"Fourteen Questions with Steven Adam Renkovish" by Alden Nagel
An Interview with an NHP-Associated Writer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Alden Nagel is the founder and editor of Nut Hole Publishing, and also a writer. You can find him on Instagram: @alden_nagel_. His debut novella FAG SYMPHONY is out now, via Nut Hole Publishing. He has an upcoming novella entitled Salination Mountains, and a (paired) novel entitled The Desalinated Exosphere. Steven Adam Renkovish resides in Easley, South Carolina. He is the director of the short films, A Beautiful Silence, Fugue, and 401 Rogers. In 2021, his first feature film, The Awakening of Lilith, entered the festival circuit. Garnering much critical acclaim, the film has won several awards, including Best Feature Film and Best Actress.
Alden Nagel: What’s it like where you are now? That is, what is it like living amidst a major hurricane as it unfolds, in real time?
Steven Adam Renkovish: In my area, in Easley, South Carolina, we are just now getting back to something resembling normalcy. However, there is still much damage, still much work to be done, especially in North Carolina, in Asheville - also Lake Lure and Chimney Rock. The damage in those areas has been absolutely devastating.
Alden Nagel: What are you doing to stay sane and happy during this time?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I’m working on a screenplay for a new short film, entitled ‘The Strange Disappearance of Emily Jayne’. We’re planning to shoot it this fall on Super 8.
Alden Nagel: Do you believe the often violent weather of the American South has an effect on how you view the world?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I have seen people band together to help one another in so many ways. It has restored my faith in humanity more than anything else, and that’s saying something, considering how divided we’ve all felt lately.
Alden Nagel: You grew up in a very specific kind of church environment. If you could tell anyone who is currently existing in that environment what to do, what would you tell them?
Steven Adam Renkovish: If they are growing up among Evangelicals, I would encourage them to get out as fast as humanely possible. It will save them much grief in the long run. You can still love God, follow Christ, and reject the exclusivism of that particular sect of Christianity. You’ll be much better off outside of the walls of that specific kind of church environment.
Alden Nagel: You are a filmmaker, a writer and so much more. Do you feel as if the work you do to pay your regular expenses has a noticeable affect on the art you create?
Steven Adam Renkovish: As far as my filmmaking is concerned, it’s very much touch and go, using the materials at my disposal to create the art that I want to send out in to the world. I take a little out of every paycheck (I work as a barista) and set it aside for projects. Filmmaking is not my hobby, after all. I refuse to see it as such.
Alden Nagel: What would you like to say about your upcoming films?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I’m juggling three projects right now - a feature entitled A Shudder in God about two friends who share a past tragedy which resurfaces years later when they are reunited during the winter solstice. So many of my hang-ups with religion and the church have ended up in this screenplay. It’s incredibly personal and raw. Might get me into a little trouble here in the Bible Belt, and I would definitely invite that. Secondly, I am working on a short experimental documentary about my best friend and brother who passed away last year, called This Pain Has a Heartbeat. And thirdly, the aforementioned Super 8 short that I am working on.
Alden Nagel: What is your definition of family, to you? What brings together those that are biologically related, and those who are not?
Steven Adam Renkovish: In this life, there is the family that you are born into, and there is the family that you choose. If you are lucky, you’ll find that there is no difference between the two. They operate as a whole. As one big family. You find as you get older that your circle of friends slowly begins to shrink. Life happens and people move on, as it does and as they do. You begin to notice the ones who really stick by you through it all, as well as friends that you can go without seeing for months or years at a time, only to pick right back up where you left off at any given reunion. Those people do become family. I’m as equally close with them as I am by biological family. Biological family, chosen family - equally important. I have no time for fake bullshit these days.
Alden Nagel: What’s the absolute worst movie you’ve ever seen, and why?
Steven Adam Renkovish: There are two: a narrative feature, Delaware Shore; a documentary, and Remembering Return to Oz. Both mind-numbingly, jaw-droppingly incompetent on every single level. Especially where the latter is concerned. Return to Oz deserved better! It is one of my favorite films! I prefer it over The Wizard of Oz, actually.
Alden Nagel: You really like Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Vampyr. What about the film do you love to love, like you do?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I want to live inside of that film. It brings out feelings in me like no other film has before or since. The look and feel of it - the mystery, the ambiguity of it all. The fact that it has one foot in the silent era and the other in the “talkie” era…it’s so unique. Many have said this before me, but the entire thing feels like a dream - a gauzy, fog-drenched, beautiful nightmare. Only Dreyer could have made it. I’ll never tire of it, and I watch it several times every year. I am endlessly fascinated by it, and pretty much obsessed. I want a huge poster of that Criterion artwork. You should also check out the Eureka release that contains the most recent restoration! I would sell my soul for a print!
Alden Nagel: What have you been reading lately?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I’m about to read William S. Burroughs’ Queer to prepare for the upcoming Luca Guadagnino film. Reading a lot of Georg Trakl and Robert Walser poetry as well.
Alden Nagel: How often do you think about your hometown?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I’m still here, so it’s with me all the time! I love Easley.
Alden Nagel: How’re your cats doing? What’re they up to?
Steven Adam Renkovish: Helen and her son, Buddy, are both doing fine. Helen will forever be my queen diva. I adore her. I belong to her. It’s definitely not the other way around!
Alden Nagel: If you could give any single piece of advice to your younger self, regardless of its context, what would you tell them?
Steven Adam Renkovish: I would look him right in the eye, wipe tears off of his face, and say, “You are going to do all of the things that you think you’ll never be able to do. Go ahead and own it, kid.”
Alden Nagel: If you could make any one person an enlightened despot by snapping your fingers and making it so, who would it be?
Steven Adam Renkovish: You, Alden. You’re going to take over the world, you beautiful genius! Stay woke, stay kind!
Alden Nagel: Thank you, Adam!