By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
It almost feels like cheating to start this series for the 2024 Sundance Film Festival with a piece about getting to know Jesse Eisenberg. He's been a part of the Fest for nearly 20 years both as a writer-director (2022's When You Finish Saving The World) and as an actor.
I think the first time I came to Sundance was as an actor with the movie The Squid and the Whale, recalls Eisenberg. It was such a wonderful experience and a perfect place for that extraordinary movie to premiere. Since his debut outing at the 2005 Fest for Noah Baumbach's now-classic film, Eisenberg's ventured to Park City, Utah, for the premiere of several films, including The Double (2014), Adventureland (2009), and The End of the Tour (2015). But 2024 will be the first time he gets to experience an in-person Sundance Film Festival with a project featuring him behind the camera.
As a writer-director, my previous film, When You Finish Saving The World, premiered at Sundance, but only online because of COVID, he says. I am so honored to be back to Sundance, this time in person. Eisenberg's sophomore feature, A Real Pain, is a funny and heartbreaking film about cousins (Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) embarking on a tour through Poland following the death of their grandmother. It's a complex look at familial relationships, growth, and coping mechanisms all against the backdrop of how the trauma of World War II radiates through generations.
The timeliness of this work isn't lost on its creator as well. I wrote the movie two years ago, but the world has changed quite a bit in the last two months in a way that makes my movie take on a greater relevance, says Eisenberg. The movie is completely apolitical, but it does provide some context about the Jewish-American experience and reconciliation, and I hope it can contribute to some of the important conversations we are all having now.
Below, hear about the inspiration behind the U.S. Dramatic Competition film A Real Pain, working with Culkin, and Eisenberg's son's first reaction to hearing that he got into the 2024 Festival.
Tell us why and how you got into filmmaking.
My background is in stage acting. I consider my move to films as a very lucky break. As a teenager, I was only in plays in New York and was infrequently sent to audition for a commercial or movie. I consider my big break in film to be the first movie I was cast in, Roger Dodger, which carved out the path I am still on. It was a wonderful, gritty, funny, emotional, character-based New York independent film and it is still the exact type of project I seek out now. As for writing and directing, I have written scripts since I was 16 but only my plays have been produced, never my movies. Once I shifted my focus away from writing commercial comedy screenplays and started focusing on more personal stories, I found a much more satisfying avenue.
What was the biggest inspiration behind this film?
My initial inspiration for the movie was a thought experiment. For 20 years, I have struggled with - and written about - the following problem: How do I reconcile my modern daily challenges with my ancestors' historical trauma? That is, how could I possibly feel bad about my little life when I come from survivors of global horrors? And the more I struggled with this question, the more I punished myself for even asking it.
When I started thinking about this story, I thought about setting these two mismatched cousins, who are both struggling with different degrees of pain, against the backdrop of the horrors of World War II. This allowed me to explore these themes in such a visually explicit way - viewing these modern American cousins, who are dealing with different versions of anxiety and depression, in the setting of their family's wartime trauma. This stark contrast allowed me to implicitly ask these questions in a way that doesn't feel didactic.
Who do you want this film to reach?
This movie is very personal and about my culture and family. But like anyone who makes a personal film, I hope it can feel universal to an audience. I hope it can speak to that feeling we all encounter in our lives where we question our own place in the world compared to those that came before us and paved our way. I have friends from many different parts of the world and often hear them tell a similar story to the one featured in this movie - struggling to reconcile their lives of safety and security with the traumas suffered by their forebears.
Films are lasting artistic legacies; what do you want yours to say?
My movie is explicitly about the legacy of this one particular family. My protagonists, Benji and David, are exploring the ancestors' lives and trying to place themselves in the larger context of history. I suppose that I would love for this movie to pinpoint this moment in history to depict how these American men dealt with their past. It would be interesting to watch the movie in 20 years with my child to see if it overlaps in an emotionally relatable way.
Your favorite part of making the film? Memories from the process?
My favorite part of the movie was watching Kieran Culkin perform. He is a singular genius, especially as it relates to spontaneity. He does not come in with a pre-planned performance, but rather reacts and feels things in real time. That is absolutely thrilling. In certain scenes,
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
08/10/2026
Modern venues have come a long way since the tinny, echoing audio of the mid 20t...
