Framing Discomfort: Inside "The Hanged Man" and the Radical Intimacy of Independent Cinema.

Jan 13
4 min read

Our 1st FiB LIVE welcomes the team of "The Hanged Man"

Director Korab Uka, Cinematographer & Editor Donte Underwood, and Lead Actor Max Pettit.

Hosted by Martin Del Carpio.

Having attended countless film festivals over the past several years, Martin Del Carpio (FiB Live Host), rarely encounters a film that truly disrupts expectation but The Hanged Man did exactly that. His first encounter with the film was at the Queens World Film Festival, where a single poster across the room immediately set itself apart. The poster was impossible to ignore. Martin sought out the filmmakers, accepted an invitation to the screening, and was unprepared for what followed. From its opening moments, the unconventional aspect ratio, the choices, the fearless performances, The Hanged Man revealed itself as a rare work of uncompromising vision. Every frame felt intentional, every sequence technically and emotionally precise (as Director, Korab Uka, says, "the setting dictates the shot").

After the screening, Martin found himself telling director Korab Uka that this was exactly the kind of filmmaking the industry needs more of: cinema unafraid to take risks, to push boundaries, and to exist outside convention. That lasting impression of a film that refuses comfort in favor of conviction is what made The Hanged Man the unmistakable choice to inaugurate the very first FiB Live conversation.

For Korab Uka (director), the genesis of "The Hanged Man" did not begin in a writers’ room but rather working as a doorman himself. “You know so much about these people’s lives,” Uka reflects. “Who their friends are, who their family is, what kind of medicine they get delivered, what kind of food they like, these are very intimate details.” That proximity to private worlds sparked an idea that would evolve over years of writing and revision.

First drafted around 2020, the script passed through nearly ten iterations as Uka searched for a version that felt true, one that could translate observation into exaggeration without losing its psychological edge. Working within limited means became part of the creative process itself. “You have to work within your resources, there’s no way around that,” he notes, a reality that informed the story’s scale. The feature film was self-funded by Uka and longtime collaborator Donte Underwood. Uka explains, “I wanted total creative freedom.” “Especially when you’re starting out, you’re not doing this to make money back, you’re doing it to get your voice heard.”

“Getting to know your actors is just as important as the audition itself,” says Korab Uka. “Beyond reading sides, I want to understand who they are, what films they’re drawn to, what kind of work they’re familiar with. That tells you how far they’re willing to push themselves. If an actor doesn’t connect to the kind of cinema you’re trying to make, it becomes harder to ask them to go where the story needs them to go.”

For Donte Underwood (cinematographer), the visual language of The Hanged Man was rooted in film sincerity. From the outset, the decision to shoot in a 4:3 aspect ratio was intentional, “something you don’t normally see” and once committed to, it became non-negotiable. The film was shot entirely in that ratio, without cropping or correction in post, allowing the frame itself to dictate feeling. Working without storyboards, Dante relied on constant dialogue and shared understanding with director, Korab Uka. “We talked about what we wanted, we wrote notes, and we already knew it in our heads,” he explains. “Once you’re in a room, a room is a room, you light it, you place the actors, and you make sure everything feels right.” The goal was never to create a standard, easily consumable film, but something that viewers wouldn’t forget whether it unsettled them or stayed with them quietly. Underwood notes. “It’s about film sincerity. Film isn’t just one thing, it lets you explore different emotions, different spaces. That’s what we were trying to do with The Hanged Man.”

For Max Pettit, the transition from stage to screen on The Hanged Man was an exercise in restraint and trust. “It’s about less,” he explains, unlearning the instinct to perform “for the balcony” and allowing subtlety to carry meaning. Having spent years in theater, Pettit describes film as a recalibration rather than a reinvention, one guided carefully by director, Korab Uka. Pettit approached the role through repetition and absorption, reading the script “over and over and over again” until it began to live inside him. Pettit emphasizes that half the work happened in the moment itself. “Fifty percent is preparing,” he explains, “and the other fifty percent is being on set.” The environment cultivated by director Korab Uka, cinematographer Donte Underwood, intimacy coordinator Kimberly, and the ensemble allowed that preparation to surface organically and safely, yet truthfully. Extended time inside emotionally demanding scenes created a cumulative effect, until performance gave way to something more instinctual. “There was one moment where I wasn’t acting,” Pettit recalls. “It was just real because everyone was giving me so much.” Whether viewers love or hate the film, Pettit embraces the response.

“Fifty percent is preparing, and the other fifty percent is being on set. That’s where the reality really gets created.” Max Pettit

What emerges from The Hanged Man & our first FiB Live, is that independent filmmaking is alive and thriving! This is a feature film made without storyboards, without outside financing, and without guarantees. It's shaped by constant conversation, on-the-fly problem-solving, and a shared belief in the work. From budgeting and self-funding, to creating safe, honest spaces for actors to fully show up, every decision reflects the reality that independent cinema is as much about endurance as it is about vision. The process is messy, collaborative, and deeply human. You work within your means. You rely on people who believe in you. You make something trusting that if it makes people feel something, it’s worth it.