver and Arnold
Schwarzenegger and perhaps more famously James Carville and Mary Matalin, have
been able to be happily married despite their differing political affiliations.
Republicans and Democrats may fight and argue, but aren't supposed to fall in
love -- even during cocktail parties -- or so people might think.
The 2004 Republican National Convention, held in of all
places New York City, a largely Democratic city, was the stage for some intense
acrimony between the conventioneers from the Grand Old Party and the Democratic
and other party affiliation demonstrators in and around Madison Square Garden,
the site of the convention. Director Mora Mi-Ok Stephens stepped into the
gulf between the two sides and filmed "Conventioneers" which recently opened in
New York City (October 20). Stephens spent several months during the
volatile 2004 presidential election year directing what she terms "Romeo and
Juliet love story between a Republican and a Democrat."
Not only did inter-political love meet its challenges when filming on location
in New York but so did the director and her crew. "Five of the crew
including myself, were arrested [by the New York Police Department] when we were
making the movie." Arrested, according to the director, for no particular
reason whatsoever. "We were five people caught up in these large
preemptive sweeps throughout the city . . .[b]asically the strategy which came
down from [New York City's] Mayor [Michael] Bloomberg was to round up the first
200 people of any protest whether or not they were doing anything illegal and
the rest were to be cleared off the street." As they were filming part of
an anti-war protest, they were "surrounded by police officers". The events
as Stephens described them "happened so quickly and came as a bit of a
surprise." Slightly tongue-in-cheek, the director hastens to add: "we
weren't planning to be arrested in the protest that day." The film's end
credits point out that Stephens was detained for 14 hours and other members her
crew detained for longer, including one crew member detained for 41 hours.
It was "very traumatic". The director reflects back on that difficult
period however, and manages to put in perspective and take it in stride as a
lesson to be learned. "Ultimately as a filmmaker, as a director, I don't
regret it because . . . it gives you a very different perspective on the justice
system and an understanding of how easily sometimes your rights can be taken
away. And you can be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
She however recalled other dire circumstances following the arrest. "I
remember when Bloomberg was asked about safety and health hazards at Pier 57,
which is where the prisoners were held before going to 100 Centre Street in New
York -- the [Pier] is actually much more frightening . . . and more
traumatic than [Center Street where central booking of murderers and rapists
take place]. It looked like a concentration camp in there -- it was 4:00
in the afternoon, but it was dark in there, with barbed wire and lights and
haze. . . I got a horrible cough which I had for about six months . . .
when Bloomberg was questioned about 57 he said, 'well, it's not meant to be Club
Med.'"
Through it all, the actors, with and without their director, were "great", doing
take after take, Stephens said. On her blog, Stephens comments that "I had
no money, no equipment, no script but I had a treatment, great actors, the best
producer in town in the form of my husband Joel, and all of my closest friends
rooting for us."
Woodwyn Koons and Matthew Mabe as political rivals and lovers in Mora Stephens'
"Conventioneers". (Photo: Hyphenate Films)
In "Conventioneers", political tension and sexual
tension erupts between Leah (Woodwyn Koons) and David (Matthew Mabe).
Leah is a Democrat whose passion for politics finds her as a routine political
protester against the Bush Administration, while David is a die-hard Republican
who proudly stands by his convictions as a delegate to the convention. Two
college friends who vigorously disagreed during their time on campus, the two
reunite changed from their previous interactions. In the intervening years
Leah has been engaged to be married to her fiancee Hans (Trevor Murphy), while
David has settled in Texas and married his high school sweetheart Elizabeth
(Alicia Harding). The sexual tension that both distance, politics and
perhaps a glimmer of missed opportunities or unrequited love might bring proves
too combustible for Leah and David to resist. The film is produced by
Stephens and her husband Joel Viertel, whom earlier this year both strode to the
podium at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards to clutch statues for their film
which won the John Cassavettes' Award for best feature film costing under
$500,000. Stephens, clearly surprised, said among other things that
"making independent films is pretty fucking hard." For the peril that
Stephens and her crew found themselves while filming "Conventioneers", it was
certainly trial by fire, more so than usual. Acknowledgment of her
filmmaking skill and the crew's expertise was duly rewarded at the Spirit
Awards. "We were very much like the little guy in the competition . . .
and when they announced our names, we were in a state of pure shock." She
gave praise to Film Independent, "who were so supportive of us." She
mentioned Filmmaker Labs who were valuable to the filmmakers. In the
euphoria of that moment, Stephens had one regret. "The one person I really
regret not thanking directly is my mother . . . I grew up watching movies with
her." She credits her mother as a tremendous inspiration. She also
points out that director Ang Lee ("Brokeback Mountain", "The Hulk", "Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), is one of her biggest idols.
