Laughing in the Face of Bigfoot
Doc directors talk about laughing at and with the subjects of their film
By Richard Whittaker, 2:42AM, Tue. Mar. 11, 2008
Along with tenderness and empathy, there are moments of laughter in Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie. Not a surprise: two middle-aged guys standing in the Ohio woods, yelling for Sasquatch, is not the most strait-laced topic for a documentary. How did the film makers feel about maybe holding stars Dallas Gilbert and Wayne Burton up for potential ridicule for their obsession?
"I do feel guilty," said cameraman Shane Allen Davis. "These are people. They need something to hang on to."
"There's a beauty and inspiration to the passion they have in a place where some people have given up," said producer/director Jay Delaney. So are the subjects happy with the end product? "Dallas just wanted more Bigfoot. If it was 62 minutes of pictures of Bigfoot, he would have been happier. Wayne just wanted to be seen as a rebel." But the big question: Did the intrepid bigfoot researchers convince the filmmakers about their monster? "I came into this with an open mind, and I came out with an open mind," said Delaney.
"Jane Goodall believes in Bigfoot," added Davis.
Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie screens at 11.59pm, Friday March 14 at the Alamo Ritz.
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SXSW, Film, Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie, Sasquatch
