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The Better Angels director A.J. EdwardsRamin Samandari

We spoke to first-time director A.J. Edwards on The Better Angels, his artful black-and-white film on the childhood years of Abraham Lincoln in Indiana.

On why the film was made: "It was to portray a part of Lincoln's life that was unknown to many. His Indiana years were very mysterious, haunting. The period created mixed feelings in Lincoln. He spoke very little of it. Also, I was excited with the notion of showing the shaping of the soul, or showing how a great character comes to exist – through endless discipline, self-control and the work ethic he developed."

On the film's look: "We shot in October of 2012, so the late-light look you see was characteristic of being so far north [the Mohonk Preserve in New York State's Hudson Valley]. Being in black and white assists immensely with the production design because it turns everything into texture, and abstracts it that way. As for the use of low camera angles, it was the point of view of a child looking up at the world with a hopeful perspective."

On what can be learned from the film: "That our circumstances don't determine our future. Where we begin is not necessarily where we will end. Lincoln overcame hurdles, and they did shape him. But that's not to say that excessive opposition is the only way that one can find incredible character. It was also Lincoln's own rigorous discipline, and being autodidactic and how much he pushed himself. And he absorbed and inherited a capacity for tolerance and gentleness and understanding from his mother and stepmother. He was a mirror, just as all of us are, hopefully."

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