A feature documentary about the powerful allure of a universal myth, Mermaids immerses audiences in a world where fantasies come to life for five extraordinary tail-donning women.

Interview with Writer/Director Ali Weinstein

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thanks! I became interested in the idea of making this film after reading an article in the New York Times Magazine about Weeki Wachee, a mermaid theme park in Florida that’s been in existence since 1947. The interviews with the women who worked there were fascinating – they talked about their job as if it was a completely transformative experience for them – and I wanted to know more about why they felt so drawn to the water and why wearing that mermaid tail allowed them to become different people in their everyday lives.

I’ve always been a water person and I was a competitive synchronized swimmer for many years, so I understood a little bit about the magic of being underwater. I wanted to explore society’s fascination with the mermaid myth through these women at Weeki Wachee and eventually through the other subjects of our film too, who are professional mermaids and members of the mer-community (a growing subculture of people obsessed with mermaids who dress up as mermaids). I was basically interested in the question: what is the psychological effect of being able to put on a tail and embody this female archetype?

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

If you’re into mermaids – and who isn’t? – you should watch this film! But honestly, I view Mermaids as a film about women more than a film about mermaids. The mermaid imagery and mermaid myth is present throughout, but mostly I think it’s a study of five women who are dealing with various issues and who find empowerment and self-confidence through the unlikely act of wearing a tail. So I’m hoping that women of all ages will come out, watch, and feel connected to our subjects who are struggling with issues of loss, aging, and the search for community and self-acceptance.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

This film is about the personal, lived experiences of five women who strive to embody an archetype. Their stories are unique, but some of the struggles that the film reveals them going through are universal ones that we hope many members of our audience will be able to relate to even if they aren’t particularly interested in mermaids. One of my personal goals in making this film was to try to understand why people all over the world have been so drawn to this feminine figure of the water for so long – there are mermaid myths that hail from all over the world: Japan, Russia, West Africa, the North, the Amazon, everywhere.

I don’t know that I have a concrete answer, but I do know that the mermaid represents a certain magical combination of independence and strength as well as loneliness and loss at the same time. Her qualities are both so relatable and aspirational that it begins to make sense that people connect with her so strongly.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

I think I started out wanting to do too much. I wanted to somehow encapsulate the entire global history of mermaids with this film and tell the individual stories of our main subjects. Caitlin helped me streamline the story to focus much more on our five modern-day mermaids while still weaving in references to various mermaid myths. Even that became difficult because there is an inherently different texture between the colourful contemporary mermaid conventions and theme parks that form the background to our film and the ethereal, almost mystical stories of mermaids that come from every corner of the world.

Yet it felt important to keep those mythical segments intact in some way in order to directly link our subjects’ obsessions to the stories that have been passed down through generations that inform how we view mermaids now.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We haven’t shown the film to many people yet. But so far, we’ve been really happy to receive some incredibly positive feedback. We’ve had a few women who have seen the film at various stages – funders, festival directors – reach out to tell us how moved and inspired they were by the film and the stories of our subjects. That always feels really good.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Not yet. We haven’t yet shown it to a large audience, so perhaps we’ll get some of that in the future. We have had several male members of the mer-community reach out to us to tell us how disappointed they are that we don’t include more mermen in the film. There is an under-represented group of mermen out there, and we feel bad that we couldn’t help raise their profile through this film, but ultimately our movie was never meant to be a survey of the mer-community. It was always about women and their connections to this myth. We’ve joked about making Mermen as our sequel.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We’d love to build awareness of Mermaids, and have people come out and watch it at Hot Docs in Toronto and DOXA in Vancouver. We’d also love to connect with other journalists, festivals, and international distributors.

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 Canadian distributor – Films We Like – but we still are looking for an international distributor and sales agent. We’d really like to get the film out there. There’s a big appetite for mermaids right now all over the world, and we know that there are audiences for this film in Asia, Europe, and Australia, so we really hope to make the film available to them in addition to North American audiences.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I really hope that audiences have a good time watching the film. I hope that people laugh at some of the absurdity and feel wonder during the underwater sequences. I also really hope that they feel empathy for our subjects, who don’t all look like your stereotypical image of a mermaid. During a test screening, one audience member said how amazed she was at the strength and beauty of our subjects, and that watching them made her feel strong and beautiful too. If even a few people walk away feeling that way, I will be over the moon.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Why are people drawn to this aquatic female archetype? How do we come to accept ourselves? And how do we find community in our lives?

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I’m currently working full-time as an associate producer on a feature and a TV series with Primitive Entertainment, a documentary production company in Toronto, while slowly developing a couple short film ideas.

My producer and collaborator, Caitlin, is currently working on a short documentary she’s directing set on Fogo Island and a fictional web series based in Toronto.

Interview: April 2017

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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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Film Title: Mermaids

A feature documentary about the powerful allure of a universal myth, Mermaids immerses audiences in a world where fantasies come to life for five extraordinary tail-donning women.

Length: 76 minutes

Director: Ali Weinstein

Producer: Caitlin Durlak

Executive Producer: Ron Mann

Writer: Ali Weinstein

About the writer, director and producer:

Ali Weinstein is an emerging filmmaker from Toronto. Mermaids is her first feature. In addition to directing, she is an Associate Producer at Primitive Entertainment.

Caitlin Durlak is a director and producer based in Toronto. She is currently in production on a short documentary set on Fogo Island and is developing a fictional web series.

Key cast:

Cookie De Jesus, Ralph De Jesus, Vicki Smith, Julz Owen, Rachel Smith, Laurie Smith

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):

Sales agents, distributors, film festivals, journalists

Social media handles:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/mermaidsdoc/

Instagram: @mermaids_the_doc

Twitter: @mermaids_doc

Other: www.mermaidsdocumentary.com

Funders: Super Channel, CMF, Bell Fund, Rogers Cable Network Fund

Made in association with: Super Channel

Where can I see it in the next month?

Hot Docs Apr 28, 29, May 1, May 5

DOXA May 6 & May 13