Indya Moore at Sundance 2024: ‘The Hallmark of an Incredible Director is Emotional Intelligence’

At the "Ponyboi" world premiere at the 40th annual Sundance Film Festival, Indya Moore shared their views on the art of directing and collaboration.

Indya Moore (they/them), a trans non-binary Bronx native who identifies as Afro-Taíno, is known for their creative talents and insightful views on topics of gender, race, class, mutual aid, the arts, and more.

The Pose star shared their refreshing wisdom at the 40th annual Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, at the world premiere of River Gallo-penned and produced Ponyboi. During the Q&A, Moore—who plays Charlie in Gallo’s intersex-affirming & Jersey-set thriller—complimented cis director Esteban Arango on being incredible due to his emotional intelligence.

Watch what we recorded at the Ponyboi world premiere Q&A and access the transcript below:

Indya Moore At Sundance 2024 Replay Transcript

“Well, I actually was enamored by River before I came on to the project. I actually told River; I shared with them that I had a crush on them.

Yeah, they’re really beautiful, and brilliant, and kind. And I’m strong and honest. And that really helped me to bring Charlie to life.

Also, the director Esteban is so emotionally intelligent and I think that’s a hallmark for an incredible director. As we all know, storytelling is really emotional. And it’s, I think what makes us impacted by storytelling, is empathy. Our abilities to connect with the experiences of these characters and these people that exist outside of us in our lives.

And you have to be someone who understands what it means to feel, and not just what it means to feel generally. You also have to be somebody who understands how something in a moment feels.

And also you have to be somebody who’s open to also actively empathize and receive that moment on set and to understand, OK, this is what this feels like. And this is, this is the story in this moment that we’re telling.

I’m not a director. I aspire to be, but if I were to be one, I would take Esteban’s example, and I’m really grateful.

And also something I was thinking about being here. I mean, I want to center Victoria for a moment because her performance and the story she was telling was so heavy.

And I think it speaks to, because there are so many circumstances that make women and trans people and queer people and intersex people really, really vulnerable to receiving any kind of love and any kind of person when we really need it.

And Victoria [Pedretti] helped so much, and there’s so much trauma and abuse [in the film]. I think, like that it’s really traumatic to enact, to experience, to remember and to also embody. You know, like that’s—it’s also traumatic.

But like also I just want to to say you’re really incredible, you’re so powerful. You’re so brilliant, and you are too [at rest of the cast], and thank you.

And also the love in this space, the love that these people created with each other is so powerful and strong.

I was sitting here and I’m like, wow, I’m like what does one do with all this love? And that’s what my head when I was like, how does one, how does one just experience so much love just in space with someone?

And I was just like, if you hold it, hold it, yeah. And you receive it.

And you let it change you.

And I feel like that’s what happened with everyone here. And I hope that the movie was able to impact everyone else in that way too.”

In Ponyboi, an intersex runaway searches for love and a way out of his working class New Jersey neighborhood. Follow the film on social for updates: @ponyboi_film

Want more? TransLash’s guide to the 40th annual Sundance Film Festival is a living document being updated with trans-affirming films and resources through February 2024.

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