Struggling to survive amidst violence and homophobia in Russia, young Potato turns to the promise of American movies, in Wes Hurley’s autobiographical dark comedy, Potato Dreams of America. This crowd-pleasing film would be a valuable resource for library programming discussing immigration and LGBTQ studies. In this interview, Wes Hurley discusses the choice to embrace style and his continuing faith in both humanity and cinema.
Potato Dreams of America
What was it like recreating your childhood on set?
For Russia, we got a warehouse and built sets in that space. That was really fun for me because I love heightened films. I love older movies where things are shot on set and are hyper-realistic or stylized. It doesn’t exist that way anymore, even if I had the budget or the desire to go to Russia it would look different now. So, I wanted to embrace the fact that it’s a child’s memory.
Who are some of your influences in filmmaking?
Derek Jarman is a filmmaker who is inspiring in the sense that he would set out to make these epic period films without any money. He would make these films very theatrical and stylized, and expected the audience to either go on that ride with him or not. He invited the audience to suspend their disbelief the way you do in theater.
I really appreciated that especially starting out as an indie filmmaker, if you’re too realist, it limits you and the kinds of stories you can tell. In that case, you can only make a story about two people sitting in an apartment talking over coffee. If you’re willing to expand beyond realism, then you can tell whatever story you want. You can do a space opera on a really small budget. Embrace that it’s artifice and that it’s theatrical.
Have there been any audience reactions to the film that have surprised you?
It’s really interesting to observe how audience reactions have changed since the invasion of Ukraine. I think it feels more real to people now, it has so much more impact. Audiences are more intense and serious, they are affected by the film much more than only two months ago.
Another thing that is validating as a storyteller but disappointing as a human being is the amount of people who have told me they have also had bad experiences being gay in the Russian community. Part of me hoped that this was just my experience and things had changed, but what I keep hearing is that there is so much more to go in terms of changing the culture. Even in immigrant communities here, many gay Russian people feel isolated and discriminated against in their own families and community. That was a disappointing and sad surprise.
What do you want people to take away from Potato Dreams of America?
To believe in yourself and have faith that the world will get better. Cinema saved my life when I was a kid, watching films saved me and my mother from going crazy in Russia. Films helped us believe that life can be better and sometimes have a happy ending.
I also wanted to share an immigrant’s perspective on the American dream. Because we often talk about how the American dream is dead or not real, and for many immigrants, like myself, the American dream is very much alive. This is why people risk everything to come here. I want people to understand believing in the positivity and the hope of that.