Hollywood filmmaker's career began with fascination at UVA

Times of discover News: Hala Matar was a graduate student at the University of Virginia in the early 2000s, where she studied theater and stagecraft. One day, she was talking to her crush when he started talking about an introductory filmmaking course taught by art teacher Kevin Everson. Impressed, Matar enrolled and it changed her life drastically.

"I took three more classes with (Everson)," she said. "He's still my favorite teacher. And I think the most amazing thing is that so many people from different disciplines like physics, engineering took that class and many of them went on to make films."

The student, who graduated in 2006, fully supports this. So far in her career, she has directed actors Kristen Stewart, Chloë Sevigny and Johnny Knoxville and made short films for brands like Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Vivienne Westwood. She's currently screening her first feature film, "Electra," on the film festival circuit.

"It's about a journalist who goes to Rome to interview a famous musician," says Pea. "Then you're invited to a country estate, and you discover that many of the characters are not who they say they are and have ulterior motives." The Hollywood Reporter called the thriller a "love child" of "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Saltburn."

Peele modestly said "Electra," based on the Greek tragedy of the same name, can't be compared to "Ripley" "because I think it's one of the best movies ever made," but the writing improved. He wrote the screenplay with Daryl Wein and Paul Sadow, one of the film's co-stars. "Electra" premiered in February at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it was nominated for best feature film. The film lost to "Emilia Perez," starring Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, which USA Today called "a highly original film to watch in 2024."

Mater's film received nominations for best picture and best feature narrative at the Oldenburg Film Festival and the Dallas International Film Festival. It won the award for best production design at the Ischia Film Festival in Italy, where it was also nominated for best feature film. It will be in the U.S. in February or March. It's coming to theaters.

"Electra" hasn't yet chosen a film studio, it has no trailer. But you can get a sense of Mater's cinematic style by watching his music video for the band Interpol. It stars Stewart, who is perhaps best known for his role in the "Twilight" film trilogy.