BFFs at the Twin Cities Film Fest

Director Andrew Putschoegl is a Minnesota native whose film BFFs, starring Tara Karsian and Andrea Grano, is premiering at the Twin Cities Film Fest this weekend. The humorous film is about two best friends who pretend to be lovers in order to go on a free vacation at couples’ retreat.

How did you get into film?

I first became interested in film when I was 10 years old through a Minnesota program called Summer Academy.  A couple of instructors, Paul Auguston and Edie French, inspired in me a love of film through their television production class. Later I got involved in public access TV.  I volunteered and worked with Suburban Community Channels, where I had a lot of hands-on opportunities to learn how to use a camera, and develop editing skills, you know, before YouTube, and before every kid had a camera and an iPhone.

What is the inspiration behind BFFs?

BFFs started because Tara and Andrea have been best friends for many years, and they were joking one day that they needed to go to couples’ counseling. They started to write a short, and turned it into a feature, how funny would it be if they took a vacation meant as a couples retreat, and they had to pretend to be a couple?

What was it like to work with this team of actors?

Working with these actors was a dream come true, not only with Tara and Andrea, who I already had a relationship with, but the supporting cast. Everyone was phenomenal, and you knew nobody was there for the money, it was really a labor of love for everyone behind the camera, and I think that’s really clear when you watch the film.

What will the audience enjoy most about BFFs?

The good thing about this film is that there’s something for everybody. Everybody will be able to find somebody to relate to, or something that they identify with. There’s not just one single thing that an audience will enjoy; everyone will enjoy something different.

What’s the most important thing about the film?

This is a film that crosses boundaries; it crosses demographics. It’s a movie that people young and old, men and women, have enjoyed equally. It tells a story about friendship, and blurring the lines between what makes a friendship.