Stephens is a graduate of New York University's Graduate Film Program. The
campus' famous film school saw such accomplished and legendary filmmakers as
Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese enter its ranks. She also has a degree from
Princeton University as a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and
International Affairs.
The director, 30, outlines her hopes and objectives in "Conventioneers".
"There are a lot of different things that run through the film but the number
one thing in hoping to stir up a dialogue was about the divide in the country .
. . I think in an ideal world that people can be passionate about their politics
but still be able to communicate, much less live, in relationships, friendships
or working relationships across political boundaries." While Stephens'
idealism was part of "Conventioneers" she also was quick to point out that a
utopia of love despite membership in opposing political parties wasn't going to
occur. "It wasn't going to be easy for these two sides to come together"
at the end. "The ending leaves you with a kind of punch in the stomach."
David compromises his political beliefs for love, Stephens says, but his
emotions carry away with him in some crucial situations which endanger the
fragile relationship that Leah and David have. There is claustrophobia,
the claustrophobia of politics and of personal situations that are deeply felt
in "Conventioneers", which draw the two lead characters together to release the
pent up tensions within them.
The other significant story in "Conventioneers" is the more intriguing one -- a
sign language interpreter who is an avowed Democrat but is hired to sign for
President Bush at the Convention. Alek Friedman, who actually signed for
the president at the convention and is captured on film doing so, plays Dylan,
the politically conflicted character. Will he carry out his threat to
unveil his peace sign shirt during his signing as a protest of the president at
the convention at the urging of his fellow Democratic friends, or will he play
the good soldier and do what he is told to pick up the coveted paycheck that he
so desperately needs? Friedman's role was one of the"happy accidents" that
occurred on "Conventioneers", as the director describes it. [The
filmmakers managed to find a pastor from Staten Island right at the last minute
as well, Stephens noted.] Friedman is a sign-language interpreter who was
based in Los Angeles as a writer, director and actor, who resides in New York.
Friends since high school, the director and Friedman went to Hunter High School
together in New York, as did her future spouse Joel Viertel. Viertel is
currently finishing up his own direction of a film called "Strictly Sexual",
billed as a "sexy romantic comedy", which Stephens is producing and doing
costume design for. Stephens studied and wrote poetry, painted and always
displayed a passion for filmmaking. A day before our conversation she had
returned from Korea.
The majority of "Conventioneers" was shot in April 2005, with some of the film
shot just before and after the late August 2004 Republican National Convention.
The idea for "Conventioneers" was hatched in July 2004. Shooting began in
the following month.
Backstage after their triumph
earlier this year at the 2006 Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles,: spouses
and filmmaker-producers Joel Viertel and Mora Stephens; Stephens with America's
pre-eminent film critic, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.
(Photos: Independent Spirit Awards/Wire Image)
"Conventioneers" has received very favorable responses,
including from a woman whom the director's camera caught protesting on the
convention floor at Madison Square Garden with a banner. She was hauled
off the floor and arrested. This particular woman happened to be in the
audience at one of the film's screenings and a flood of emotions rushed in to
her, Stephens recalled. The woman brought the very banner that she
unfurled during the Republican convention to a subsequent screening as an
invitee of the director. Stephens is clearly pleased about the film she
has made and she and Viertel participated in opening-weekend Q&A's at the
Manhattan theater where it is currently showing.
Mora Stephens' passion is evident as she discusses what she loves about films.
"I love watching movies at home . . . but particularly the theatrical
experience, where you're sharing with other people. The only thing I get
mad about is when there are people who kind of "shush" you or something like
that because in any movie I feel like it's provoking emotions. I love it
when people are laughing, I love it when people are crying. I love
experiencing that with other people. I love the chance to escape the
everyday. So I love everything about movies on the big screen." On a
separate note she says that "I also love directing more than anything."
Growing up in New York, she dabbled in several film areas, but then got the
chance to direct plays, wrote short stories, and tried acting. The turning
point for Stephens came when she did the cinematography on her first short film.
"It became clear to me [then] that [directing] was what I wanted to do."
Directing, she says, "demands all of those things of you, plus so much more that
you don't think you have." Directing, she adds, "is a very humbling
experience." The chance to capture something is a thrill for Stephens, as
is the uniqueness of an event in time as it is shot. She returns to
"Conventioneers" as an example of this. "With the biggest budget, we could
not shoot that film tomorrow because we were capturing something that was
occurring in that moment, making that one film in history that could never be
reproduced."
"Conventioneers" is now playing exclusively in New York City at the Village
Cinemas East, and is expected to expand around the country. It is released
and distributed by Cinema Libre.