The indie king and his princess talk about the rarest of things: an indie sequel

In 1998, back when the independent movie industry was still in its toddlerdom (okay, maybe its elementary school years), writer/director Hal Hartley made the critically-acclaimed satiric dramedy Henry Fool. In Henry Fool, a factory worker named Simon Grim (James Urbaniak) with a manic depressive mother and a nyphomaniacal sister (Parker Posey), who is sparked to write the "Great American Poem" by a talent-less writer/sexual offender who lives in his basement, Henry Fool (Thomas Jay Ryan).

In this weekend's follow-up, Fay Grim, Hartley takes up where Henry Fool left off. It's years later, Fay is now a single mom living in Queens with her 14-year-old son, Ned (Liam Aiken), whom she fears will become like his father Henry. Her brother Simon is now in jail for aiding Henry's escape from the country. But when the CIA approaches Fay and tells her Henry might not have been the man she thought he was, she winds up heading to Europe and getting involved in a game of international espionage.

In a world where most sequels are born out of the desire to cash in on a profitable franchise and not the need to tell more of a story, it is thus understandable that one doesn't often see a sequel to an independent movie. Somehow, though, this didn't faze Hartley or his crew.

"Certain stories can carry a second movie," explains Posey. "This was very archetypal. You can see these characters are very rich. It's Hal's American family. The Grim family. Fay. Henry Fool comes to town, shakes up the town, Fay falls in love with him, she gets proposed to as he's on the toilet. She should have known better, she can't help herself."

For his part, Hartley had notions of a sequel from the very beginning. "I used to joke about it, even when I was writing the script [Henry Fool]. And like most jokes, half serious," says Hartley. "There were a couple of years from 1998 to 2000, 2001, where I'd often be found after supper trying out different scenarios verbally, trying to entertain people. And at a certain point I did that once too many times. And James Urbaniak said, 'You know what? I don't believe you anymore. This is not just a joke. You're serious about this."

When Hartley was really ready to take another stab at the Grim family, he wanted to make sure his cast wanted to come back. He called Posey in 2002 and asked if she was on board. "I think by that point I had the story in my head that I liked," says Hartley. "But I wasn't going to write it down if she wasn't interested."

Posey was obviously happy to oblige. "All actors love Hal, because they get, if they can, they get to utilize themselves and how they move and how they speak," she explains. "To be able to be an actor and to work for him, saying these lines and moving in these ways, is really a lot of fun."

True to Hartley's non-conformist nature, Fay Grim will have a rather unusual release. Hartley explains: "The film will be out on movie screens in 25 cities. And on the same day it will be available to be viewed on HDnet films TV. And then apparently a couple of days later [Tuesday, May 22] you can get it on DVD."

"What excites me about that is the whole idea that the whole nation can all at once see the film," he continues. "And I can't help but wonder what would be different now if people in a small town in Kansas can rent it or buy it on DVD in the same week when people can see it in Chicago in the movie theatres. Because the conversation, particularly the conversation on the internet and everything, is so much accelerated these days."

So are there plans in the works for a third installment of the Fool/Grim story? "We've talked about it a bit amongst ourselves," says Hartley. He's not saying much, other than that this one is based on Henry and Fay's son, Ned.

Fay Grim opens in theaters and on HDnet Friday, May 18, 2007. It will be released on DVD on Tuesday, May 23, 2007.

Check out ReelzChannel.com's Fay Grim page for pictures, clips from the movie and more!