Podtalk: Director Sav Rodgers Finds Salvation by ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’

Submitted by PatrickMcD on February 3, 2024 - 9:34am

CHICAGO – In 1997. Filmmaker Kevin Smith released his third film (after “Clerks” and “Mallrats”) entitled “Chasing Amy.” The story, featuring Joey Lauren Adams, is about a lesbian whose fluidly also includes a romantic relationship with a man. Watching this film was a young female born person who was questioning their own identity, and used the film as a touch point for these feelings. Years later, that person is director Sav Rodgers, and he made a documentary about his experiences with the film in coming to self and its complicated history in “Chasing Chasing Amy.”

“Chasing Chasing Amy” is currently on the film festival circuit, and came to Chicago in September of 2023 for the Reeling41 film festival, the Windy City’s International LBGTQ+ cinema celebration. Currently, the film will screen in Kingston, Ontario, on February 5th at the (click links) Reelout Queer Film Festival, in Toronto on February 16th at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival and in Sheffield, England, on February 17th during the LGBTQ+ History Month at Showroom Cinema.

Joey Lauren Adams, Sav Rodgers and Kevin Smith of ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’
Photo credit: ChasingAmyDoc.com

Originally from Kansas, Sav Rodgers is a filmmaker and screenwriter whose feature directorial debut “Chasing Chasing Amy” is about the complicated legacy of Chasing Amy (1997) and its profound impression on his life. The TED Talk he gave in 2018 kickstarted this filmmaking journey, and spurred the writing of scripts that center on highly specific and surprising stories about queer people.

In an Podtalk interview by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com in September 2023, Sav Rodgers talks about his journey to “Chasing Chasing Amy” …

In a video clip, Sav Rodgers on scapegoat-ism regarding trans and queer issues …