Lauren Wolkstein is an award-winning filmmaker. The new SJU professor travels all around the world screening her movies, including The Strange Ones, Social Butterfly, and Cigarette Candy; and in 2013 was named “One of the 25 Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine. Her credentials in the film industry are impressive, but most of her students know her simply as the cool professor that wears scarves and converse. Read on to find out more about this notable professor!
When did you realize you wanted to be a filmmaker?
In college I quickly realized I wanted to be telling stories, so I found a way to make it viable. And once I learned how to make films, I wanted to inspire kids the same way I was inspired by my professors. I was originally a computer science major at Duke, but then I realized I didn’t want to be behind a computer twenty-four hours a day. I wanted to collaborate with people and make art and make things with people. I wanted to put things out in the world that I thought others should see.
How did you get your start in the business?
I’m still starting (laughs). Well, when I went to Columbia for grad school and moved to New York I just really immersed myself in the filmmaking community there. My professors at film school were all apart of the business so that inspired me because people who were actually making stuff were teaching me. They supported me and showed my work to people. For about ten years I’ve just kept sending films to festivals and meeting new people. A few years ago, The Strange Ones, premiered at Sundance.
What inspires your films?
Life. The need to tell stories about people you wouldn’t normally hear stories about. What particularly inspires me are things that seem normal on the surface, but if you dig deeper, they aren’t. And I’m also inspired by a lot of mysteries novels. I’m interested in the uncovering of the real meaning of things.
Did you always want to be a professor?
Yes. I actually taught a lot while I was still in grad school. Teaching brings me back to why I am a filmmaker. I learn a lot from my students; for me, it’s a give and take. I like opening their minds to something they didn’t know before. Teaching and filmmaking are essentially one in the same.
What’s your favorite thing about teaching at St. Joe’s?
I love that I get to create my own classes that weren’t in the curriculum before. If I had to go to school again I would have really embraced these classes. I also find that a lot of Saint Joe’s students have really expressed an interest in filmmaking to me, when they might have not known that this is something they want to do before they took my class.
Do you have a favorite film you’ve made?
The one I’m making now. I always answer this question the same way. My favorite film is my next one.
What is your personal favorite movie of all time?
Paris, Texas. I’ve seen it several times and I get something new out of it every time. If you can watch a movie like twenty times and still be affected by it, it’s a good movie.
Fun Fact: Her cousin is musician Vanessa Carlton!
Be sure to check out Professor Lauren Wolkstein’s films and sign up for one of her classes.