This is the fantastical world of Della Mortika, where steam is king, where life is hard, but where adventure is always adventure.

Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Marisa Martin

Watch Della Mortika: Carousel of Shame here:

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

Thank you! We're very excited to be screening at Flickerfest. I wanted to make a film in collaboration with my mother Geraldine, a writer herself, to make a story about resourceful, intelligent girls in a steampunk world. We wanted to create a beautiful but dangerous place where our three sisters would have to use their wits and smarts to survive. I had also been inspired by other paper animators such as Jamie Caliri and wanted to try the technique.

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

It's beautiful, it's fun, it's occasionally silly, but it has a true heart where family is the strong bond that will save the sisters in the dangerous world they find themselves in. We made the film with a young audience in mind, but it seems to play to a much wider age group than we expected. Adults really love the film, the visuals in particular and the great music (by composer Munro Melano) are designed to make the viewer experience wonder.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The theme of family is the base of the whole film - how families work, how siblings interact, how love is stronger than a few disagreements. The fail-safe of a strong family connection - where you know they'll have your back. That's what's tested in the film - Beatrix behaves quite badly due to feelings of jealousy and envy she can't deal with, but her sisters will (eventually) overcome that.

The world of Della Mortika exists inside a pop-up book with paper sets and characters and sets that rise from the pages.

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

The script has changed a lot, we added a few extra scenes after we initially finished the animation and the edit to ensure the story flowed. The whole film has been in motion for seven years, so times have changed, as have I, and subsequently the film. We also got better at the animation style and faster as we went along.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

We have had strong positive responses to the visual style and overall feel of the film. Lots of laughter as well, which is great.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

I had one person say that the girls were too pretty to be smart or valued on their intelligence. I don't think physical appearance has anything to do with intelligence. When we pitched the project as a TV series a few years ago, the feedback was that there were too many female characters, despite there being 50/50. That was surprising. Times have changed a lot since then thankfully and we hope that if we push the TV project again, we'll have a different response!

Beatrix Della Morte, voiced by Dena Kaplan, the middle of the three Della Morte Sisters, taking a moment to smell the roses.

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

Sharing the work with as many people as possible is great and something that being profiled on We Are Moving Stories will do. The sharing of stories by women to a wider audience is specifically awesome. Diverse storytellers are so important to cultural growth.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We have developed a whole world from the film – we have two novels (the third is being written at the moment), we have developed a TV series set in the world (assisted by Screen Canberra), we have art and jewellery that we make and sell based on the film and novels. We are currently looking for a producer/s to take the TV series the next step.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I would love to intrigue and delight people and have them want to spend more time with the sisters. I love these girls and I hope others do too.

The Della Morte Sisters arrive at the Skipping Girl Home for Wayward and Homeless Girls, run by the nefarious Mrs Crotchet Smythe (voiced by Noni Hazlehurst).

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

The film is set in an alternate world in the 1880s, with history diverting from our timeline in about the 1600s. We have essentially re-written history allowing a few unfinished scientific and engineering discoveries from our timeline to be completed and thrive in Della Mortika's time line. The idea that certain moments in history can change the whole world is an interesting one - so what historical moments could be altered to create a whole new world?

Would you like to add anything else?

I have put my heart, soul and millions of paper-cuts into making this film, so I really hope it resonates with people and inspires girls to follow their minds, use their brains and change the world. We have a website that details the characters, the world, novels and animation, www.dellamortika.com, that people can check out.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Geraldine is writing the next novel for Della Mortika, I am developing two feature films: a body horror that I'm writing with my sister and a family-thriller based on Joan Phipson's book 'The Cats'.

Beatrix Della Morte can't sleep. All the puppets were hand drawn, scanned into the computer, coloured, printed, cut, glued and pinned together.

Beatrix Della Morte sees something in the moonlight. The puppets while largely two dimensional, have enough dimension to them to create great shadows and texture.

Interview: January 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

Della Mortika: Carousel of Shame

This is the fantastical world of Della Mortika, where steam is king, where life is hard, but where adventure is always adventure.

Length: 17 mins

Director: Marisa Martin

Producer: Marisa Martin and Geraldine Martin

Writer: Geraldine Martin

Key cast: Noni Hazlehurst, Paul McDermott, Xavier Samuel, Laura Brent, Dena Kaplan, Gigi Edgley, Clare Langsford

Looking for: producers for the television series we have been developing.

Facebook: The Della Morte Sisters

Twitter: @DellaMortika

Instagram: @dellamortika

Other: https://www.pinterest.com/missmmars/della-mortika/ AND https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/DellaMorteSteampunk