Click. Todd Solondz and I have just completed a 30-minute telephone interview. Thrilled… Click. Todd Solondz and I have just completed a 30-minute telephone interview. Thrilled at having gained firsthand knowledge from the director about his latest film “Palindromes,” I rewind the recorder I’ve just used and anxiously hit Play.

OK, off to a great start: I hear my first question being asked clearly, without the slightest nervous inflection. Cue famous director. Here’s where Todd delivers his brilliant discourse on the film’s controversial subject matter. Lengthy pause. No, in fact, prolonged silence. From what I recall of the interview, Todd barely hesitated in responding to any of my questions. This is odd and nerve-wracking.

I’ve now begun frantically fast-forwarding the tape, hoping to hear a voice other than my own talking about Todd’s exciting work. Reality soon hits, however, and I slide dejectedly into my chair. For reasons that can only be attributed to my horrible luck with technology, the recorder recorded only my end of the interview, not Todd Solondz’s. Need I further describe my disappointment?

Since it wasn’t possible to reschedule the interview, I began to reflect on the interesting conversation Todd and I shared, not solely on “Palindromes” but on his casting decisions and rumors surrounding his film “Storytelling.” We had fit a lot into our 30 short minutes, but I’d lost the privilege to quote Todd directly on most of it. Oh well; c’est la vie.

To address “Palindromes”: The film deals with the uncomfortable scenario of a 13-year-old becoming pregnant and wishing wholeheartedly to keep the child. The girl’s parents, after many arguments and anecdotes, persuade her to go through with an abortion and, incidentally, a hysterectomy, thereby nixing her odds of another pregnancy.

Aviva, the young protagonist, soon runs away, determined to achieve motherhood through any means possible. Her adventure is a strange one and lands her in cult-like Christian home for unwanted children, all of whom have physical disorders ranging from dwarfism to epilepsy.

In charge of this curious home is Mama Sunshine, a devout Christian “mother” who provides all the love, nurturing and religious indoctrination that any child could hope for. The Mama Sunshine segment is at once lengthy, hysterical and revelatory. It’s alarming to discover that such avid pro-life supporters could partake in the paid assassination of abortion doctors. But hey, hypocrisy’s intrinsic, be it cloaked or not in religious-minded aims.

That should be enough summarizing to suffice. If I spoiled the last hour or so of this film, I’m not sure I’d sleep soundly. One aspect of “Palindromes” I find fascinating is that Todd cast multiple actors (one is a young boy!) of different ages and races to play the role of Aviva. Each actor appears more than once throughout the film, seemingly in no specific order.

Still, the director’s intent is clear. In an interview with the New York-based blog Gothamist he explained, “For all these metamorphoses that take place — shape, size, skin color, sex, etc. — that [Aviva] still remains a constant. That all sorts of shades and nuances can be brought to this character…”

And now I’ll attempt to relay something that I myself learned from Todd. No, I’m not gloating, but this piece of information furthers my fixation with “Storytelling,” the Solondz film that preceded “Palindromes.” For anyone unfamiliar with “Storytelling,” it’s divided into two parts of unequal length — “Fiction” and “Nonfiction” — and, among other themes, examines the notion of racism in contemporary society.

Upon hearing a rumor that a third segment to this movie was filmed but never used, I decided I should clarify this with Todd (and possibly grovel my way to obtaining a copy). When I asked him to verify the existence of this elusive third part, Todd hesitated briefly and said, “Well, no. It’s actually a two-minute epilogue.”

Stunned, I asked him to provide a short summary, but this proved to be an exercise in futility. Todd absolutely refused to offer any insight into the events of this epilogue, but mentioned that he’s very proud of it, that we, his audience, will never see it (not even as a DVD extra feature) and that it’s extremely politically charged. Well, obviously, my curiosity was piqued tremendously at this point. Upon saying goodbye to this personable and brilliant filmmaker, I was overwhelmed with nothing short of respect for his keeping hidden something he’s so pleased with.

It’s refreshing to learn that someone as accomplished as Todd Solondz still makes art for art’s sake — rather then over saturating the movie industry with everything remotely interesting he creates, he opts to keep some of it beyond the public’s reach.

What I’ll leave you with is one final rant: See everything “Solondz” you can get your hands on (“Welcome to the Dollhouse” is an easy place to start), and rush to CineMagic in Squirrel Hill before “Palindromes” completes its run. Oh, and lastly, never rely fully on technology — triple check all recording devices prior to using them, and, if nothing else, learn to take good shorthand.

E-mail Derek about your favorite Solondz film and/or technological mishaps at