My Eyes Are Up Here
A funny and heartwarming vignette of what started as a one-night stand and became a physically different woman’s mission to get the morning-after pill. The only thing in her way is... everything!
Interview with Director Nathan Morris, Writer Aminder Virdee and Actor Jillian Mercado
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
NATHAN: After reading the script I just loved the central character, her tone and her way of dealing with the hurdles. I loved her attitude it really resonated with me and I loved the way it was written, so I really wanted to be a part of this project and this team to bring my vision to it. It excited me. This project was all about being a part of a team, enabling people, teaching people and learning from people. I learned so much on this project. And for me, quite often, it was about doing my little bit of directing and getting away and letting other people have their voice.
AMINDER: There's no story like this, I don't think I've seen a story like this pretty much anywhere. And this film is really important to me, because as a really young child, I noticed straight away that there was no brown representation of disabled people on TV.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
NATHAN: You've never seen a film like this before - we actually want to challenge your expectations. People often see that disabled people are asexual, and having this film is to push back against that.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
NATHAN: The themes of this film are so universal, yet so unique at the same time. We're all experienced doubt and not knowing if we should trust someone when falling in love, and that's the essence of the story - but it has many layers on top of that, despite it being a simple story. It's also about not judging people by the way they look, but mostly I feel we can all relate to the times of not knowing when to let someone in and test them.
AMINDER: This film comes from lived experience. I created a performance called 'What's wrong with you?' which is a question I get all the time. I was really intrigued by the fact that in the audience, people really weren't sure whether they should laugh. And I found that really funny and interesting.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
NATHAN: The basic story remained the same. Arthur and Mindi did such a great job - but we tweaked it in places to say more through visual cues, rather than using dialogue. The old 'show don't tell' thing. It was tricky in places as I wanted us to really feel for her, she has an awful day but NOT because she's disabled, because she's, y'know a person, like you, like me - and we've all had those days, but I have to say it was eye-opening for me to see just how tough some people have it - I wanted to show that as well - all of what happened is based on real events. The last scene was slightly ad-libbed. Ben (who played Tom) was amazing, leading it, slightly changing it with me every take to create true surprise (one of the hardest emotions to perform!). His part was much harder than it looks - getting the balance of him wanting to impress her but not being a push-over is a tricky balance - but he really nailed it.
AMINDER: It was really interesting, seeing the script come to life because elements of it were through my lived experience. It was very bizarre. It was really funny. I think the best part of it was knowing that everyone was really invested in getting this film, to fruition, getting it across the line and ensuring that it's seen, especially with Nathan, the director, to ensuring that the gaze was correct. That's important because everyone deserves to feel represented.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
NATHAN: It's been great! and really interesting - sitting in London on the Southbank for the BFI FF to a sold-out audience as a nerve-racking and amazing experience. People weren't quite sure when to laugh which was interesting, it was that the joke didn't land (I hope) or it was the fact there was a disabled person on screen during that moment - people aren't used to seeing disabled people portrayed like this - and that felt great. Most people really *feel* for Jillian's character, people relate to her as a woman first and foremost and that makes me really happy.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
NATHAN: I think it made us really happy that it's resonating with people.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
NATHAN: Exposure - getting the word out there - getting Aminder and Jillian's names out there - they're both amazing. It's a tough game and this film was so very difficult to get made (and I often shoot in jungles) - this was tougher, but I'm really proud of it - I want as many people as possible to see it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
NATHAN: All of the above!!! We'd LOVE to extend this into a feature, so we're all ears and we have a lot of great ideas.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
JILLIAN: Projects like this are very important, specifically, because the representation has always been lacking in film and media, to the point where it affects a lot of people's mental health and emotional state when they're trying to figure out themselves. But if we have films like this, where we're humanizing us where we're, you know, having joyous stories, it makes such a huge change. Because then people can feel like they're a part of the world. They're a part of society, and they can live and dream and do things that don't necessarily have to be hindered by society's ableist views.
Interview: January 2023
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
My Eyes Are Up Here
A funny and heartwarming vignette of what started as a one-night stand and became a physically different woman’s mission to get the morning after pill. The only thing in her way is... everything!
Length: 14:00
Director: Nathan Morris
Producer: Katie Dolan, Naomi Wallwork and Vanessa Muir
Writer: Aminder Virdee and Arthur Meek
About the writer, director and producer:
NATHAN MORRIS began his career making award-winning documentaries in New Zealand. In 2000 he set sail for London where he worked in music, comedy and branded content, directing and writing for artists and brands, such as Sony, BBC, Discovery, Simon Amstell, The Foo Fighters, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga (including Popworld, “history’s greatest music TV show”, according to The Guardian). Nathan’s first short film At Dawn, won Directors Choice at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. His second film People Are Only Interesting When You Get To Know Them, was selected for three Oscar-qualifying festivals including the Austin Film Festival.
AMINDER VIRDEE is a South Asian transdisciplinary multi-artform and STEM artist; activist; writer; trained and lived experience-based intersectional disability inclusion and access consultant and speaker with over fifteen years of experience, and a Trustee at UK’s leading disability-led live music accessibility organisation Attitude is Everything. Aminder is also the founder, community organiser and workshop facilitator of Disabled Intersectional Voices in the Arts (DIVA), and a co-founder of Cripjoy, both communities of practice are disability and majority BIPOC-led. In 2012, Aminder received the Merrill Lynch Local Hero Award due to her leading role in disability campaigns. Aminder’s art and theatre work has been commissioned, exhibited, performed and screened internationally across many galleries, organisations, venues, and festivals, such as the European Film Festival and National Gallery X. Her work was recently published in the winter special of BFI’s International Film Magazine ‘Sight and Sound’ as one of four works noted as the ‘best of 2021’s experimental cinema’. Aminder holds a Master’s Degree with first-class distinction from Central St Martins University. My Eyes Are Up Here is based on her lived experience.
ARTHUR MEEK is a writer and actor. His theatre work has been staged internationally and taught in schools. He worked on New Zealand's highest-rating scripted drama Shortland Street to help deliver 5x23m shows/week. He's the co-creator of the satirical news show, Feedback (TVNZ), and received a New Zealand Film Commission Seed Grant for the feature script The Wanker. Sir Peter Jackson supported the film adaptation of his 2016 show On the Conditions & Possibilities of Hillary Clinton Taking Me as Her Young Lover which is currently available on Amazon Prime.
KATIE DOLAN was a Development & Sales Executive at Stink.TV before she moved into freelance production, and worked on a series of commercials, music videos and shorts, as well as The Grand Budapest Hotel. Katie then joined Caviar TV as Head of Music and Content, winning a number of nominations and awards at the UKMVAs, Brits, VIVO, Cannes Lions, D&AD, Shots and NME Awards. In 2015 Katie was recruited to run Black Dog Films, the Music, Arts and Documentary division of Ridley Scott Associates. She directed the company to film production, with the feature Undergods, supported by the British Film Institute and nominated for Best Film at Fantasia Film Festival (2020), and at the British Independent Film Awards. Katie is now a freelance Producer and Executive. She has projects with a diverse array of multi-award-winning filmmakers and is working with the British Film Institute, Ffilm Cymru, and BBC Films.
NAOMI WALLWORK is a New Zealander who started her career as a commercial lawyer and now works in legal and business affairs for various scripted production countries in the UK. She worked for seven years in New Zealand screen funding agencies (five years as Head of Business Affairs and Screen Incentives Manager at the NZ Film Commission and two years at NZ On Air). Naomi produced Yellow is Forbidden, a feature documentary that was NZ’s Foreign Language Submission at the 2019 Academy Awards and has a number of film and TV projects in development.
VANESSA MUIR’s storytelling career began with investigative documentaries for ABC Radio in Sydney, and then pioneering digital advertising campaigns in New York and London. She was Production Manager for the independent British feature Honeymooner, and Producer on the feature I’m Not in Love. Vanessa experienced a stroke in 2016. Her intensive (and ongoing) rehabilitation included relearning how to walk and dealing with cognitive changes – an experience of disability that informed the way My Eyes Are Up Here looked at all aspects of production. She is currently pursuing her interest in advancing accessible filmmaking as part of her Master’s Degree at the Australian Film Television Radio School.
Key cast: Jillian Mercado (Sonia), Ben Cura (Tom), Pooky Quesnel (Lillian), Colin Hoult (Phil)
Looking for: sales agents, journalists, film festival directors and buyers
Facebook: Crutches Film Crew
Website: wipmedia.co.uk/meauh
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: BFI & BBC
Funders: Press kit here
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Dates are subject to change BUIT we'll keep the site update ! https://wipmedia.co.uk/meauh