Sean Baker and Cast on Red Rocket, NYFF59

Director Sean Baker and actors Simon Rex, Bree Elrod, Judy Hill, Brittney Rodriguez, and Suzanna Son discuss Red Rocket, a Spotlight selection at NYFF59, with NYFF Director of Programming, Dennis Lim. Adding to his gallery of jetfueled portraits of economic hardship within marginalized pockets of the U. S., director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, NYFF55) trains his restless camera on an unforgettable protagonist. Mikey, a wildly narcissistic former porn star fallen on hard times, has returned from L. A. to his depressed, postindustrial hometown of Texas City, reconnecting with his skeptical, drugdependent estranged wife and motherinlaw, and using his wily charms to ingratiate himself into a community of people he couldnt care less about. As played by a brilliantly cast Simon Rex (a star MTV VJ in the 90s), Mikey is a charismatic force of natureand destructionwho exploits the innocence and goodwill of everyone around him. Pointedly set against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential election, Red