Interview with Stephen Kijak director of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man

Interview with Stephen Kijak, director of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, by Kevin Serra for Kevchino.com

We met up with director Stephen Kijak after his New York film premier of Scott Walker: 30 Century Man at the IFC Center in the Village and chatted him up about the American release of the documentary film. The film plays this week till Dec 22nd. The movie will then hit Los Angeles in January, and San Francisco and Oakland in February. For more info please visit www.scottwalkerfilm.com/blog. For NYC tickets visit www.ifccenter.com.

When did the idea of making a documentary on Scott Walker come into play?

I had been a fan since 1990, when Fontana first issued his classic albums on CD for the first time. I had fallen in love with his orch-pop ‘60s epics (those four numerically-titled late-60's albums "Scott" 1 through 4.) When "Tilt" came out in 1995 it was a very different Scott Walker—the evolution was fascinating. I started ruminating on a film then. And about ten years later, when I heard he was about to make yet another album, it just felt like a "now or never" moment.

Did you hear that other people had tried to make a Walker film (and failed) before starting the project?

Yes. I was surprised it hadn't been done, at least in the UK. There was a 20-minute piece done for "The Late Show" but it was very brief—not that in-depth—although he gives quite a good interview for it. I wanted to go for something a bit more expansive that covered as much of the career as I could fit on screen, from the glorious doom-pop of The Walker Brothers right into the making of his new album.

Who were some of the people you got on board that helped sell the making of the film?

Well, we attached Bowie as our Executive Producer and that was a huge help. He really does love Scott—he's a great advocate for lesser-known musicians. Then Grant Gee was signed up to shoot and edit with me. I was a fan of his Radiohead film and he was commissioned to do a short film about John Cale that was just excellent. Sadly, the record company shelved it. But it had the vibe I was looking for. And Scott likes Grant quite a bit as well. It was a good fit. Graphic designer Graham Wood (another favorite of Scott's) was asked to contribute motion graphic sequences. As for other "names" that helped push it more into the spotlight ... we have Radiohead, Brian Eno, Jarvis Cocker, Damon Albarn - all the usual suspects!

Read the complete interview at Kevchino.com