The Zellner Brothers on Why You Need to Do Something New With Every Film You Make

Nathan and David Zellner are no strangers to Sundance, but perhaps they wish the festival was as new and exciting to them as it was when they premiered "Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter" back in 2014. That's not to say Park City has grown stale for the directing brothers, merely that they enjoy new experiences. So much so, in fact, that it has become the driving force in their creative mission over the course of their career. They make it a point not to explore material which they have already explored, so with every new film, they add a new genre to their resume. For their current project, the subversively titled "Damsel," that means "western." "Damsel" takes place in the frontier west sometime in the 1800's. Robert Pattinson plays a wealthy dandy-man by the name of Samuel who hires a priest (in fact played by one of the Zellners) to accompany him in tracking down and marrying his beloved Penelope. Penelope is played by Mia Wasikowska who had two brilliant and strong-willed performances at the festival this year with this film and Nick Pesce's "Piercing." No Film School's Jon Fusco sat down with the Zellner's the day after their film premiered to discuss their "fresh start" philosophy, their roots as child filmmakers, and what it's important to remember when acting in your own films. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices