2025 Annual Awards Interviews: Anne Paquette, Director of “Carny Hallelujah!”

Join host Olivia Lyle (@olivialyle1) for an exclusive interview with filmmaker Anne Paquette, whose latest work Carny Hallelujah! (USA) had its world premiere in the non-competitive section of the 2025 IndieX Film Fest Annual Awards.

Recorded by Kyle Reed (@thekylereed) at Regal LA Live, Los Angeles, the conversation offers insight into the film’s bold storytelling and Paquette’s hands-on creative process as director, writer, and producer.

Carny Hallelujah! follows two young women—Hope, a preacher’s daughter, and Shelby, a carnival ride operator—who summon the courage to escape their oppressive lives and the men they were taught to trust. Caught in a tense and violent journey involving bikers, betrayal, and survival, the two form a bond rooted in resistance and renewal. The film draws on carnival imagery and religious overtones to present a gritty, emotionally charged narrative of female empowerment and spiritual reckoning.

Anne Paquette is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker. Influenced by Tarantino, Scorsese, and Hitchcock, she brings a cinematic style that blends intensity with visual flair. She has two daughters—one an editor, the other a writer.

Watch the interview below to learn more about Carny Hallelujah!, its themes of survival and liberation, and how Paquette brings her distinctive vision to life on screen.