Normally when we interview filmmakers, we would play sound of their movies to give you a taste of their work. But we can’t do that for Petter Hutton. He’s still making silent films, which he admits is a tough job the older he gets, especially with younger audiences.
“In this day and age, you kidding me?” Hutton says. “You know I’ve had so many different interesting reactions from young people with iPods, listening to music during the films.”
Hutton is renowned for his short films of cityscapes and landscapes, like Boston Fire from 1979 – a series of single shots showing firefighters putting out a smoldering building fire as a giant cloud of smoke rises over the city. His work has been the subject of a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Hutton will be at UNC Charlotte’s uptown building Saturday for a screening of some of his films. He joined us by phone from his home in upstate New York, and explained the decision to stay silent.
