Interview: Director & Writer Steve Kahn

Here at HC NMSU, we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to interview writer and director Steve Kahn about his new short film The Opera Singer, and what inspired him to make this short film and others.

We asked Steve a few questions and here’s how the interview unfolded:

Q: Please introduce yourself and what you do for a living.

A: My name is Steve Kahn and I’m a writer and director.

Q: Please tell us about your short film, The Opera Singer, and what inspired you to make it.

A: “The Opera Singer is about how it’s never too late to follow your dreams.” Kahn tells us that as a child, he wanted to be an Olympic gymnast—something out of the ordinary, he described. The societal limitations that life brings when we want to follow our dreams is something horrible to live by, Kahn told us. Kahn explains that in the film it is suggested that the elderly woman is dying; Kahn also explains, however, that this ‘death’ produces an optimistic feeling, because the woman is letting go of one life for another, to pursue her dreams.

Q: How would you describe your film in three words?

A: “Touching, beautiful, and real…I want it to touch people.” Kahn describes how he truly wants the film to evoke the bittersweet beauty of life.

Q: What motivates you to make short film?

A: “Sometimes things don’t happen, they don’t flow. And as a writer ideas start flowing and everything starts going.” For The Opera Singer, Kahn explains that the idea really did start flowing—the acting, the casting, it kept going. One of the most memorable points Kahn made was his idea that everything he makes has to have meaning; Kahn repeatedly asks himself in the process ‘is this worthy of being said?’.

Q: Any last closing comments for our readers?

A: “Thank you so much for this interview. Women [seem to] really get this—I’m not sure why guys don’t.”

We want to give a huge thank you to director Steve Kahn for taking the time to do this interview! Steve Kahn’s film, The Opera Singer, will be featured in the Las Cruces Film Festival which takes place March 8th to the 12th. You can find out more about The Opera Singer on the film’s Facebook page, facebook.com/theoperasinger.

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