“I never really wanted to be a cinematographer,” says Sean Price Williams, who has nevertheless shot nearly 60 indie features, some 50 shorts and seven series since 1999. “I didn’t even know what that job was. I’ve always wanted to direct,butdidn’t have the means to make a movie.”At age 45, the widely respected lensman is finally getting around to his solo feature directorial debut, “The Sweet East,” pictured above, premiering in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. The Match Factoryisrepping sales.
Why the wait? “Iwasn’t putting it off,”hesays. “Ijustdidn’tthink anybody would ever give me money to do it.”Through his longtime collaboratorand “Sweet” producerAlex Ross Perry’s agency connections,theyenlistedstars like Jacob Elordi and Talia Ryder to secure financing.Hisadventure comedyfollows a South Carolina high school senior (Ryder) who breaks away from a class trip to start her own journey. “Sheguidesus through different scenarios that illustrateidealoguesincontemporary America,”he says. “They’re representations of current beliefsand situations.”The lineup includesElordiasa Robert Pattinson-typestar trying his hand at an indie filmandSimon Rexasa white supremacist college professor.
“There’s very much a political element toit,”he says. “The world has the easiest time saying America is a problematic, fucked-up place, and I feel so differentlyabout it.Part of our mission was to let no one look non-foolish,including filmmakers,because part of the problem[inour discourse]is that everyone takes themselves so seriously. I love the idea of making a conversation with our movie.”Hescreened 16mm D.A. Pennebaker concert docsforthe crew. “Ialsolike the idea of a feature that’s shot like it’s a rock concert from 1968,” he laughs.
Delaware-born, Maryland-raised Williams, who’s filmed indies for the Safdie brothers (“Good Time,” which starred Pattinson),Michael Almereyda(“Tesla”)and many first-time directors,dropped out of college and “learned everything just by doing it and being on set.”He worked at Kim’s Video in New York City’s East Village,where he met “Sweet”screenwriter Nick Pinkerton, andapprenticed withdocumentarian Albert Maysles.It led to himco-directinga2011featurewith Jean-Manuel Fernandez, theout-of-printthriller “Eyes Find Eyes,” andhelming the doc short “Robert Downey: Moment to Moment,”plusa few others.
Like the cinephile clerk he once was — and still is, as he works with Perry to sort through the Kim’s Video collection rescued from an Italian storage space by doc filmmakers — Williams isn’t afraid to speak his mind. “Thereareestablished filmmakers loved by established film lovers, and I’m not interested in that kind of academy,”he says. He plansto publish a book version of his“top1,000films”list, which hasbeencirculatingin the industryfor years.
Down the road,Williams wantsto direct ’80s/’90s-style “sexy thrillers,” butfeels ambivalent aboutfinding arep. “I have agents for cinematography, and I must be their worst client,becauseI say no to everything,”he laughs. “I like things that come to me organically.”Healso takes a contrarian view on unions due to “all the harassment[from them]” onhisshoots.“I have zero interest in joining a film union.People explain to mehowthey’re not the enemy, and it all lands on,‘There’s health benefits.’ We don’t have universal health care,and the unions have to keep it that way or they’d havenopowerover us. Andthese terrible accidents on sets don’t happen on non-union movies. They happen onTier 1 [low-budget]union movies where people aren’t looking out for each other.”
He calls his “Sweet” shoot“kind of a party. I wanted everyone to feel respected and get paid well.”Justdon’t expecthim totry fora big paydayfromNetflix. “I hate them,” he laughs. “I’m a video store guy.”
