Loss of a place were what really resonated to me and that is something that i didnt necessarily understand when i started making the film. But which i saw was true. And i think thats sort of how we began. We conclude this evening with cbs news Foreign Correspondent from rome, allen pizzey. Its ego test kelso is a say that we write the history of the world. I think if we do our job right, politicians and the public cannot say we didnt know. You did know. Did you foe bad things were happening. You did know people were starving. You did know there was tragedy. You did know there was sorrow. Did you know there was bravery, did you know there was courage because we went and we showed you. You cant say you didnt know. And that, i think, is, i think its a service and useful and i think thats what we do. Rose benh zeitlin and allen pizzey when we continue. Funding for charlie rose was provided by the following additional funding provided by these funders captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Rose benh zeitlin is here. When he made his direct orial debut beast of the southern wild last year it became a movie everybody is talking b the story of hush puppie a 9yearold girl faced with the illness of her father. It became the runnaway hit of lastiers Film Festival skirt winning awards at sundance and at cannes and now nominated for four Academy Awards including best director and best picture. Here is the trailer of beasts of the southern wild. The whole universe depends on everything fitting together just right. If one piece busts, even the smallest piece, the entire universe this here is an auroch, a fierce creature. The storms coming. The you all better learn how to survive. It is pie job to take care of you, okay . All was quiet goes hine my eyes, i see everything that made made me. Flying around in invisible pieces. I see that im a little piece of a big, big universe. You going to be the king, i promise that. In a million years, when kid goes to school, they going to know, once there was a hushpuppy and she lived with her daddy in the bathtub. Who the man. Im the man congratulations. Thank you. Rose this is extraordinary. How did it all start for you. It began. Rose born in new york, born in queens. Okay, yeah, way back. Well, came, you think if you want to go all the way, you know my parent was take me on trips around the country when i was a kid. I remember going to new orleans when i was 12 or 13 years and making a pledge that one day i was going to come back for good. And. Rose did you. I did. This place resonates for me, oncoming back. Yeah, i have little glimpse of what i remember from that trip. I remember very specifically i was too young to get into any of the bars, i was walking down the street and someone saw that i was looking in from the window, a guitar player and he came outside and played a guitar solo for me outside. And i remember feeling like i had never seen i had never seen this anywhere before. And something about that made me think this is the type of this the type of creativity that i want to live and be a part of. And so i got back, you know, for good with this short film that i made in 2006. And that sort of created this filmmaking community that i ended up making beasts of the southern wild with. Rose what is amazing about you is you went to play writing school when you were 13 or 14. It was a camp, yeah, me and my cowriter. Rose that is where you met her. We won this little prize where we got to spend two weeks working with playwrights and going to plays in the city. And you know that was where me and the cowriter of beasts first met. And we kept in touch all the way through writing, i mean were still best friends. So its yeah, a longterm, you know, longterm thing started when i was a little kid. One of the editors of the film i have known since i was 1yearold. So it is a big sort of family production. Rose you made this for a million and a half or something. Yeah, yeah. Rose about that. About that. It was 1. 8, Something Like that, yeah. Which for us was, you know, i mean we were these scrappy guerrilla filmmakers, you know, living in louisiana so it was a miracle that we got the film funded at all. Rose you didnt make this expecting to get an oscar or Academy Award nomination. No. Rose you made it intending to what simply make the best little film that you could make. Yeah t was a mission it was a mission whose goal was really just creating a film that we would be proud of. I think that obviously we wanted people to see it. But i think in our wildest dreams it would have shown for a week in new york or in los angeles. And you know, we would have been able to go home and show it in louisiana an be proud of it and hopefully make more. But that was the wildest dream of a film like this, you know. Rose so tell me the story and tell me the themes that you see. The story is about hushpuppy and she lives in this town called the bathtub which is cut off from the world by a giant water Production System and a sort of mythic version of louisiana. And you know, the film is about a sort of environmental myth logical apocalypse that comes to this town that she has to survive with her father. Rose and . And you know, and the story is the story of kind of her experience of this crazy series of events where her town floods. She loses her home. And its about this pack of survivors that are trying to stay with their land, you know, and thats really where the film initially came from was really inspired by meeting and the stories of people that were holding out in south louisiana trying not to get pushed out of their homes. Rose and the themes are what . You know. Rose really it is just father and daughter, thats one. No, its bigger. I mean. Rose thats one. Thats one, for sure. , a fils about how to survive loss. And not just physically survive loss but emotionally, you know, survive loss with your joy intact. And that was the connection between the two things, you know there was this story that i was interested in about these communities in south louisiana that were losing their land. But when you went, when you go there and you meet the people there isnt this sort of sorrow, there isnt this, you know, there isnt people feeling sorry for themselves. There is a real pride in staying and there is a joy in the culture that remains. And then that was sort of a parallel to this story of this little girl who has to