Coven Film Festival 2019 - One Small Step
A 9-year-old girl attempts to juggle the responsibilities of school and her younger siblings after her mother goes missing.
Interview with Director Aqsa Altaf
Watch One Small Step here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The main theme of the story is about making difficult choices – choices that can’t necessarily be categorized as good or bad. Travis did a great job of making that evident in every scene. The emotion and humanity of it resonated with me – I was financially supporting my family of five members for four years. I worked three jobs, seven days a week to make ends meet. Every day I thought things would get better if I worked harder until one day I realized that if I don’t make the choice to think big picture, I would forever be trying to save a sinking ship. I made the decision to move to the USA – a decision that felt like the biggest mistake at first but turned out to be the biggest blessing.
A decision that filled me with guilt at first but turned out to be my calling. Me and my family are in a better place – physically and most important mentality because of it. The main character of this story is making a similar choice at the end of the film – a choice that will define who she will become one day. It is about growing up and realizing if you want to be defined by your circumstance or if you want to create your own identity. I felt an immediate need to tell this story and preparation met opportunity when this film came my way.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
This film not only examines the consequences of an issue that is socially-relevant and important to talk about, but at the same time it is a personal journey about a girl coming of age in and figuring out how to make it all work for herself and her family. Something like going on a field trip is a life changing decision for this girl and it shouldn't be.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Same as above. It is about making decisions that are not good or bad – not black and white. It is about growing up fast or being forced to grow up fast and choosing who you want to be.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Yes. It evolved a lot. We had a time limit of 12 minutes as we were making this as part of our thesis film at USC so that restriction in itself puts a lot of challenges in front of us. So we had to figure out how to evolve the character and the world around her and not make it contrived in the process.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
A lot of the feedback we received was boiled down to taste and not story so differentiating that was the biggest lesson we took as creators. Also a lot of the feedback during script phase was how we need more of a conclusion in the end which we thought wouldn't fit in a 12 minute film as well as it felt like knowing what would happen after is a different chapter or story and did not belong in this film.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It did in a good way. There were some amazing feedback that helped us develop the script in a great way and some feedback that took us down a path that we found ourselves lost in only to learn a lot about the film and our voice.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We want this film to reach as many people as possible. We are proud of what we created here as students and want this film to help us advance to the next phase in our career.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Film Festival Directors and Journalists. We have an awesome distributor attached currently called Ouat Media – they are fantastic.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I would love to keep making social realistic dramas. I finished writing a feature script about the Syrian Refugees crisis recently that has been close to my heart. The next thing I want to work on is a thriller. I want to explore that genre and see how I can combine what I know with what I learn. I am really excited to see where it takes me and what comes out of it.
Interview: January 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
One Small Step
A 9-year-old girl attempts to juggle the responsibilities of school and her younger siblings after her mother goes missing.
Length: 13:18
Director: Aqsa Altaf
Producer: Alexandra Christensson and Derek Tonks
Writer: Travis Rush
About the writer, director and producer:
Los Angeles-based filmmaker AQSA ALTAF loves to capture moments that feel like they are stolen from everyday life. Being raised in Kuwait by Pakistani and Sri Lankan parents, Aqsa is fascinated with telling stories that are diverse in nature. She loves to dig for stories, characters and circumstances that show the audience the part of the world that usually doesn’t get much attention.
TRAVIS RUSH graduated form USC Film School. He transferred in 2015 from Moorpark Community College. He enjoys writing and directing films that address recent social topics that he can learn from, and stylistically tells stories that fall in the realm of realism.
Key cast: Charlie Reddix (Dasani), Destiny Toliver (Aviana), Avanna King (Chanel)
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors, producers
Facebook: Aqsa Altaf
Twitter: @AqsaAltaff
Instagram: @aqsaaltaf
Website: www.aqsaaltaf.com