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With "The East," director Zal Batmanglij crafts a combination of spy thriller and intimate romance against the backdrop of eco-terrorism, pitting the titular anarchist collective against the faceless corporations polluting the environment. It's a group facing an established system -- exactly how Batmanglij felt when he, alongside "Another Earth" director Mike Cahill and lead Brit Marling, moved to Hollywood in 2008 to try their luck at filmmaking. Struggles early on led Batmanglij and Marling away from La for a summer of traveling amongst "freegan" communities, dumpster-diving and spending as little money as possible. This experience formed the start to what would eventually become "The East," and Batmanglij spoke to us recently about that journey, as well as his experience collaborating with Fox Searchlight on his first studio project. But first, he discussed the possibility of releasing his AFI thesis film, "The Recordist" (also starring Marling), in future. Batmanglij: The...