but where are all the pretty horses?

BTS with AWOL MONK: - talking to steven kastrissios about the horseman

extract from #KSZ 01 [first issue sold out may 2010]

steven kastrissios is a man of immense paradox. BEHIND THE SCENES he’s gentle, humble & wry. we’ve become great friends since we met in 2008 at a night of horror international film festival.

but his multiple award-winning accolade ripping feature film THE HORSEMAN which he’s just sold for international distribution reveals a guy ritchie on steroids meets early rolf de heer auteur. his characterisation brutal. bad boy bubby has left the building & moved into pest control. *sideways look*

the horseman story is one of fairytales. the kind with blood, sweat & tears. lots of blood. this is no holds barred action with gritty realism. steven envisaged it & succeeded. in the cinema i’ve seen people leave. in horror. i did some quiet gut wrenching of my own.

made on the wings of a short prayer based on his feature screenplay to garner interest, the brisbane exile then made this, his first feature in true blue indie fashion.

instead of a big fat greek wedding his parents invested their house against the now defunct 10BA cert [since replaced by the producer offset] to support his dream & his sisters eloped. well almost.

the gamble paid huge dividends since the end of 2006 when a small multi-tasking crew used one location in oh so many ways to stretch budget till the lycra was all spent & producer rebecca dakin could cook no more after a brilliantly choreographed 4 week shoot for what is technically a no-budget film. by australian standards.

as the awards rained down, steven returned to newly adopted sydney from a successful session at texas’s SXSW 2009 to wrap the marketing material for distributors & consider the calm before the prevailing storm.

we discuss the current climate for making films. “noone returned my calls before either” he says as we ruefully discuss my plans for his shiny new 5D mark II & share fantastical post-apocalyptic visions for future projects.

he leaves after drinking wine to catch a plane for his sister’s engagement party. like the prodigal son/brother he is, he has returned & she got her dowry back.

NB. "the horseman" images [including production shots] are copyright kastle films. thanks for letting me use them steven. the rest are copyleft/creative commons courtesy of yours truly.


for details re: the horseman australian theatrical release later this year please check kastle films.

BTS with AWOL MONK is a regular behind the scenes segment which can be found in every issue of kino sydney's zine produced by punk monks clare devlin-mahoney, alexander papasavvas & kate taylor with contributions from other kino lovers. [#ksz]