THE WAY THINGS SEEM TO BE

Dives into the life and work of Rob Nilsson—filmmaker, poet, painter, essayist, and actor. The first American to win both the Camera d’Or at Cannes (1979) for NORTHERN LIGHTS and Sundance, Grand Prize (1988) for HEAT AND SUNLIGHT, Nilsson has built an uncompromising career with 45 feature films, numerous lifetime achievement and retrospective awards, and 450 pieces of art showcased in exhibitions in the USA, Africa, and Japan. His Direct Action style shatters boundaries, delivering impassioned stabs at pure, unfiltered truth. In his poetry collection, FROM A REFUGEE OF TRISTAN DA CUNA, and WILD SURMISE, a “collection of thoughts, feelings, surmises, rants, and rhapsodies” exploring his world of art and cinema over the last 40 years, Nilsson’s vision is relentless and fearless. If life is raw, unpredictable, and unfiltered, isn’t that the way things seem to be? 

Director:
Zhan Petrov

Producer:
Rob Nilsson

Writer:
Rob Nilsson

Featuring:
Rob Nilsson
Bobby Roth
Al Nelson
Mark Fishkin
Pam Grier
Bruce Dern
John Cale
Josh Peterson
Steve Burns
Consuelo Faust
Sandra Schulberg
Stacy Keach
Nancy Hayes
Tom Bower
John Hanson
Robert Viharo
Scot Cooper
Jacques Thelemaque
Marianne Heath
Michelle Anton Allen
Gail Schickele
Train Schickele
John Marley
Rosemary Nelson
Don Bajema
Daniel Da Silva
Russel Murphy
Tony Milliner
Billy Aguero
Rand Crook
Ethan Sing
Celik Kayalar
Penny Werner
Lydia Becker
Bruce Johnson
Jean Johnson
Suraj Gurung
Rick Brown
Daniel Kremer
Zhan Petrov
Chikara Motomura
Drow Millar
Deniz Demirer
Carol Richards
Clayton Allen
Mystyslav Chernov
Arthur Vibert
Mickey Freeman
David Fox Annette Fox
Paige Olson
Marshall Spight
Mike Russel
Robert Unsworth
Robindira Unsworth
India Unsworth