Chicago Feminist Film Festival 2019 – Belly of the Beast
An introverted inventor works in a desolate lab, using his scientific briefcase to create compact food extracts. When his boss confronts him about the state of business, the inventor increases productivity and discovers a new method extraction. This film communicates without the use of language or dialogue and questions the ethics of experience.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Lilly Warren
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made this film because I was curious about the value of experience, what defines it, and how people truly experience their own lives and recognize their own senses.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
In the short film Belly of the Beast, the main character searches innocently for the unfettered joy others seem to come by so easily, but his objectives are unclear. What does he really seek, and what do others lose as he takes from them to attain his desires? This film expresses interactions without the use of dialog.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
It always starts with a question: where is value in experience, and where does truth exist? The answers might appear in actions, intentions, or the tension between the two. My art examines where comfort and familiarity give way to vulnerability, or where seemingly harmless engagement with another person’s joy turns into a leeching of their happiness. Threat is always there, possibly, even if unrecognizable as such. Intentions submit to something else, something selfish and perilous, or pure. One never knows until in too deep.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
The core of this story remained consistent from start to finish. However, one character's presence changed quite a lot from my initial vision to the final edit. The secretary was born as an instigator, a muse, a wise but quiet force that was able to see beyond the distractions of company goals and products. I'm not sure if all of that is still present in the film after the edit, but I hope her core inspirations remain in her supporting role and presence on screen.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Film festivals.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Since this film communicates without language, I think it could be easily received by an international audience interested in quirky storytelling and vibrant imagery.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Can experiences be stolen or otherwise experienced synthetically?
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I'm currently in pre-production on a true-crime docuseries called "Uncoiled." The autobiographical story aims to solve the many mysteries remaining after the death of my husband. Here's a little more about the project:
Soon after filmmaker Lilly Coyle discovers her husband’s hidden camera video of girls in bathrooms and reports him to police, her house erupts in flames, killing him and leaving her behind to unravel what happened. Uncoiled follows her attempt to resolve the mysteries of the fire, her husband’s secret life, and how she married a man possibly out to kill her.
This true-crime documentary follows Lilly as she investigates Mike’s secret life, sexual proclivities, and motivations for starting the house fire that ultimately killed him. The series seeks to understand Mike’s crimes while interrogating the nature of truth and the cultural norms that inform how women are trained to ignore gas-lighting and other forms of domestic violence that do not leave visible marks.
Interview: February 2019
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
Belly of the Beast
An introverted inventor works in a desolate lab, using his scientific briefcase to create compact food extracts. When his boss confronts him about the state of business, the inventor increases productivity and discovers a new method extraction. This film communicates without the use language or dialogue and questions the ethics of experience.
Length: 11:00
Director: Lilly Warren
Producer: Nova Czarnecki and Lilly Warren
Writer: Lilly Warren
About the writer, director and producer:
Experimental filmmaker LILLY WARREN’s screenings include the Ann Arbor Film Festival and Milwaukee Underground and numerous site-specific installations from museums to bridges to zoos. Previous work includes experimental shorts: Making Bed July, Polkadiddles, and Brother Heroic; video installations: Polar Bears, Man of the House and Borderlines and several short documentaries for Grandmothers Beyond Borders. She is a Senior Lecturer at UW-Milwaukee, where she earned her MFA.
Key cast: David Pulliam (Inventor), Ashely Coffey (Secretary), Vic Czarnecki (Boss)
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? The Chicago Feminist Film Festival, Chicago IL, Friday March 1st 2019, Columbia College, Chicago.