survive the loss of a parent. And the connections between the loss of a parent and the loss of a place were what really resonated to me. And thats, you know, something that i didnt necessarily understand when i started making the film, but which i saw was true. And i think thats sort of how we began. Rose casting. Uhhuh. Rose you did a remarkable thing. Youve got a lot of nonactors acting. Yeah, yeah. And you know, thats what it was. We did this massive casting search all over south louisiana. Rose for hushpuppy. And for the other characters, actually no ever who is in the fill some from south louisiana. Rose how many young girls did you see. We saw about 4,000. Rose they came in and you said hello to them and listened to them read or what did they do. They came in and told us stories, that was their method. Rose tell you a story about your life. Tell us a story about anything, literally anything you want to tell us and we would take that and work with it. Rose what were you looking for. A miracle, basically. We had this humongous film that would sit on the shoulders of a 6yearold. Rose a story that is sitting on the shoulders of a 6yearold. And all of our lives depending on it. It was a brash, it was a brash ambition. But you know but specifically, you you know, we were looking for somebody who was fearless. You know, i think that is the essence of the story, what the characters are about, what this little girl is learning is how to be fearless. And when we saw quvenzhane wall is come not audition, she wasnt nervous, she wasnt afraid of me, she wasnt afraid of showing her emotions. She knew who she was and had this incredible poise. Rose you knew at first sight. Not first sight but as soon as she started doing, when she started reading, you know. Rose telling the story. Well, you know, there is a lot of stories from that audition. But she walked in, and was very quiet. And i was giving her the directions and she was just staring at me and she wasnt responding. A lot of times you just think this kid is just not nothing is actually getting in, that is normal for, you know, somebody who she was 5 years old at the time. And then she starting doing this scene, it wasnt a read scene. I told her you are trying to give your father method and you have to give him the method. The other acker was supposed to refuse to take that method. And she, we had seen a million kid does this, and whine and sort of be cute. We had never seen somebody do it and be just ferocious. And she just was standing her ground, and she wouldnt budge. And then i remember telling her, take this stuffed animal and throw it at your father. And she actually, she refused to do it she would pumpfake and not throw it at him. And i cut the scene. And i said well why wont you throw the stuffed animal. She looked me straight in the eye and she said thats not right to throw things at someone you dont know. And that was a moment, because it was like. Rose she had her own mind. She had her own mind and was defiant but on the grounds of being sweet and nice and doing the right thing. And that truly is who hushpuppy is and i remember that moment was a huge one and realized that was it. Rose where did you find the father. We found the father across the street. Rose at a bakery. Because he was a baker. He is a baker. He is probably baking right now. Rose and in fact he made you rehearse during the hours that he was baking. Absolutely, yeah. Because we offered him the part in the bakery and he turned us down. Rose three times. Three times, exactly. Because he couldnt, he couldnt risk damaging his business to do a film. And i think that that is actually one of the things that made me know he was right for the role. Is i saw that he cared as much about his bakery as i cared about the fill. And as much as wink, the character, cares about his town. And this sort of i would die before i would let anything hurt this mentality, made me realize that this was the only person in the world who could play this role. And what it took to convince him to do it was doing all the rehearsals while he was baking, you know, pushing back our shoot to allow him to train someone to replace himself. We had to cast both him and the bakery and make sure both things could thrive in order for him to agree to dot part. Rose so you never even auditioned people for that role. We did, we did. Originally that was supposed to be a professional actor because we thought that role was too challenging for somebody that didnt have any experience. And we tried several professionals in the role. And it just didnt quite work with quvenzhane, she just the chemistry wasnt there. And then we convinced white to come and do an audition with her and saw for the first time that they were listening, there was this affection in the relationship, that there was, you know, this incredible chemistry. And you know, and it was another sort of leap of faith to sort of go with a nonprofessional in that role but we really believed in him so we went for it. Rose what was quvenzhanes family like . Theyre amazing. And you know, as much as, for dwight you are casting dwight, the bakery, when we cast quvenzhane we cast her and her family. You know, because without sort of their support and theyre the most grounds, loving, down to earth family, you know, her mom never pushes her to sort of, you know, be a star. It wasnt dealing with theatre parents. She was just supportive and was always there on set. And oftentimes when i couldnt direct a scene i would lean on her mom, and i would say can you help me out here, tell her this and you know, in many ways we collaborated on making this happen. Rose you also felt it was imperative for you to immerse yourself almost as an anthropologist on the culture. Yeah, so much of the film comes from people and from places, you know, and thats really the method that we like to use in developing a fill some to draw it not to sort of show up with a vision and force it to happen. Its to draw the story out from the place, the people and the stories and the textures of the place. And so so much of the how the film was written was, came from interviews with people, came from traveling in south louisiana and you know, individual places were written into the film it wasnt like we showed up with those things written in. We would find a place that was extraordinary and alter the entire script to allow it into the film. That