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 ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
13/05/2026
New Adobe Premiere Color Grading Mode Accelerated on NVIDIA GPUs
Joel Pennington May 13, 2026
0 Comments
New NVIDIA RTX-accelerated features streamlin...
13/05/2026
Grass Valley announced that dB Broadcast has delivered new IP-based outside broadcast (OB) trucks for Cloudbass, featuring Grass Valley LDX 100 Series cameras a...
13/05/2026
Ikegami will exhibit the latest additions to its wide range of broadcast production cameras, control units, viewfinders and monitors on stand 5D3-1 at Broadcast...
13/05/2026
FISE, working with the founding members of the XR Sports Alliance (XRSA), Accedo, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and HBS, have collaborated to develop an immersive...
13/05/2026
Canon Unveils New EOS R6 V Full-Frame EOS Camera and RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM PZ Bu...
13/05/2026
Boston Conservatory at Berklee Honors Beth Morrison and Moses Pendleton at Comme...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/05/2026
Creative software developer Foundry today announced the latest developments on Nuke Stage. A purpose-built application for end-to-end virtual production and in-...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
13/05/2026
Agentic AI is changing the way users get work done. Following the success of OpenClaw, the community is embracing new open source agentic frameworks. The latest...
13/05/2026
Reinforcement-learning agents - AI systems that learn by trial and error - can c...
12/05/2026
Beyond the Hype: A Strategic Post-Hoc Analysis of NAB 2026 If NAB Show 2026 had an underlying theme, it was a quiet, industry-wide pivot from the high-energy sp...
12/05/2026
Guntermann and Drunck (G&D), a Panoptec Technologies Group company, and CT Square, led by Chandresh Shah, have announced a joint venture to distribute G&D and V...
12/05/2026
With 30 days until the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026, Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the tournament in the United States, has announced th...
12/05/2026
The NHL has announced the return of Stanley Pup for its third consecutive year, a 90-minute special featuring adoptable rescue dogs competing on a miniature rin...
12/05/2026
NBCUniversal presented its 2026 Upfront to advertisers at Radio City Music Hall, detailing upcoming programming across NBC, Peacock, Bravo, and Versant properti...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced funding for the Fandom and Social Connection Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Publ...
12/05/2026
TNDV and Live Media, both divisions of Live Media Group, supported live broadcast coverage around NCAA Final Four weekend in Indianapolis, including the March M...
12/05/2026
The European Football Alliance (EFA) has announced a content distribution agreement with Fubo Sports Network, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel ...
12/05/2026
For the first time, Spanish-speaking fans in the U.S. will have two separate tel...
12/05/2026
CP Communications led a comprehensive spectrum management initiative on behalf of Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby week, coordinating RF assets across the ...
12/05/2026
LiveU has announced a strategic partnership with DRONERESPONDERS, a 501(c)3 non-...
12/05/2026
Open Broadcast Systems has announced that BMC TV, a specialist in IP transport of broadcast content, has selected the Open Broadcast Systems 5G Flyaway solution...
12/05/2026
NEP Europe, part of NEP Group, has announced it will deliver broadcast solutions...
12/05/2026
Grass Valley has announced continued collaboration with Ravensbourne University ...
12/05/2026
Stats Perform has announced the launch of Opta Pulse, an AI-assisted video creation and distribution platform for leagues, rights holders, and broadcasters. The...
12/05/2026
FOX Sports has announced a collaboration with Sesame Workshop to integrate Sesame Street characters into FOX Sports' FIFA World Cup 2026 programming. Conten...
12/05/2026
To date, NHL Productions has produced 19 broadcasts with commentary in American Sign Language
NHL in ASL (American Sign Language) may be just one show, but the...
12/05/2026
Google's Brian Albert: creators, athletes, highlights, nostalgia, second-scr...
12/05/2026
A still from Past Lives by Celine Song, an official selection of the Premieres program at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. (Courtesy of Sundance Institute | p...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
One month to go! SBS reveals expansive FIFA World Cup 2026 lineup beyond the pi...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/05/2026
Tyrell Corporation, specialists in high-end live sports and entertainment broadcasts, was tasked with delivering compelling broadcast coverage of premier equest...
12/05/2026
Registration is now open for IBC2026 as the global media, entertainment and technology community prepares to converge on the RAI Amsterdam from 11 14 September ...
12/05/2026
Ross Video, a global leader in live video production technology, will present its latest innovations and integrated production workflows at BroadcastAsia 2026, ...
12/05/2026
500 selected leaders from around the world across start-ups, corporates, and venture capital. Over 50bn in assets under management among attending investors, a...
By Bailey Pennick
