T.J. Sandella
Battersea
T.J. Sandella is one half of Glass Brothers Productions. He's the author of Ways to Beg (Black Lawrence Press) and the recipient of an Elinor Benedict Prize, a William Matthews Prize, two Academy of American Poets Prizes, and two pushcart prize nominations.
You can find him @egregiousteej or in Cleveland, Ohio, biking through a snowstorm, sitting in the back row of the Cinematheque, or walking his pup, Rufio.
Director Statement
I’m especially drawn to talky, elevated realism—the filmographies of Cassavetes, Ozu, and Kore-eda; films like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Old Joy, and the Before Trilogy. The conversational film is a genre all in itself—one that challenges conventions and implicates the audience. In a panel discussion with the DGA, Richard Linklater said, “Most film teachers will say, ‘it’s a visual medium—show it, don’t talk about it.’ But I never approached cinema like that. I always thought people talking was so evocative.” I wholeheartedly agree.
Battersea is built on two long conversations, and the challenge, of course, is to make that dialogue work for the medium—to make it cinematic, to command the audience’s attention. It’s no small task, which is why this script took a decade to write, why we auditioned over 700 actors to play the two leads. To commit to such an undertaking in a debut feature, the pieces had to be right, which is, perhaps, another hallmark of my credo—an obsession with getting it right, killing darlings, starting over. Much like the conversations in this film, “getting it right” is a long negotiation of narratives and perspective, an upheaval, a series of mistakes and mishaps. It's a doomed and joyful excavation.
In 2025, T.J. Sandella will attend:
Gala Dinner
Filmmakers Parade