was essential in creating the film. Talk about two scenes because i want you to comment because we talked about characters and the audience to see them at home this is a scene in which hush puppie and the residents of the bayou celebrate despite an oncoming storm. Here it is. One day, the storms going, the ground is going to sink and the water is going to rise up so high, there aint going to be no bathtub, just a whole bunch of water. cheers and applause but me and my daddy, we stay right here. Rose you say she has the moral backbone of this movie. Yeah. You know, i think shes the moral backbone of the entire crew. Her character is driven by goodness. You know, and it was something that came from actual conversations with quvenzhane where you know, i asked her you know, if you were to break the world, what would you do. And she said i would have to fix it. And i said what does that mean to you to fix it. How would you go about it. And she said well, i would go to bed on time. I would always listen my mom. I would do my homework. And i realize this very specific thing about being a kid is that you feel like your actions, even if there isnt a tangible connection, that the quality of your actions can actually affect the world. And that became sort of the principles on which the film works. You know, her trying to do good affects things. Rose okay, here is what tony scott of the New York Times said about her who loved the film by the way, his two favorite films is lincoln and you. Played by quvenzhane wallis, an untrained sprite who holds the cameras attention with a charismatic poise that might make grownup movie stars weep in en envy, an in other words, she the inheriter of a proud literary and artistic tradition, followed along a crooked path traveled by huckleberry fin, scout fitch, eloise, elliott an other brave killed imaginary children, they allow to to reassert our chooldhood and when the world falls short of ideals and expectations that is written by tony scott but also does it resonate with you . So much. I mean literally the character he names there are the ones that we thought about. And you know, just if there is any ambition that i have in making movies it is to create those characters to become, they become part of the culture. They become a moral come pass for behavior. When you think about, you know, what is charity. You think about robin hood. When you think about what is wisdom you think about sherlock holmes, these sort of characters that really become hero, folk heroes. And thats what i imagined her to be writing. An i think that those specific elliott from et and hummer berry fin were specific ones that we looked at and thought that is who this girl is. Shes going to, in her simplicity and in her innocence and in her purity shes going it to be the answer. Rose and what does wing have, her father. Wink has, wink has, you know, a sort of, hes got this passion for his place and for his culture and you know, i think that what i love about wink is that as brutal as he is, he understands that he is part of this place that is so unique and that has found this special kind of freedom. And its endangered. And he knows he has to pass on these lessons to his daughter in order for her to be able to inherit what beauty he has found in the world. And he knows that that is sort of the only thing that he can do and the only legacy can live is going to be internalized in his daughter. Rose here is how wink taught hushpuppy to catch a fish. Some day when im gone youre going to be the last man in the bathtub. You are going to have to learn how to feed yourself. You got to ball your fists up, okay this is your punching hand. Ball your fists up, in case you have to whack him when he come out. All right, all right. Got it, got it yeah, whooo lord look what we got look what we got gout, say i got you. I got ya. Yeah, hold him down, you hold him down like this, and you whack him good with your fist go ahead, whack him, you back him goodment hold him like that and whack him, hold him. Ow. You okay . Thats all a part of it. Come on, you want to try it again . Come on, one more time. Rose nice scene. Where did you get that scene . Where i did get that scene. Rose did you go fishing once an somebody said this is the way we do it. I did ask sort of, yeah, no, i remember asking, you know, if you had no tools, if you had no net, you know, how do you go about this. And you know this isnt an exact sort of scientific way to catch a catfish but you can do it by hand. And that is what you would do, you would, if you didnt have a paddle you would use your hand. And you know t comes from theres a very different attitude towards parenting, you know n a place where you need to be tough to survive. And you have to sort of teach toughness, you have to teach survival. And when you drive down the bayou you see the school class by the side of the bayou learning how to fish it that is part of the lesson. And i do think that you know one of the things that was really important to me about the film was to show a type of education, you know that is equally valuable but completely different from what people normally see. Rose finally here is tony scott from the New York Times on this program talking about your film, roll tape. Tell me what it was that you saw in beasts of the southern wild. I saw an Extraordinary Energy and imaginative free do. I mean one thing that because its an independent movie, a small scale, you know, low budget kind of seat of the pants production. And so many of the movies that have come out recently that fit that template are very kind of somber and grim and kind of literally realistic, and about sort of the missery and struggle of people in trouble. And this one was so magical, and so imaginative it had all of that kind of, you know, social conscience and neorealist exploration but also this sense of really the only word i have is magic. And it went, it kind of invented this world and got so wonderfulfully inside the consciousness of this child, you know t reminded me of the first time i ever read huckleberry finn. The childs perception as sort of wise and also innocent and organizing how the world looks and how it pite be and how you want it to be and taking terrible taj dee and dep riffation and disaster and turning it into something that was joyful. It reminded me, he called the film spielbergian, as you know. Uhhuh. Rose and you me