Each year, the Tribeca Film Festival brings a new slate of exciting films, directors, and writers to keep an eye out for in the future, and 2023 is no different. Some releases are highly anticipated, like Smoking Tigers, which last year was selected to receive a million dollars in funding for its creation. Other films showcase a broad range of new voices, and one of the most exciting new releases of the festival this year is Katherine Propper’s Lost Soulz.

Lost Soulz, Propper’s feature-length directorial debut, tackles what it means to chase after your dreams when one doesn’t come from the means to do so. Its protagonist, Sol, comes from a troubled life where his dream of becoming a rapper might not be feasible in the long run, but he chases after it anyway. He leaves behind his home over that dream of pursuing music, but, as it turns out, he’s unable to completely leave the past behind even when new opportunities and a new crew seem to make his future so much brighter.
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MovieWeb was joined by Katherine Propper and Sauve Sidle, who portrays the main character Sol, to discuss the Lost Soulz ahead of its official premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Learning to Embrace Spontaneity & Scripts

Lost Soulz was written by director Katherine Propper, who, upon finishing the script, discovered that there was room for improvisatory on-set tweaks. As she said, “There were definitely days on set where interesting things would happen in real life, and I wanted to incorporate that into the film.”

One of the many scenes that take on this philosophy is where the group of rappers on a road trip take a pit stop to go to the bathroom. They spotted animals in the field, and Propper decided to incorporate that into the movie itself by having the actors interact with the animals and even including their owner and rancher in the film.

In other moments, the actors are freestyling on the spot. “Some freestyling was prewritten,” said Propper, “and were made to look spontaneous. It was a mix of those things.” Music plays a key role in Lost Soulz, as the young group of rappers often break out into songs on the spot. Several performances on-stage in front of an audience are woven into the narrative of the movie, tracking their highs and lows throughout their physical and emotional journeys. Sidle added: “The ones that were written [in advance] were for foreshadowing. Some of those parts where we were chilling, [the actor] Seven would just say something and Katherine would be like, ‘Say it again! Say it again! I want to shoot this, let’s get it in frame.’”

Although there were these moments of small tweaks and changes throughout the production process, it seems that the film largely stayed the same throughout with the overarching arc. Propper mentioned, “I did do minor pickups with the Super 8 footage, which plays a huge role towards the end. I called up Sauve only a couple of months ago to do them. Those weren’t in the script, but I wanted to incorporate it as connected tissue and to add the impressionistic and nostalgic quality of the film.” She then continued:

“I would say that as a production, we lived the journey of the film the characters are living. We took that adventure ourselves. But the emotional journey for the character Sol was the one we had at the beginning of the script.”

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Utilizing Non-Professional Actors

One of the most remarkable aspects of Lost Soulz is that for some in the cast, it serves as the first time they’ve been on a set for a feature-length film. Sauve Sidle is one of the actors whose appearance in Lost Soulz marks his debut in a feature film, although he had acted before this movie. He explained, “I was looking up how to be an actor and be in a film, and one of the ways was Craigslist gigs. So I went on Craigslist, and I emailed twenty people. Katherine was the only one that replied back. Ever since then, we’ve had a good relationship.”

Propper added, “That meeting was in 2016 when Sauve was still in high school. That was the seed that sprouted into this project. But the other actors in the film came about in hodge-podge ways. We didn’t have a casting director, so Sauve suggested a bunch of actors that I reached out to that were friends of his.” She continued:

“We knew we wanted to cast real musicians or actors who had musical experience.”

One of the rappers they had reached out to was Desiigner, although that didn’t work out. While some of the actors were recommendations from Sauve and those involved with the film, others Propper simply found on Instagram and reached out to. Sidle likened learning about acting on the job to school. “I learned fast,” he said, “lots of thinking quickly, learning terminology. Now I know what a gaffer is. It was a learning experience.” When it comes to their favorite memories, Propper’s is stopping in front of the James Dean billboard. For Sidle, it was performing and the church scene.

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Creating an Authentic, Vibrant Feel

Throughout the film, Lost Soulz feels like something indicative of Generation Z, although it specifically focuses on a group of rappers in Texas. The style of filmmaking, too, feels like a blend of genres at times and compliments the story propelling the film quite well. When we asked what could have fueled this behind the scenes, Sidle mentioned: “When you put a bunch of kids in one room, and give them a camera, things are going to happen. It came from the vibe of the set off-camera. It felt like summer camp: a road trip, a journey. We’re just being kids.”

Propper chimed in, “To echo what Sauve was saying, we had a lot of people doing roles for the first time. Most of our department heads had never been a department head before. They were getting to make that jump on this head, so we did have a youthful crew. Just visually and stylistically, I would say that I’m used to the films 8 Miles or Straight Out of Compton being dark, and the look of the film feels like, ‘look how dark and cool it is.’” She then added:

“I wanted to emphasize the color and vibrancy of this world. I feel like Sauve was going on a Wizard of Oz-like dream and so I wanted to be color-forward, and that appears youthful.”

When asked what about the movie resonated the most with them, both Propper and Sidle knew what to say. “For me, I think what resonates is just the idea of pursuing your dreams and the difficulty of doing that when you don’t have a stable home life, the support of your family, or even the economic part to do something that is difficult and doesn’t always reap rewards quickly,” said Propper.

Sidle agreed. “I related to finding the tribe of people, growing bonds and relationships, and also finding yourself amid chaos. I feel like I relate to that.”

What’s next for them? Both Propper and Sidle agree on this: more films.

Lost Soulz had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival on June 11, 2023.