Twenty-five years of Dogma: interview with Kevin Smith

Why this restoration, 25 years after the film’s release?

Dogma came back to me. Alessandra Williams, who is in charge of the film, retrieved it from Harvey Weinstein, who had held the rights to it for years. Dogma had been locked up in Harvey’s closet, then he got into trouble as we all know. He needed money for the trial. He had a few films in his personal collection, such as Kids (1995) by Larry Clark, and Alessandra managed to buy Dogma from him.

I then toured the United States with the film and showed it in theatres. And one day, Alessandra told me that it was going to be screened in Cannes and I was stunned. Simply because she had had this vision and she rescued the film.

What do you remember from your visits to Cannes?

I have been to Cannes three times, but let’s be honest, I haven’t made a Cannes-worthy film in years, so I didn’t think I would ever return. So, yes, we are living a kind of dream right now.

I recall at the time of Dogma, they had installed metal detectors at the Palais for the first time because there were death threats!

Do you still recognize the person you were at that time?

I am currently touring in the United States to show the film, so I watch it nearly every night with the audience and then we do a Q&A. And every time I look up at the screen, I see the kid who made the movie. The kid who wrote this before he even wrote Clerks.

That kid believed in everything he showed onscreen. Dogma was his religion, a child’s prayer. I remember how he felt, how he wanted to express how he felt about his faith. He wanted to make his own version of church. That’s what Dogma is: my idea of Sunday service… with anal jokes in it.

When I watch it today, I fully recognize it. I also fully recognize I could never make this film this again, as I don’t believe in those things anymore. But interestingly enough, I’m writing the sequel. I’ve been writing it for the last six months. But this time, the director I am no longer has faith.

What is the sequel going to be about?

It is going to be about: how to be Christian when you’re no longer Christian? Even though I don’t consider myself to be a believer, I still live a pretty Christian life. It was burnt into me as a child. When I learned to walk, I also learned to be good to others. That’s something that doesn’t go away because you declare: “I don’t believe in God anymore.”

The film will also be about the devil. We don’t talk enough about the devil in Dogma.

And the cast?

The same! Anyone who is still alive. But I can’t go to Ben Affleck and tell him, “I need you for a month, block off your calendar, you won’t be paid!” Those days are over! That said, the previous cast will be there, used wisely and judiciously.