Breakfast with Marfa
An interview with Greg McLeod, codirector of Marfa
What or where is Marfa and does Marfa FM really exist?
Marfa is situated in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. The town was founded in the early 1880s as a railroad water stop.
Yes Marfa FM does exist: http://marfapublicradio.org
Why were you interested in very simple drawings and very short extracts of speeches?
The drawing style originated from my sketches I made during my trip to Marfa as did the square format (I use square sketchbooks) The short extracts of speech and short vignettes were a direct reference to memory and how we remember fragments of a journey.
Where did you get the speeches from? Did you record a part of the voiceovers?
All the audio clips were recorded during my trip to Marfa. The poem was written in response to the trip and read by an actress I met in Marfa.
How much does Marfa capture the atmosphere and the daily life of the talkers’ city?
It was the Marfa I came into contact with. I was conscious of not trying to construct a narrative but rather just to collect moments as they unfolded.
What was your interest in the ending video sequence?
The man crossing is obviously a local, gone to get his morning paper, a ritual I imagine he repeats daily and his seemingly blasé attitude to the looming train and his knowledge that if he didn’t cross now he’d have to wait on the other side for some minutes. One man’s stand against the railroad.
Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
I don’t tend to work with traditional narrative structures and the short film affords me the format to experiment with different story formats.
