Ryan Sloan and Ariella Mastroianni Select

Accompanying Metrograph’s special preview of New York writer-director Ryan J. Sloan’s microbudget thriller debut Gazer, the filmmaker and co-writer and star Ariella Mastroianni select three films to share that have influenced their riveting first feature: Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up (1966), Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), and Brian De Palma’s Blow Out (1981).

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, my mother and I would watch television in the basement, using a black box that granted us free access to premium cable channels, opening a world of cinematic experiences for me. After midnight, on Channel 85, I would sneakily watch the Playboy Channel which aired its provocative content, adding to the eclectic mix of films that shaped my taste in cinema. It was during these formative years that I first encountered Blow-Up, The Conversation, and Blow Out. Barely 10 years old, I couldn’t fully grasp the intricate storylines, but I was deeply moved nonetheless; I was haunted, horrified, and felt—for the first time—the unimaginable heartbreak of witnessing a hero fall. These films form a cinematic lineage that explores the dark allure of voyeurism and its psychological consequences. In our film Gazer, the protagonist’s reliance on self-guided cassette tapes, a necessity due to her dyschronometria, offered a unique lens through which we examined the fragility of perception and the consequences of unchecked curiosity. These films remind us that in our quest to uncover truth, we often reveal more about ourselves than the world we’re observing.” —Ryan J. Sloan