The film premiered at Telluride and debuts theatrically this weekend in New York and LA via Oscilloscope.
Its never been more difficult to get anyone to watch it.
(The Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity.)
Ethan Hawke, Maya Hawke in ‘Wildcat’
Her story Good Country People blew me away years ago when I first read it.
How did you come to her and to this movie?
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ETHAN HAWKE: Its really kind of a cross-generational movement.
Maya discovered her on her own through a great high school English teacher.
It gave us something to talk about together, we just both loved it.
Its been a long road.
DEADLINE:So when you decided to make it, was it hard to figure out how?
She was very reclusive.
DEADLINE:By morphing the action back and forth from her real life, to her stories?
You brought up Good Country People.
She herself has said thats her most autobiographical story.
I selected the ones that really explored her relationships, especially with her mother.
so were seeing some continuity of characters as this film is unfolding.
[In Good Country People a creepy bible salesman seduces a disabled woman and steals her wooden leg.]
DEADLINE:What did you find most fascinating about her?
HAWKE:Like a lot of people, we dont know the right place to put ambition.
That hardly seems a cause worth a lifes pursuit, and she was really struggling with that.
She was extremely ambitious.
She didnt just want to be a writer.
She wanted to be Tolstoy.
And that seemed extremely arrogant to her.
And that was in conflict with the humility she was striving for in her religious life.
And I find that very compelling and really interesting.
DEADLINE:OConner was courageous in her portrayal of the Jim Crow South.
But some of her private letters had racial epithets.
How do you think of that?
HAWKE:That whole conversation is an interesting one, but this country is a racist country.
You cant tell the story of America without stumbling on these wounds.
Not everyone is Martin Luther King.
Not everyone is a champion, but it doesnt mean that their lives dont have anything to offer us.
Alice Walker said A country doesnt throw its geniuses away.
[Both are admirers of OConnors writing.]
DEADLINE:What was it like working with your daughter?
HAWKE:It was wonderful.
The whole movie would be about their relationship to themselves and their work.
I found that very compelling.
And shes at a place in her career where, you know, Im working with my adult daughter.
And thats what Maya and I wanted to do.
DEADLINE:Anything hard about it?
HAWKE:Its a little hard going public with it.
And thats the only part thats awkward.
The actual making of it was just one of the best times of my life.
DEADLINE:I saw youve done a handful of screenings before opening weekend, often sold out.
Are they Flannery OConnor fans?
HAWKE: I dont know who cares about cinema anymore.
I dont know who cares about literature anymore.
But I know I do.
And so Im interested to see.
Im kind of just going all over the country talking about the movie.
And Ill see if anybodys interested.
DEADLINE:What are your feelings about the indie film landscape right now?
HAWKE:Ive been doing this long enough to know that its always in flux.
And you hit moments where things are easy, and its easy to get interesting things made.
And then you get moments where its really difficult.
And the ways the medium intersects with the public is changing.
Streaming has changed everything.
Covid, the strikes, everything, have knocked people backwards.
Theres huge money being made [by some].
But I also know that every time theres a setback, all it does is set up a breakthrough.
So everything is in transition.
Im happy that Im getting to do work that I believe in.
But I dont know.
Just like everybody else, I wake up in the morning reading articles about it myself.
How is interesting work happening?
Is it happening on streaming?
Whats the future of independent film?
Its never been easier to make an independent film.
Its never been more difficult to get anyone to watch it.
Its really hard for producers.
People can easily lose their shirt trying to take a risk.
But if we dont take risks, we really sacrifice a lot.
The job of the artistic community is to provoke interesting conversations.
But if you dont make people money, you dont get to do it.
Its always been a riddle.
