The Treatment
Benh Zeitlin: Beasts of the Southern Wild
Elvis Mitchell talks to Benh Zeitlin about his first feature film as director, co-writer, and co-composer.
By Elvis Mitchell • • 28m ListenAfter getting rave reviews and winning the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Beasts of the Southern Wild has gradually been gaining momentum as one of the must-see movies of the year. The story is told through the eyes of a six-year-old girl named Hushpuppy, who, with her father, is part of a community of ragtag rebel rousers in an isolated region of the Louisiana bayou affectionately named "The Bathtub." It’s a visually captivating story of love and survival, and critics have embraced the film wholeheartedly as something to be experienced rather than explained. KCRW's Joe Morgenstern calls Beasts "the year's finest film so far." With an aesthetic that's hard to pin down, the film has Elvis Mitchell cross referencing everything from Les Blank's 1973 documentary Dry Wood to Mad Max. Elvis hosts director, co-writer and co-composer Benh Zeitlin to talk about his love for Louisiana, turning on-set catastrophes into triumphs, and what it was like winning the Camera d'Or at Cannes.
