He voted for Kamala Harris before traveling to Thessaloniki, he felt like a child the first time he wrote the screenplay on which his directorial debut “City of Ghosts” was based, and he would like to work with George Lanthimos again, because the best he can have an actor is the opportunity to work with a director who has a voice and help him with his vision.

“I have my opinions in general, but I’ll just say I voted for Kamala Harris. This is my personal choice. And I strongly feel that she is the best candidate” underlined the great actor of modern American cinema, Matt Dillon at a press conference in the context of the 65th Thessaloniki Film Festival, stressing that he is glad to be outside America during the American elections.

Matt Dillon has spoken about the film “Being Maria” in which he stars as Marlo Brando, whom he called one of the most interesting people of the 20th century, pointing out that it is not a work of revenge, but a film that sheds light and gives voice to Maria Snyder’s story.

Jessica Palund’s film Being Maria revolves around the controversial production of Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1972 film Last Tango in Paris and the fact that the protagonist Marlo Brandon in consultation with the director decided not to inform the actress Maria Snyder for the controversial rape scene so that she would react more naturally, which caused an eternal trauma to the protagonist.

“The movie ‘Last Tango in Paris’ is fantastic, it’s one of my favourites. I think it’s a masterpiece. Marlon Brando as an actor, as well as James Dean and Montgomery Clift changed the course of acting. And Bertolucci is a brilliant director. That was the only scene in the movie I didn’t like, and I mean it,” said Matt Dillon.

“I think they were trying to make art. They were trying to do something that would really push things forward and they made a huge mistake,” he emphasized, stressing that Maria Snyder’s life was unstable and this particular scene aggravated her existing trauma.

“The film is a personal story, it is not a feminist story, it is about a human existence. He gave a voice to Maria, in a way that should have been given”, emphasized the actor, considering that the mistake is to simplify the story, to say that abusive men did this horrible thing to this woman, while there are so many elements that complicate her whole story, like the issues in her family.

The documentary about a music legend

Referring to his music documentary “The Grand Fellow”, which focuses on the life and music of Cuban musician Francisco Fellow Valdez, who pioneered a form of scat singing known as “chua chua” in the 1950s and returned in the recording studio in 1999 at the age of 77, he said it was an enjoyable project because of his love of music.

“He was a special great artist and performer, an innovator, he was well known in the 50s in his country but gradually lost his popularity. He was very old when I met him through a friend of mine in Mexico who I encouraged to make a record with him and I went to film them while they were recording,” he explained.

“Yorgos Lanthimos belongs to all of us”

While filming the documentary in Cuba, Matt Dillon received a call from George Lanthimos to participate in Nimic’s short film.

“Of course I liked his work. I was a fan of his work. I mean, he’s a great director. It’s a real voice. And the answer was yes, that I would like to work with him because I think he is one of the true, unique voices, one of the few truly unique voices in cinema in the world,” he pointed out. “That’s the best thing an actor can have, is the opportunity to work with a director who has a voice and help him with his vision.”

“Making this film, I remember there was a scene where I had to eat a boiled egg. I think I ate about two dozen eggs for that scene. I ate 24 eggs” revealed Matt Dillon emphasizing that it was a really unusual film and co-starred with a wonderful actress, Daphne Patakia.

“And George was amazing. It’s great to work with him. You must be proud of him in Greece, but I think that Giorgos Lanthimos now belongs to all of us.”

“One of the healthiest brains in the world”

Matt Dillon made a special reference to the film Interfears (2023) by Jesper Just, for the needs of which he agreed to explore the emotional landscape of his brain. Embedded in an fMRI scanner, Matt Dillon recites a monologue while the machine records and maps his brain waves into 2D and 3D representations. The mapping of his mind is shown in the form of a visual installation during the 65th Thessaloniki Film Festival at the MOMus-Experimental Arts Center (Warehouse B1-Port of Thessaloniki), as part of the tribute hosted by the 65th F to the Danish artist.

Matt Dillon, who will attend the opening of Interfears today, spoke about his initial reservations about joining the project of the artist he met in Berlin.

“I exhibited my works and he exhibited his. We met, we kept in touch, he brought up the idea of ​​filming my brain on an MRI while I was acting, and I wasn’t sure, but I said, okay, let’s continue the conversation. I wasn’t sure but we kept in touch and he told me more about the idea,” he said. “I found it very smart to examine my mind while I was playing. I was then working in Pelion filming with Fernando Trueba. At one point he called me and said if you are claustrophobic don’t do it. I am claustrophobic and hesitated a lot. I said I can’t do it let someone else do it. He insisted on me,” he said.

“It was a kind of experiment and a kind of artwork all in one at the same time. And the other good thing was that the doctor who was there, could check and see if there was a problem. And he came to me and was very excited. He told me “you have a very healthy brain. You have one of the top 20% brains I’ve ever seen. He is very healthy.” And I said, really? “Smart?” I asked. And he answered: “Healthy”.

“I felt like a kid again when I wrote my first screenplay”

Matt Dillon will be awarded the honorary Golden Alexander of the Festival at the Olympian, at the screening of the film “City of Ghosts” (2002), which marked his debut as a director and screenwriter.

“I’ve always wanted to direct – and you know it was an idea based on some people I knew, some real people who disappeared and then another guy I knew who was involved in all kinds of criminal activity told me the whole story. It’s nice to be able to try something else, develop yourself in a new way and write and tell a story. I really like the storytelling. I really like to write, so it was fun,” she said.

“There are people who work at one thing and do it very, very well. And then there are other people who like to do a lot of different things, and that’s me,” he admitted, referring to his involvement in painting.

“I draw outside the lines. I like to do different things. I want to be free and discover new things creatively. I think it keeps you young to do other things,” said Matt Dillon, emphasizing that when he was writing his first screenplay, for the movie “City of Ghosts” he felt like a kid again. “I felt like a child again as if I had discovered something new that I hadn’t done before. And it’s exciting,” he emphasized.

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