What happened when Samsara finally came out?
KURAS: It won about 25 international awards, including the Kodak Focus Award and the Student Academy Award. It was recognized all over the world. ICG: Did winning all these awards and recognition change your life? KURAS: No. Back in 1992, cable wasnt as prevalent as it is today, and people didnt look at documentaries in the same way they do now. My huge break came in 1992 when Swoon showed at Sundance. It was originally supposed to be a 40-minute art film based on the Leopold and Loeb murder case. Tom Kalin, the director, had written a very oblique script. We basically only had 10 days to shoot a 40-minute piece with about one-and-a-half weeks of prep time. We ended up making the film in 16 mm black and white format, with my ARRI SR2 camera with two zoom lenses. I had Cook 9:50 mm and Zeiss 10:100 mm zooms. We didnt even have enough money for a regular dolly. We had a doorway dolly with boogie wheels. We couldnt boom at all. After we shot for 10 days on practically no money, the direct
