Going Through the Neighbourhood with Your Eyes Open: An interview with John Sayles

Abstract: As a screenwriter, director, editor, actor, novelist and two-time Academy Award nominee, John Sayles is one of the most prominent iconoclasts of American independent filmmaking. Sayles' diverse body of work is unified by an interest in a broad spectrum of political and social issues refracted through personal stories. His latest film, Amigo (2011), combines Sayles' interest in historical settings (Matewan, 1987; Eight Men Out, 1988) with his internationalist's eye (The Secret of Roan Inish, 1994; Men with Guns, 1997; Casa de los Babys, 2003). Set during the Philippine-American war at the turn of the last century, the film examines the uneasy relations between the inhabitants of a small barrio and the occupying American forces. Nicholas Godfrey spoke to Sayles early in 2011 at the Adelaide Film Festival, where the Australian premiere of Amigo played alongside a retrospective of his work.