Jasmin Britney loves high-heeled shoes that are impossible to walk in.

Interview with Writers/Directors Virva Kunttu and Vuokko Kunttu

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

We fell in love with the main character of our documentary, Jasmin Britney. We wanted to make a film that shines and sparkles but also works as a mirror of the audience’s prejudices.

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

This film might teach you something about yourself.

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

The film is pretty much exactly like the original script. The end result is very close to what we imagined before starting the filming. Even though the film is a documentary we had a very specific vision of how it should be.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Very good feedback. The best thing has been that our film has been a subject of many conversations, it had raised a lot of questions about body image, disability, prejudices, femininity etc.

The film became a phenomenon in Finland, it got hundreds of thousands of views in YLE, the Finnish broadcast company. Our film has been shown in a lot of schools as educational material. A lot of newspapers and magazines wrote about film and the phenomenon around it. We also won the Best Short film at Helsinki international film festival and the Jussi prize for the best short film of 2018.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

We were positively surprised that the audience got the point we were trying to make. It’s not always guaranteed that we as filmmakers succeed on what we are trying to say. But also there were a lot of interesting thoughts and feedback from the audience that we had not even thought about before.

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

Our hope is of course that as many people as possible would see our film.

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

Is it wrong to dedicate your life to things are beautiful and to collect designer shoes that cost over 5000 euros? Why is it that collecting feminine beautiful things is considered shallow and wrong? Is this lifestyle more acceptable to some people than others?

Interview: April 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

Star Shaped Scar

Jasmin Britney loves high-heeled shoes that are impossible to walk in.

Length: 12:40

Director: Virva & Vuokko Kunttu

Producer: Anna-Maija Heinonen

Writer: Virva & Vuokko Kunttu

About the writer, director and producer:

VIRVA and VUOKKO KUNTTU wrote and directed their first fiction short film Milk which won the main prize at the Helsinki Short Film Festival 2013. Milk was featured in YLE Uusi Kino and at several film festivals. Their latest short documentary Star Shaped Scar won the Jussi prize for the Best Short Film in 2018, was viewed almost 400 000 times at Yle Areena and won Best Short Film at Helsinki International Film Festival.

ANNA-MAIJA HEINONEN has been working for three years as a production manager and associate producer at the production company franckforstén, and have had the privilege to observe how well structured and visually ambitious documentaries are made. That has led to a growing passion to produce ambitious films myself. Star Shaped Scar is my debut as a producer.

Key cast: Jasmin Britney Koskiranta

Hashtags used: #starshapedscar

Made in association with: Yle, AVEK, SES

Funders: Yle, AVEK, SES

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Hot Docs/ Toronto - 26th April