TRUTH WITH WINE by Theodore Collatos

Truth With Wine
Directed by: Theodore Collatos

A drunken personal documentary about the filmmaker’s family and, specifically, his relationship with his step-father.

5 Questions with director Theodore Collatos

What was a unique challenge you faced in making this film?
I think any documentary has challenges regarding the unknown and finding where the boundaries are with your subjects but when its your family its even harder to determine how far is too far and if too far isn’t far enough.

What was a unique challenge you faced in making this film?
Consciousness. And screen time. Because the footage was shot a while ago and unearthed recently its Standard Definition format makes it un programable.

Who your top influences?
Personal films, video art and particularly the hidden underground sub genre of Home Movies. Things don’t have to be narrative or documentary the truth is if you film something it will have its own things to say that are much more interesting then anything you can imagine. Of course these weren’t thoughts I had when I was making it. I just made it. I was helping a close friend at the time with his intensely personal documentary about his father’s death and I felt it was my duty as a filmmaker to explore my own family in a personal way. Where as this film is by no means the totality of my families story, I think film is unique when it focuses quietly on a certain aspect of observational subjectivity.

What do you hope people take away from this film?
As a general rule I put work out there and let the chips fall where they may. If I thought about reactions to my films I probably wouldn’t be making them. I’m far too self conscious. Its hard enough to walk through a fire without carrying the thoughts of others.

What’s your personal takeaway from this production?
I think every filmmaker has an obligation to make a film about their family dynamic.