MIA
While seeking refuge in Brooklyn due to an injury that ended her career, cat-sitting is a former Israeli dancer’s ticket to a good night of sleep.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Galia Barkol
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
The process that led to writing the script started over a decade ago, when I was discharged from the mandatory military service in Israel. I dreamed of moving to a big city, with the grand hopes of breaking free of the conditioning of my upbringing and reinventing myself.
The experiment failed, but I discovered that rather than switching one identity with another, life away from home enabled me to let old stories lose their power, and even to challenge my need for self-definition.
And so in MIA, my intention was to capture those moments where life is most vivid - when we find ourselves in between narratives, and in between identities. When Mia loses her ability to dance and her career in Israel, she is forced to let go of the role she had been identified with her whole life, and to see who she might be without her story.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
My hope is for you to walk away with a feeling that perhaps what makes our lives meaningful is less fragile and strict than the roles we take on and the value we attach to them.
When faced with a difficult life transition, we can give ourselves the permission to take a beat – despite society’s pressures to “do” and solve - and proceed from a less reactive mode.
This means that if I’m not a dancer anymore, perhaps I don’t have to fill the void mentally with such urgency. It can be an opportunity to go through a process that proves on a visceral level that losing what I thought was everything, is not the end of “me”; it’s just an end of a story - of a part of my ego. This realization is empowering.
The film offers its audience a glimpse into the experience of being “stuck” in that place and navigating that without running away from it. It offers a different way to look at the “in between” periods in life. We usually spend very little time in this space, but the film invites its viewers to zoom into that period of uncertainty and live in that discomfort and wonder for a little while, which can be cathartic.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
For me they are interchangeable. I try to find the best narrative to serve the question/idea/worldview and vision that I want to put forth. There are many personal stories that can be used to serve the same universal theme.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Writing the script was one of the most challenging, dynamic and surprising parts of creating a feature. What struck me in the process, was that even when I had to trash advanced drafts of the script, the film itself - in its essence - was still there, in my head. Many of the eliminated dialogues translated into the characters’ internal lives and private moments that live under the surface of what we see and hear in the film.
In time, the script became subtler, and I developed trust in my audience, my crew and the work - that the piece would eventually speak for itself, and that there would be no need for the script to “tell” the viewer what the film is about.
I see the film’s form and aesthetics as inseparable of the narrative. They serve and feed each other. And so in the writing, I dedicated a lot of thought to how the story was going to be translated into a cinematic language and ultimately to an emotional experience.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
I learned that women in their 20s-40s are the demographic that generally identifies with the film most. Being in a state of limbo and uncertainty is a situation we all know on some level, but I think that women and other minorities experience it more strongly than others.
To some, watching a young person not “doing” much can be irritating. Taking things in your own hands and getting your life under control are values that rule modern society. The relatively young generation who generally has a bit more of a privilege to take time to explore, relates to it more than those who have never had that luxury and who understandably view productivity as a moral responsibility. Most viewers have expressed that a certain feeling stayed with them after watching the film; that the film has a specific mood and atmosphere that stick.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Yes! As I mentioned above, I learned that there can be something appalling in seeing a young person being unproductive and disoriented. There is also some distance between the viewer and the protagonist in the way the film is written and shot: some is revealed, but she gets to keep her privacy too. Most of the struggle and conflict happen internally, which I think might require more work on the part of the viewer.
I didn’t want to push emotions, which is also why the use of music was always within context (diegetic). I didn’t want the audience to “feel for her,” but to go through her experience themselves, and that can be uncomfortable. I was surprised by the variety of interpretations that the film can have. I quickly figured and am working on accepting that I need to let go of my intentions and let people make of it what they will.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I am happy to join this impressive community of creators who are innovators and bring new conversations to the table. I’m glad to have a strong platform to introduce MIA to a bigger audience and share my work and thoughts on filmmaking with fellow filmmakers.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I’d love to connect with sales agents, distributors, festivals and journalists.
Additionally, I am developing a comedy series titled “Deep Yearning” (more on it below). For this project, I am looking to connect with potential producers and creative partners.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I think there are interesting conversations to be had about this subject matter, especially in the "Us" vs. "Them" mentality we live in in our current social/political climate.
I believe that the real leaps in personal growth happen internally, when we give ourselves a break and take ourselves outside of our own context. When we aren’t as married to the story of “Me” as an absolute, unshakeable truth, we also become more open to seeing “the other” in a less conceptualized, strict way and to acknowledging their value regardless of the role they happen to play.
So I guess the desired impact would be world peace? :)
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Who are you without your story?
What would happen if you loosened the narrative that consumes your mind and didn’t rush to replace it with another?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I am currently developing a comedy series titled “Deep Yearning,” set in a semi-futuristic world which is centered around women’s desire.
MIA’s editor Niv Klainer is working on a series he writes and co-directs, and he is currently preparing for the production of its pilot.
Interview: June 2018
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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
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MIA
While seeking refuge in Brooklyn due to an injury that ended her career, cat-sitting is a former Israeli dancer’s ticket to a good night of sleep.
Length: 70 min
Director: Galia Barkol
Producer: Galia Barkol
Writer: Galia Barkol
About the writer, director and producer:
NYC-based actor, director, writer and piano player, Galia Barkol wrote, directed and starred in the dramedy feature MIA (Sundance Screenwriters’ Labs semifinalist) - now on the festival circuit. Galia recently appeared on screen in the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival VR section, and is currently developing a pilot for an original comedy series. Galia graduated from Paris-Diderot University in Paris, France, with a B.A in Film & The Performing Arts. She was awarded a scholarship for the program MICEFA, with distinction, and completed an Acting conservatory program at HB Studio. She founded Ring the Bells Productions, where she developed and produced several experimental shorts, with the intention to explore the relationship between structure and narrative in film. Through discoveries made in these works, Galia crystallized her approach to filmmaking and acting. For more on Galia Barkol visit www.galiabarkol.com
Key cast: Nate Washburn, Galia Barkol, Dan Toren, Gil Givoni, Lucas Rainey Magdalena Borlando, Daniel Danielson, Brenda Crawley.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Yes
Social media handles:
Facebook: facebook.com/miafeaturefilm | https://www.facebook.com/galia.barkol
Twitter: @galiabarkol
Instagram: @galiabarkol
Funders: Crowdfunded