Outfest Fusion / Melbourne Queer Film Festival 2019 – Undone
Two straight-identified women wake up in the same bed. They've shared a moment of great intimacy but soon become estranged as they try to come to terms with the way they feel about each other and themselves.
Interview with Writer/Director Francesca Castelbuono
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I wanted to make an intimate film about identity, about not fitting into binaries, and about the way we shape our lives and who we are as we try to navigate social norms and constructed meanings.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The film offers a delicate, cinematic window into a moment of intimacy between two women and creates an atmospheric experience for the audience. Brian Fawcett’s beautiful cinematography is particularly effective in drawing in the viewer.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Undone was inspired by my own questioning and reflections on sexuality and coming to terms with the multiplicity of my identity, but also by the stories and conversations shared with other people from the LGBTQ community. The film explores what happens when one’s sense of identity becomes “undone” and labels are no longer so easily applicable, not fitting a worldview in which binaries are the norm.
I personally don’t feel labels are able to capture the complexity of one’s being and experiences. Still, it is through labels that we exist and that our identity is legitimised, so we can make sense of our differences and give order to the chaos that is human multiplicity. It is from this need for social order and meaning that arguably binaries and normativity originate. I'm interested in how individuals can reinforce normative structures because of a fear of deviations, of what is different, of what is unknown. Some of us have the choice to align themselves with normative identities that they don’t necessarily fit, ultimately feeling trapped by seeking meaning and happiness in social approval. These personal and universal themes are at the heart of the film.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
It was my first time directing a narrative short, so my producers encouraged me to write something simple with a small cast and one location, which would allow me to focus on working with the actors. I had already started noting down ideas for Undone, so I went back to my notes and wrote the script. The final film is not too far from the shooting script, however in the edit we had to cut some of the dialogue to make the film more contained.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Feedback has been overall really warm so far, and it meant a lot to realise that people from different backgrounds managed to emotionally connect to Kemi and Megan’s story, beyond their gender or sexual orientation. Most people really got immersed in the film’s intimate feel and became attached to the characters and their journeys. Many have asked what will be next, whether there will be a feature.
The experience of sitting with the audience at Inside Out in Toronto last year was particularly powerful. The audience was engaged in a way that I would have never expected, as I could feel them hold their breaths and being emotionally invested in the characters as if they were recognising themselves on screen. I also appreciated some recent feedback from an audience member, who told me it was refreshing to see a woman of colour in a leading role represented on screen in a way that is still not so often done, especially in drama: not as a victim or socially struggling, but as a young, inquisitive person, experiencing an intimate moment in her life and coming-of-age.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Some male viewers felt that the women act too cold or don’t seem passionate enough. There’s a push and pull, cold and warm dynamic in the film that is intentional and that feels true to me. I wanted to portray the women’s desire and confusion in a way that felt as honest as possible in terms of representing two women experiencing same sex attraction and intimacy for the first time. I didn’t want the film to feel voyeuristic and exploitative. The film’s gaze is female and the feedback made me more aware of how dominant the male gaze still is in defining romantic love and female desire and sexuality in cinema.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I’d love for the film to reach a wider audience, so any exposure helps raising interest and awareness.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Anyone who could help the film reach more audiences! Film festival directors, journalists...
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I love films that stay with you after watching them and are able to raise questions without preaching. I wanted the film to feel intimate and emotional and to resonate with the audience in this sense, but also raise questions about the way we learn to make sense of our identities.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
I wanted to open up a conversation about how we experience attraction and sexuality, through a story of connection and self-discovery.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Lynch, a short thriller about our current social phobia and paranoia is about to start its festival run. I’m also working on a proof of concept sci-fi short entitled The Inheritors and developing my debut feature, an exploration of gender fluidity and bisexuality.
Interview: March 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
Undone
Two straight-identified women wake up in the same bed. They've shared a moment of great intimacy but soon become estranged as they try to come to terms with the way they feel about each other and themselves.
Length: 15:10
Director: Francesca Castelbuono
Producer: Carla Quarto di Palo, Jeremy Parkinson
Writer: Francesca Castelbuono
About the writer, director and producer:
FRANCESCA CASTELBUONO is a director and award-winning writer. Her work has screened at Oscar & BAFTA-qualifying festivals and her latest short film Undone at some of the leading international LGBTQ festivals. Her short film script Faded won a Live Script Reading Award at the British Urban Film Festival supported by Channel 4. The first feature film screenplay she has co-written was awarded research funding from the Finnish Cultural Foundation and is in development.
CARLA QUARTO DI PALOHAS worked for companies such as Hanway Films, Focus Features, Sunray Films and Cornerstone Films. She is producer of documentary Tahrir: Liberation Square and short film In Attesa dell’Avvento – winner of Venice Film Festival’s Horizons Award.
JEREMY PARKINSON is a freelance producer of film and video content. He has worked on feature film development and production for Recorded Picture Company, Hanway Films, The Weinstein Company, and NBC Universal.
Key cast: Alex Gray (Megan), Georgia Curtis (Kemi)
Looking for: distributors, journalists, film festival directors, buyers
Facebook: Undone
Twitter: @FranCastelbuono
Instagram: @francescacastelbuono
Website: www.francescacastelbuono.com
Other: IMDB
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Melbourne Queer Film Festival/Melbourne, Australia - 20, 23 March 2019