All week we’ve been talking about the hilarious and moving Star Wars documentary Jedi Junkies and we got the chance to talk with the creator and director of the film Mark Editz. Read on to find out why they didn’t want to make fun of the fans, what’s behind the Slave Leia bikini and why you may never see the film in the theaters.
Plus, come back on Monday (August 2, 2010) for a major contest where you can win one of two copies of the film!
What is Jedi Junkies?
Jedi Junkies is a film about extreme Star Wars fans. We profiled a really great group of people. There’s the NY Jedi — who are a group of light saber wielding martial artists. They get together a few times a week and practice their mad-light saber-skills.
There’s also AeroSith – a Star Wars themed band. Billy from the band wrote a song for the movie called “You know you’re A Star Wars fan.” Which is funny song with clever lyrics. It’s a little bit like that joke “You know you’re a red-neck.” But about Star Wars fans naturally.
How did you set out to make this documentary different from other documentaries on fandom?
I’ve seen some other films that seem to go out of their way to ridicule and make fun of the fans. We didn’t want to do that. We wanted to celebrate the fans. The film is really about how the fans take their love of the movies and based on their own interests and passions they create something entirely new.
For example, Bob Iannacone is a “fine artist”who makes his own light sabers. He correctly considers his light sabers to be art. And he creates his original works of art to order based on the individual tastes and personalities of his customers. Takes him months to build each light saber. http://www.advanced-light.com/
You also have a segment on “Slave Leias.”
We interviewed a number of interesting, powerful and beautiful women who all have different reasons and purposes for dressing up in the iconic bikini. Amira Sa’id performs a belly dancing routine in the costume.
http://www.dailymotion.com/
Amy Brown performs a funny and sexy burlesque routine.
http://www.leiasmetalbikini.
And Candy Keane is a CosPlay model who also sells her own clothes. Candy is also on our poster.
http://www.leiasmetalbikini.
Any other fans that stick out in your mind?
There’s one fan who built a life size Millennium Falcon in his backyard. I should repeat that. He built a life size Millennium Falcon in his backyard!! How great is that?
His name is Dennis Ward. He came up with this impossible idea and decided that whatever the obstacles where he was going to overcome them. And he did. It’s an amazing story.
In Jedi Junkies we show the creation and eventual destruction of the ship.
How did you find your subjects for the movie? Did you advertise or just use people that you knew or did you run into them at conventions?
All of the above. We found many people through the internet. I started out posting on websites like Craig’s List, Meet Up and MySpace. Then after a while our interview subjects would tell us about other fans. We’re now on Facebook.
Was there any example of Star Wars fandom that you saw that made you think, “Okay, that’s going too far”?
Yes, there are definitely times when we thought, “Okay, that is a bit much.” But as filmmakers we tried not to make any judgments. We figured we would show the behavior, show a little context for it and then let the audience decide.
If you had the money, resources, time, talent, or whatever to do something really huge like the people you profiled, would you do some huge project like the subjects in your movie? If so, what project would you undertake to show your love for Star Wars?
I love your website’s idea of building a life size Death Star. I’d do that. I’d make my version a smidge bigger than the original. And with more bathrooms. And with a better defense system.
Do you plan on being primarily a documentary filmmaker or focusing more on feature films like “The Eden Myth?”
I’d like to do both. I’d like to make another doc and I’d also like to write and direct another narrative feature film.
But for the next 6 months or so, I’ll be focusing on Jedi Junkies. It took us about 4 years to make it. And now that it’s done, I’d love people to see it and enjoy it. It’s very hard to make people aware of a new film like ours. So, on behalf of the entire filmmaking team, a thousand thanks for devoting an entire week to Jedi Junkies. That’s just amazing.
Your movie has had a unique distribution history. It was streamed for free for a week on Dailymotion, it’s available for rental and purchase at Amazon and iTunes. Do you see this kind of distribution as the future of film-making or just a supplement to the normal distribution channels?
We were thrilled to get Jedi Junkies on iTunes. It’s not easy to get an indie film there. It really legitimizes us. And I do most of my shopping through Amazon. So, I love the combo.
It’s nearly impossible to get a film like ours in a movie theater. Would cost too much money. So, filmmakers like us really rely on these alternative types of distribution. Amazon.com
Remind everyone how they can see the film.
You can visit us at JediJunkies.com. People can go to iTunes and Amazon
Thanks for the interview Mark! We’re looking forward to seeing more from you in the future.
What do you think of the idea behind Jedi Junkies?
Update: Changed main photo
