Cheeky and daring, Sugar Baby Alia enacts a scheme to secretly film her encounters with wealthy men, but today her plan takes an unexpected turn.

Interview with Writer/Director Tine Pia Jensen

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

It was a personal experience that inspired me to bring Sugar to life, having once found myself in a business-like relationship, questioning my own values. Looking back I wish I had a small percentage of the cheekiness that the protagonist Alia has. It’s so refreshing when a woman stands up for herself.

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

Sugar-relationships are interesting, because of the powerplay going on; both the man and woman believe they are in control of this relationship, often with the woman reaping financial rewards and the man reaping sexual rewards, but both might lose control in the end.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

With a multifaceted female protagonist, Sugar explores the complexities of the female psyche. I wanted to challenge how we are used to portraying women on screen; the conventional female sexuality is passive, awaiting and soft. Lead character Alia is wild, dominating and aggressive. With Sugar, I’m creating a cheeky and daring take on powerplay between genders.

We see young women today who are bold, unapologetic of their femininity, and actively rebelling against the social patriarchy. It’s inspiring to feel this energy of female empowerment finally coming to the surface. Sugar Baby Alia has this fire, but at the same time I don’t believe you get very far with anger, and fighting fire with fire. She allows her distrust towards men to take hold of her, igniting an anger that is impressively powerful but deeply consequential.

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

Sugar has been a creative monster from start. We had no flattering budget but ambitions to create and artistic experience. Having key professionals coming on board and supporting us made the film reach a higher level than we ever imagined. We’ve brought women in key roles across all stages of production as feel we need to hear more voices and stories from women.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

So far, we’ve noticed audiences enjoy the cheeky yet thought-provoking tone. We’ve managed to combine our playful, whimsical aesthetic and daring female protagonist with quite a deep open ending.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

Sugar baby Alia enacts a scheme to secretly film her encounters with wealthy men, but at the same time she is being filmed by surveillance cameras at the property. In some audience interpretations, this is voyeurism within voyeurism as both Alia and the Sugar Daddy secretly - cautiously - watch one another. Some interpret it as revenge porn. Anyhow I wanted these meta-layers to give the film added depth and create tension.

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

As gender equality becomes a key social issue, we hope to fuel healthy debate amongst audiences surrounding how men and women obtain, maintain or regain power. We particularly want audiences to be inspired by the active, daring women who took control both on and off screen.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

At this point of production we are looking for buyers and distributors to amplify this film’s message and develop the concept into a web series.

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

We hope the audience will get a contemporary and multilayered experience.

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

In today’s hot topic of gender equality, the increasingly popular world of Sugar relationships invites debate. While some women are conflicted with the emptiness of a superficial relationship, some find the sexual control and financial benefit of their sugar lifestyle empowering. We’d love to contribute to this complex debate and tell stories about the different aspects of the female psyche, encouraging women in being whoever they want to whilst being mindful of where they place their energy.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

If we’re successful in securing funding, we intend to take Sugar further and create a full webseries where we delve further into the gendered powerplay, mainly inspired by my interactions with various fascinating women.

Interview: April 2018

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTIAQ+, scifi, 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

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Sugar

Cheeky and daring, Sugar Baby Alia enacts a scheme to secretly film her encounters with wealthy men, but today her plan takes an unexpected turn.

Length: 14:28 min.

Director: Tine Pia Jensen

Producer: Lucy Edmont & Tine Pia Jensen

Writer: Tine Pia Jensen

About the writer, director and producer:

Tine Pia Jensen is Danish film director, producer, writer & editor. Her expertise comes from directing documentary for Danish national TV and led her into starting up as an independent filmmaker. She holds Master in Media Arts, and bachelor in TV directing and is working as a director at Lumuma Films. With an intimate approach in storytelling, she creates a strong visual experience on screen.

Key cast: Priscilla Doueihy. After leading in many shorts, featuring in TV and Web series, and starring in the feature film Suburban Wildlife, Priscilla Doueihy plays the lead role of Alia in Sugar.

Born in Australia, Priscilla spent her childhood in Lebanon before returning to Sydney at the age of 13. She began her professional acting career at the The Actors College of Theatre & Television when she graduated with an advanced diploma in stage and screen. Soon after, she moved to London for the role of Cecilia in Widows for the London Contemporary Theatre and continued stage performances.

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

At this point of production we are looking for buyers and distributors to amplify this film’s message and invest in the concept as a webseries.

Social media handles:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sugarfilm/

Instagram: @_sugarfilm

Other:

Production Company: Lumuma Films

Made in association with:

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

For Films Sake, 14th April 9:15 at Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney