Queens World Film Festival 2020 – Affliction
Two coworkers contemplate the aftermath of an encounter.
Interview with Writer/Producer Kelsey Rauber and Director/Producer Christina Raia
Watch Affliction here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Kelsey: Thank you so much! The subject of consent has been widely discussed. I thought of the concept for Affliction around the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court Justice. We heard from Christine Blasey Ford, which reignited talks about Anita Hill. And many different opinions around consent surfaced which really ran the gamut in the definition. So, I thought to myself: What if consent were no longer self-defined? What if our bodies, through evolution, created a defense mechanism to combat nonconsensual intercourse. That’s really what ignited the idea for this film.
Christina: I was really intrigued by the idea from the moment Kelsey shared it. It spoke to my frustrations surrounding the lack of self-reflection and tangible progress in 2019 despite consent finally being a topic of discussion in the zeitgeist. I really liked the way the script played with both timely and timeless issue and did so via a high concept conveyed through a small contained encounter. We both felt like it’d be a compelling way to create more nuanced conversation.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Kelsey: I think this film offers a different perspective on how we’ve been discussing consent. It leaves you challenging your own preconceived notion. It’s a quick but intense watch, definitely worth your time.
Christina: And even if it doesn’t challenge your personal perspective, I think it sparks dissection and creates pathways of approaching the subject with someone who maybe wouldn’t normally engage in such a topic.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The story is told through the perspective of two coworkers but it's not exclusive to work. It tackles subjects of drinking too much and differing interpretations of unspoken moments.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Kelsey: I tend to write very dialogue-heavy scripts, so a lot of early on-the-nose wording has been removed. And I think over the course of its development, it has been shortened to work in tension through silence rather than dialogue.
Christina: Yes, the script was originally born out of a weekly writing group between Kelsey, our frequent collaborator Ryan Kramer, and myself. We spent a few sessions workshopping the script before I was officially attached to direct. Another key difference is that the script was much more overt in its world-building from the beginning, specifically through news reports and prop design. There’s a pandemic of sorts happening in the world of the film that the characters only allude to in the final edit. Part of that came from a lack of budget, we didn’t have the resources to create the materials needed to showcase the severity of the situation upfront; but also, I didn’t want to set the context up for the audience from the top. I decided to have the film only live in very intimate, uncomfortable moments between the characters and, as Kelsey said, build in lingering beats of silence. The broader world context comes through in subtle bits of dialogue and set dressing, which the audience may miss. But the ending should get the point across!
What type of feedback have you received so far?
The feedback so far has been really rewarding. Only a very small set of people have seen it since our festival rounds have only just begun. We anticipate it pushing some buttons once it's out screening around the country. So we're preparing for that mentally, and ultimately looking forward to the challenging discussions that may come out of it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Kelsey: It’s been a little surprising. Even though the film was set out to challenge the status quo, it’s still always rewarding and surprising when people actually feel the way you intended them to. One person told me they thought about it and first didn’t agree with what the film was saying but then came around and realized that it was clear what had actually happened.
Christina: My favorite comment came from a man who said it made him think about how people and society at large are open to acknowledging degrees of wrongdoing when it comes to broad forms of violence (people will often own up to and/or accept the consequences of inflicting harm on someone when that wasn’t their intention), but we don’t have that same willingness to discuss and critique our behavior when it comes to sexual violence. He went on to say that he thinks it’d be a useful tool for getting other cismen to think critically about their past actions and social conditioning. That was a really rewarding and pleasantly surprising response.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
As with most of the work CongestedCat Productions produces, our intent is to change hearts and minds on a tangible scale. Our hope is for people to examine more critically how we talk about consent.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We’re looking for journalists, specifically. Once the film’s festival run is over, we’ll be releasing it online for free with hopes of reaching as wide an audience as possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We’re hoping to get as much feedback on the film as possible. I think just seeing if we can change or challenge minds would be a great outcome.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Imagine a world where consent is decided by your body, not your mind. Would your perception of right and wrong change?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We’re currently working on a Horror Comedy, which will be the first time we are writing a feature film together.
Interview: March 2020
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
Affliction
Two coworkers contemplate the aftermath of an encounter.
Length: 5:42
Director: Christina Raia
Producer: Christina Raia, Kelsey Rauber
Writer: Kelsey Rauber
About the writer, director and producer:
CHRISTINA RAIA is a New York City-based Writer/Director and the Founder of CongestedCat Productions. She focuses on character-driven narrative projects that explore social structures through humor and horror. Her work, consisting of over a dozen short films, a web series, and two feature films, has screened at film festivals around the world and gained a large online following through multiple crowdfunding campaigns and coverage on press outlets such as Indiewire and BuzzFeed. Through a desire to support other filmmakers, she works for Seed&Spark as the Head of Education, teaching and empowering creators to build their audience and crowdfund their work. She also runs IndieWorks, a monthly screening and community-building series showcasing short films by other New York filmmakers.
KELSEY RAUBER is a New York-based screenwriter/producer. Kelsey was raised in Aargau, Switzerland in a bilingual household and always had an affinity towards the arts. She moved to New York City in 2008 to pursue music which ignited her love for storytelling. Kelsey and her creative partner Christina Raia created the hit web series Kelsey. It became a critical and viral success. Under the CongestedCat umbrella, she went on to write and produce three shorts, a comedy pilot, and the feature film About a Donkey, which is now on VOD.
Key cast: Nabil Vinas, Briana Swann
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors
Facebook: CongestedCat Productions LLC
Twitter: @CongestedCat
Instagram: @congestedcat
Hashtags used: #Affliction
Website: www.congestedcat.com/affliction
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: CongestedCat Productions, LLC.
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Capital City Film Festival/Lansing, Michigan (which was meant to be in April but got postponed to the summer - date tbd). With cancellations and postponements, it's hard to say when our next screening will be at this point.