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INTERVIEWS
Winner of the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Musical Score
David and Nathan Zellner are Austin-based filmmaker siblings who have written, produced, directed and edited numerous films and music videos that have screened at festivals worldwide. This includes five shorts [Flotsam/Jetsam, Redemptitude, Aftermath on Meadowlark Lane, Fiddlestixx, and Sasquatch Birth Journal 2] which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival ('05-'ll].
Their feature Goliath premiered at Sundance 2008, followed by KidThing, a fable-like drama starring Sydney Aguirre and Susan Tyrell, in Sundance 2012. This led to an extensive festival run, including an international premiere at the 62nd Berlinale and a retrospective of the Zellner Brothers' work at BAFICI 2012. Kid-Thing, which received a 2012 Gotham Award nomination, was distributed theatrically around the world and domestically in the US by Factory 25. The Zehners' latest film Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014) starring Rinko Kikuchi screened at Berlinale and Sundance, where it won a Special Jury Prize for Best Score.
In addition to their work behind the camera, they've has also acted in several notable independent films including: Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Shit Year, Beeswax, Kid-Thing, Kumiko among others. Much of their work can be viewed a zehnerbros.com.
Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter: Kumiko lives in a cluttered, cramped apartment in Tokyo with her pet rabbit, Bunzo. She works as an office lady, robotically preparing tea and fetching dry cleaning for her nitpicky boss. But on her own time, she obsessively watches a wellknown American film on a weathered VHS tape. Rewinding and... » fast-forwarding repeatedly, she meticulously maps out where a briefcase of castaway loot is buried within the fictional film. After hours of intense research-convinced that her destiny depends on finding the money-Kumiko heads to the United States and into the harsh Minnesota winter to search for it.
Inspired by an urban legend about a Japanese woman who took a similar journey, filmmaker brothers David and Nathan Zellner (Sundance Film Festival alums many times over) tackle their most ambitious project to date. The Zehners' love for lonely eccentrics remains intact, and Rinko Kikuchi gives a fascinating performance as the introspective, withdrawn Kumiko, whose increasing discomfort in the world leads her to retreat ever further into isolation. Shot with breathtaking precision, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter...