"One of the best pieces of 20th-century art by far" is the praise Mike heaps on Fellini's 8½, which he feels introduced a new sophistication and self-reflection to filmmaking.
Obsessed with the topic of memory in his own films, Mike is captivated by the unplanned documentary interviews that director Kore-eda incorporated into the narrative of AFTER LIFE.
During a period of existential restlessness, Mike found solace in the micro-world of Alice in the Cities, citing it as a key influence on his own film C'MON C'MON.
Mike loves when a film eschews conflict and transformation for less conventional paths-as in Agnès Varda's short, which blurs the lines between narrative and documentary, focusing instead on ambience and the people living on her street.
Mike first stumbled on the Eastern European New Wave while trying to impress a girl. The relationship ran its course, but the films have stayed with him ever since.
The punk spirit of feminist Czech New Wave filmmaker Vera Chytilová, whose films were banned in the 1960s, is like a cook who uses opposing flavors to create something transformative.
The Rube Goldberg-ian work by Swiss conceptual artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss elicits basic joy from sophisticated connections. "There's just something very punk about that movie," Mike says.
Santa Barbara's skateboarding scene indoctrinated C'MON C'MON filmmaker Mike Mills into a thriving subculture of punk music. With its cathartic energy and spirit of transgression, punk provided a megaphone for sublimated emotions.
Mike Mills reflects on his path as an artist, from early immersion in Santa Barbara's skateboarding scene to New York City as an art school student in the 1980s. Mills draws a connection between visual art and filmmaking.
