Thankfully I didnt sign any contracts with them.
And then they disappeared for a year and I never heard from them again.
In response, Carmoon began writing a new project out of desperation and sanctity.
Luna CarmoonPhoto by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images
The result wasHoard,which debuted at last years Venice Film Festival.
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Im not interested in Americana.
Weve lost some greats to Americana.
DEADLINE: Luna, How old are you?
LUNA CARMOON:Im 27.
DEADLINE: When did you start getting into cinema?
And when did you realize you wanted to be a filmmaker?
CARMOON:I didnt realize that cinema was all I did with my time until I was about 14.
It was all I ever enjoyed.
It was my escape.
I didnt go to film school.
I couldnt afford it.
I just went to work.
At the time, theyd made the filmThe Goob, which I really enjoyed.
This was before they didLady Macbeth.
As soon asLady Macbethhappened money started flooding in and they created this scheme that I could apply to.
You didnt have to have experience.
That opened the door for me to make my first short.
DEADLINE: Where did you grow up going to the cinema?
Lewisham famously has no cinemas now right?
Catford Mews just closed down.
CARMOON:Yeah,we currently have no cinema in Lewisham.
Its depressing, and we recently lost the Bromley Picturehouse too, which was my other closest cinema.
Theres no way to watch films anymore.
As a kid, my mum took me to the cinema a lot.
My memories of that are fuzzy.
I do remember watching a lot of films with my grandparents because I spent most of my time there.
We would watch all their VHS tapes.
The first film I remember seeing wasThe Birds.
It scarred me for many years.
CARMOON:My nan made my mum watch that when she was really young too.
And it terrified her to death.
My nan was also a crazy bird lady, so she would always have birds around.
They used to petrify my mum.
But yeah it just feels like cinema was more accessible at that time.
People would just go to the cinema and smoke cigarettes and watch reruns on a loop.
Thats how my nan and granddad got to know each other.
She was an ice cream girl actually in a cinema where the venue EartH is now.
DEADLINE: So you made some shorts.
How did you get from there to making a feature?
CARMOON:It was really weird.
I was lucky that my shorts did quite well.
That put me on the map.
And then I was ghosted by Film Four with my first feature.
DEADLINE: When you say ghosted you mean they stopped responding to you?
CARMOON:Yeah, pretty much.
It was COVID times.
Thankfully I didnt sign any contracts with them.
But I was going to be in development with them for my first feature.
And then they disappeared for a year and I never heard from them again.
So I started writingHoardout of desperation and sanctity.
The story then just blossomed into something that was quite healing.
We presented it to BBC Film and it was one of the first post-COVID productions.
We were still wearing masks and getting tested every day.
DEADLINE: Hoard is unlike many other recent first-time British features.
It doesnt feel like it was smoothed down or curtailed by executives.
How did you manage to keep their hands out of the creative process?
CARMOON:It was a battle.
I think your first feature shouldnt be diluted.
I tried to approach this like it could be my first and last film.
So if it was going to be a sinking ship, it would be my sinking ship.
I was very meek, to begin with.
But then I started to tell myself that these people shouldnt be telling me to dilute anything.
For example, they want films to be ninety minutes, but thats not storytelling.
There shouldnt be a format for a film other than what works for that story.
It was down to my producers really having a backbone and real love for the story.
Its really all just an insult and its not interesting or authentic.
DEADLINE: Youve spoken eloquently about your distaste for how bourgeois the core of the British film industry is.
Ironically, your film has been embraced by those same people.
It was screened in places like Picturehouse that are squarely pitched to bourgeois film consumption.
How do you contend with that?
CARMOON:There are certain elements that I feel uncomfortable with.
Its sort of a machine that feeds itself.
Thats really what Cannes is.
Rich people masturbating over poverty porn.
Of course, not all the time.
But we know that is the fashion of a festival like that.
The word-of-mouth effect has also helped a lot.
Im also such an advocate for piracy.
I constantly tell people to just stream it on Putlocker because thats how I got into film.
Especially when we were teens it was like 17 quid for a new DVD.
Illegal streaming has made things more accessible for people who perhaps cant afford MUBI or the Curzon Soho.
Im so glad those places exist, but I didnt even know the BFI existed until I was 17.
I stumbled across it and I lived south of the river.
DEADLINE: I grew up onPutlockertoo.
It really democratized film education.
CARMOON:Democratized who believes they can make stuff as well.
I traveled the world with Putlocker.
And Im so glad it existed.
DEADLINE: What are you interested in doing next?
And what arent you interested in?
I imagine everyone is blowing up your phone now.
CARMOON:No, not really.
I think people know Im not interested in directing other peoples work.
Im quite a lazy person, so I have to spend time and love something from the ground up.
I just dont have the energy to direct other peoples stuff.
So Im probably not a director for hire.
Theres one book that Id love to adapt, which I never say the name of.
Im not interested in Americana.
Weve lost some greats to Americana.
Thats what madeRawso vibrant.Titanejust felt quite Americanized.
You could have probably just put that in Kansas City and it would have worked just as identical.
Im not interested in that.
Im not a patriot, but I love where Im from and the people that Ive grown up with.
Thats what inspires me.
So I cant imagine adapting my work to be Americanized anytime soon.
I just want to do my Downham trilogy.
Thats what Im working towards.
And then I might run away and become a carpenter or sell out.
DEADLINE:Sell out after the trilogy.
Do a Marvel film and then become a carpenter with all your millions.
Im also interested in immortalizing London.
Its changing so much.
I want to immortalize these places and people before it all gets rebuilt and we dont recognize anything anymore.
