Adam Pally, Fred Armisen, and Zoe Lister-Jones in BAND AID.
2017 InterviewsInterviewsMovies

Interview: Zoe Lister-Jones on ‘Band Aid’

Evan Crean

During Independent Film Festival Boston (IFFBoston) 2017, I interviewed actor, writer, and musician Zoe Lister-Jones about her film Band Aid, a dramedy she wrote and stars in.

Band Aid centers on Anna (Lister-Jones) and Ben (Adam Pally), a Jewish couple whose relationship is on the verge of collapse because of their constant bickering. A lucky series of events allow them to realize a shared love of music. As a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Anna and Ben decide to start a band with their neighbor (Fred Armisen) to work out their differences through raw, acerbic songs. The further they get into the process, the more their relationship starts to mend. Everything comes to a head when they’re finally forced to confront the underlying source of their troubles: a miscarriage they’ve failed to fully address.

I caught up with Lister-Jones about the film’s exploration of a marriage–its deep wounds and power dynamics–her decision to hire an all-female crew for Band Aid, and how Jewish identity enters into her art.

Read the full piece here.

Evan Crean

Hello! My name is Evan Crean. By day I work for a marketing agency, but by night, I’m a film critic based in Boston, MA. Since 2009, I have written hundreds of movie reviews and celebrity interviews for Starpulse.com. I have also contributed pieces to NewEnglandFilm.com and to The Independent, as a writer and editor. I maintain an active Letterboxd account too. In addition to publishing short form work, I am a co-author of the book Your ’80s Movie Guide to Better Living, which is available on CreateSpace and Amazon. The book is the first in a series of lighthearted self-help books for film fans, which distills advice from ’80s movies on how to tackle many of life’s challenges. On top of writing, I co-host and edit the weekly film podcast Spoilerpiece Theatre with two other Boston film critics. I’m a founding member and the current treasurer for the Boston Online Film Critics Association as well. This site, Reel Recon.com, is a one-stop-shop where you can find links to all of my past and present work. Have any questions or comments after checking it out? Please feel free to email me (Evan Crean) at: ecrean AT reelrecon DOT COM .