For Film's Sake - So Long
Lesbian mumblecore drama So Long follows two women as they grapple with their post-breakup lives.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Caitlin Farrugia and Michael Jones
Watch So Long on Prime Video
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
‘So Long’ follows two women post breakup as they regain independence. Therefore, the purpose of the movie, above artistic expression, was the need for stronger, substantial representation for women. We were sick of women mainly shown as somebody’s wife, daughter, girlfriend, affair or victim so we made the main characters Emily and Ray who aren’t defined by love or abuse and are intricate, detailed individuals. Ultimately, we created ‘So Long’ to promote women’s rights, lgbtqi+ rights and intersectional feminism.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch this film to support female artists and makers! Matthew Eels from Cinema Australia referenced ‘So Long’ for “The impressive performances by both Lisle and Seymour are honest, raw and completely mesmerising.” We worked with a talented ensemble who were able to craft very authentic human experiences.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
We explore friendship, cat owning, independence, sexism, terrible jobs and shitty housemates. Even if the exact scene we’ve portrayed hasn’t happened to you, I think these themes are very relatable. On a political level too, we discuss sexism in the workplace. I think every woman will have an experience of sexism - being raised differently or having fewer opportunities to her male counterparts, domestic violence and abuse, racialised sexism, sexual harassment – sadly, in 2018, gender based abuse is still part of female narrative and existence.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We make naturalistic films. But we know exactly the story we want to tell.
We base characters around the cast we want to work with. The characters are definitely influenced by who they are played by, part fiction part reality. We don’t really do rehearsals; most times we just have a chat. I think the more you rehearse something, the further you move away from naturalism and the sense of authenticity. So when we come to shoot the scene, it’s new and fresh just like a conversation in real life would be. So we have the script, we have the action and then the actors are able to play with dialogue knowing where they need to end up. The writing process is an ongoing element through production.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We premiered at Melbourne Queer Film Festival which we were absolutely stoked about! And, we sold out too. We’ve received some lovely reviews and articles in the meantime. So the reception has been great. At our MQFF Q&A, a lot of audience members gave love which we really appreciate.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
We make films for cheap, shoot quick and everything is based on real experiences. It always surprises us when people are open to independent cinema and our kind of artistic expression. It’s great because it means there is a place for low budget, female centric drama-comedies in the Australian cinema landscape.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We love the opportunity of spreading the word about So Long! Thank you!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
It would be great for ‘So Long’ to have a few more festival plays. Then the next stage would ultimately be to secure distribution. But of course we would love all those people come on board! We’re very keen to collaborate with funding bodies too.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Of course we want people to enjoy and engage with queer cinema and female stories! In particularly women and queer women to feel fairly represented with detail and for the wider audience to enjoy that too. Also, we hope people interpret a sense of authenticity. The shooting style is loose and it’s a highly improvised piece. The limits of a budget can often give birth to a style. And in this case, our limited funds actually accentuated our style of naturalism.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
The conversation we’d like audience members to engage in is female representation. We really wanted to show these women in normalcy: having underwhelming birthdays, dropping your phone in the toilet, being nostalgic, feeding the cat, having a row with a housemate, interviewing for jobs and so on. Women shouldn’t be cast as stereotypes, of course not, no one should be. We need to move away from this very narrow, sexist capturing of women in cinema so that products can actually be relatable.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
At the moment Michael and I are working on another feature film that will be totally improvised. We have a pretty tight scene-by-scene treatment but as for dialogue and actions, that will be created in the moment. We are very excited for this next movie, especially our cast!
Interview: April 2018
_______________________________________________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________________________________________
So Long
Lesbian mumblecore drama So Long follows two women as they grapple with their post-breakup lives.
Length: 70 minutes
Director: Caitlin Farrugia and Michael Jones
Producer: Caitlin Farrugia and Michael Jones
Writer: Caitlin Farrugia and Michael Jones
About the writer, director and producer:
Caitlin Farrugia is a writer from Melbourne who focuses on stories about human connection and social issues.
Michael Jones is a Melbourne based filmmaker whose first feature Lazybones played at a number of festivals around the world and is distributed through Umbrella Entertainment.
Key cast: Kimberley Lisle, Eva Seymour, Kevin Dee, Tamiah Bantum and Patrick Tuikaba
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Instagram handles: @solongfilm @ohuniverse @blazingarrowmedia
Funders: Self funded
Made in association with: CF films ad Blazing Arrow Media
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
For Films Sake, Sunday 15, 3:00pm Event Cinema, George St.