Citizen Jane Film Festival - Behind The Wall
An injured dancer escapes her old life and moves to a dilapidated apartment – only to discover a musical surprise behind the wall.
Interview with Writer:/Director Bat-Sheva Guez
Watch Behind The Wall here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Thank you! The story for Behind the Wall was once a subplot in an early draft of my feature script entitled, And How She…. which illustrates different magical encounters in an old Brooklyn neighborhood, all told with a very strong sense of place. This short began as a seed of a story that never made it into the final script for And How She… So I planted it and helped it grow into a film all its own, a film that could almost serve as a proof of concept for the feature project, set in a similar universe, but with different characters and a different plot. Right now, we’re harnessing the energy from Behind the Wall’s success to make the feature.
While the feature And How She… tells a story about artists, the short film, Behind the Wall, tells a story about dancers, and specifically a dancer who is forced into stillness after an injury. I was very curious to tell a story about what happens to a person when she’s moving full steam ahead on a particular path, and then abruptly stops. What sort of things will she notice when she has no choice but to be still? I used to joke that if I encountered a magical portal to another world, I wouldn’t even notice because I’d be too busy to see it. So I envisioned a scenario where a person has the opportunity to stop and discover the magic around her.
Also, I have been plagued by loud radiators in my old Brooklyn apartment building. And I loved daydreaming about a couple who dances to the late-night percussive clatter, rather than putting pillows over their heads and cursing (as I am wont to do.)
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
If you love beautiful production design, a story with heart, a sprinkling of zany music, a thread of eerie magic, and a bit of joyful dance, you’ll love this film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Both my feature script, And How She… and this short, Behind the Wall, touch lightly upon themes of gentrification, and specifically, how gentrification affects the senior citizen population. What does it mean to have your community pulled from you as you grow old? It’s something I think about as I watch the city change around me. Especially now that these old neighborhoods are changing so quickly, I feel a strong desire to document them before they change forever – but document them in a fiction sense – in a larger-than-life sense.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
When shooting Behind the Wall, it was helpful for me to be both the writer and director of the film because it allowed me to solve last-minute production problems with rewrites. For example, during our third and last shoot day, we looked with mounting dismay at the number of pages we had left to shoot. Production was just taking longer than we had anticipated and with every tick of the second-hand came the age-old question of the filmmaker: Were we going to make our day?
So I sat down with my script amid the bustle of the crew and started cutting. I cut out several pages and quickly wrote a short scene to connect the story between the severed section. We were able to make our day and finish the shoot - with a tighter script to boot!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback for Behind the Wall has been overwhelmingly positive. A lot of dancers and former dancers have approached me to say they were moved by the story and had similar experiences during their own recovery from injury (minus the magic, of course). But it was very touching to see how they felt that the film was telling their story in some ways. Through this story, I became connected to people I had never met, people who watched the film and saw themselves in it. That was very special for me.
Behind the Wall did well on the festival circuit, playing at 20 fests and picking up awards in every category along the way, including, among others, Best Director, Best Short Film, Best Production Design, Best Sound Design, and a $10k camera grant from Panavision for Best Cinematography. It played at festivals like the Hamptons Int’l Film Fest, the Rhode Island Int’l Film Fest, Citizen Jane Film Fest and more. We also garnered a lot of press about the project, and I was moved by the positive reviews that the film received.
I took a few risks with this film, telling a story where the protagonist has no spoken dialogue, a story that vacillates between stillness and movement. I challenged the audience to be still as they watched the slower scenes, and then to relax and enjoy during the faster, percussive moments. So it was scary to show it to its first audiences. Would the story resonate with them? And I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it did.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Right now, we are full steam ahead to finance and produce my feature film, And How She… which is set in a similar universe to Behind the Wall but depicts different characters and a different story. I would love for your readers to learn about this film, as we are looking to produce it in 2017.
And How She… is an art world drama seasoned with magic, experimental sequences, and a dash of whimsy. It tells the tale of a young artist named Asha who embarks on an electric collaboration with a once-successful sculptor, a man in the midst of his own creative crisis. But is this collaboration moving her career forward or burying her in anonymity? Is her artistic identity becoming indelibly stamped with someone else’s voice? All alone in the city, Asha tries to navigate her way through a world where the rules don’t always make sense and where magic is mixed with the mundane. She seeks advice from her neighbors: eccentric elderly folk with their own kind of street magic.
The story is bookended with experimental sequences and features work by real artists, so that the film is itself a work of art.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We have a great team assembled so far for And How She…, with producers Lanie Zipoy and Gina Bouchard attached to the project. We’re currently seeking financing.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
For And How She… I would love for your readers to contemplate what it means to be an artist in an era where artists themselves have become their own brands. Behind each celebrity artist is a team of invisible people helping to make the work. Who are these invisible people? Are they content to be an unappreciated part of someone’s larger ego?
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
We are currently in the financing phase of this feature film, And How She… and are looking for anyone interested to invest in the project! Please contact me for more details.
Interview: November 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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
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Behind the Wall
An injured dancer escapes her old life and moves to a dilapidated apartment – only to discover a musical surprise behind the wall.
Length: 17 min
Director: Bat-Sheva Guez
Producer: Bat-Sheva Guez & Gina Bouchard
Writer: Bat-Sheva Guez
Key cast: Alexandra Turshen, Karen Lynn Goreny, Lou Patane
About the writer, director and producer:
Bat-Sheva Guez weaves dance, magic, and experimental techniques into visually compelling, character-driven stories. She has directed over a dozen short films and screened them in festivals worldwide. Guez is the recipient of the JT3 ARTIST AWARD for Screenwriting & Directing. She won BEST DIRECTOR at the Art of Brooklyn Film Fest for her latest film, Behind the Wall. The film has screened at 20 festivals worldwide, winning multiple awards including Best Cinematography at the Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival, Best Production Design at the Canberra Shorts Film Fest, and Best Short Film at the Moondance Film Fest. Guez was also awarded the “Write By the Sea” Screenwriting Retreat from the Lighthouse Int’l Film Festival.
Guez directs videos and branded content for clients like Lincoln Center, Conde Nast, JP Morgan Chase, and other non-profits, dance companies, think-tanks and brands. She is currently in the financing stage of a feature film, entitled And How She....
More at: www.batshevaguez.com