'Beau Is Afraid' director Ari Aster wants to 'champion art' with his production company

Beau Is Afraid director Ari Aster is concerned about film audiences. The filmmaker established a production company called Square Peg together with producer Lars Knudson.

The duo is behind films like Hereditary and Midsommar, which came out in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Speaking to Indiewire about the films that make it and those that don’t get support director Ari Aster said:

“Film seems to be dying, so few people go to the theater for small films or even medium-sized films, but then records are being broken for these giant tentpole films. It’s not like people aren’t going anymore, but the audience has changed. I don’t really feel like I have my finger on the pulse on anything because the films I love are…”

He trailed off, then resumed: “It’s not that they’re diminishing in number. They’re still being made,” he said. “They’re just not being supported by audiences.”

To tackle the issue, Aster said his company is looking to help ascertain the best way to develop projects from individual filmmakers that might not otherwise get made.

“There are more studios, and there are more platforms than ever for work — and yet it feels like the aversion to risk is just off the charts. It has never been this bad,” he said.

“There are so many more places to go, but far fewer places that are willing to really champion art for art’s sake.”

A24 became a supporter of Aster during the beginning of his feature film career, but the production of Beau Is Afraid took more than ten years to materialize. According to Aster, it was a painful process to bring his projects to life. However, he and A24 are committed to making the kind of movies they want to watch and supporting filmmakers they have faith in.