08/10/2026
ESPN's first Super Bowl production will stream in English and Spanish on Disney+, while the ESPN App carries the full slate of game, ManningCast, studio, an...
08/10/2026
From high-school videoboards to War Eagle Productions, the Opelika native is learning how to lead shows and capture big moments
The future of live sports produ...
08/10/2026
The Television Academy and Prime Video have announced a six-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive global home of the Emmy Awards beginning with the 20...
08/10/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show New York 2026 (Booth 623, Javits Center, October...
08/10/2026
X Games has announced the appointment of Steve Rogers as Chief Operating Officer. Rogers previously served as COO of World Supercross and spent nearly a decade ...
08/10/2026
Fonn Group has appointed Trevor Spielmann as Sales Director for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Spielmann joins from EVS, where he held sales and business de...
08/10/2026
The flagship program will originate from major PG events with a four-camera production, live distribution across PGTV, social platforms
Perfect Game is bringin...
08/10/2026
Innovation rarely happens in a vacuum. More often, it happens at the point of collision: when worlds that have run on separate tracks begin to converge. That is...
08/10/2026
For decades, the production and broadcast services business has run on a familia...
08/10/2026
Uplynk, Zixi, BroadView Software, and Grass Valley have published The IP Converg...
08/10/2026
The NFL has announced the return of the Big Data Bowl, the league's analytics competition, now in its ninth year and again powered by AWS. Registration is o...
08/10/2026
Eutelsat has renewed its partnership with T l diffusion d'Alg rie (TDA), Algeria's national broadcasting network operator, for continued distribution of...
08/10/2026
Disney will livestream Super Bowl LXI on February 14, 2027, alongside the game's broadcast on ESPN and ABC. All Disney subscribers in the United States wi...
08/10/2026
RHStv and Red House Streaming have announced an expansion of their partnership w...
08/10/2026
Gray Media has announced a distribution agreement with TEGNA and DAZN to simulca...
08/10/2026
SVG readers can save 10% on registration and receive a complimentary Solutions H...
08/10/2026
PROTON Camera Innovations GmbH has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology a...
08/10/2026
Industry leaders discuss real-world cloud workflows for live game production, pl...
08/10/2026
The next-gen audio technology joins Dolby Vision as part of Apple TV's immersive F1 experience...
08/10/2026
David France, Jesse Short Bull, Mato Wayuhi, N. Bird Runningwater, Jodi Archambau, Jhane Myers, Paul McGuire, Amber Morning Star Byars, Holly Macarro, Nick Tils...
08/10/2026
Dynamic panning plug-ins get an upgrade
Sound Particles have just announced major updates for two of their popular dynamic panning plug-ins. Energy Panner 2...
08/10/2026
New expandable instrument boasts full DMNO engine
UDO Audio have just announced the upcoming release of a new, expandable synth that packs the power of the ...
08/10/2026
Two new subwoofers added to monitoring line-up
ADAM Audio's monitoring range has just been expanded with two new DSP-equipped subwoofers, the Sub8 PRO a...
08/10/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
08/10/2026
Calrec gives broadcasters freedom of choice at NAB Show New York We're looking forward to meeting up with you all at NAB New York on 21st-22nd October.
Cal...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Globecast, a leading provider of broadcast, media and entertainment managed services, will showcase its next generation of media orchestration services at NAB S...
08/10/2026
Clear-Com played a critical role in the production communications infrastructure for Rock in Rio 2026, one of the world's largest and most recognized music...
08/10/2026
Sohonet Launches ClearView Rush: A Leap Forward in Studio Review, Built for Crea...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Ikegami announces a major expansion to its range of broadcast-quality live production cameras. Scheduled for introduction on Ikegami booth 708 at NAB New York, ...
08/10/2026
Calrec will be located at Booth 444.
Freedom to choose
The media landscape is evolving quickly, and the broadcasters best placed for what comes next will be...
08/10/2026
LiveU has announced that CRD Audiovisuel relied on LiveUs LU900Q intelligent production unit, with built-in native LiveU IQ (LIQ ) connectivity, to deliver live...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/10/2026
Marshall Electronics, a globally recognized provider of high-performance video solutions for broadcast, streaming, AV and professional production, will exhibit ...
08/10/2026
Turning a simulation idea into a working application means assembling assets, co...
By Bailey Pennick
