Focus on AFI Conservatory - Your One and Only
Returning home after an abortion, Sophie finds her husband cheating on her, overwhelmed, she invites his mistress to lunch in order to take her revenge.
Interview with Writer/Director Alice Biletska
Watch Your One and Only here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I was with my ex-husband for ten years. We managed to break up and get back together ten times, and got married and divorced once. We lived in different cities, countries, continents, but still could not let go. Our marriage was like “Killing Eve” or “My King”. In my experiential vocabulary, love and hate often meant the same thing. Which is sexy, obviously, but also very unhealthy. When we were breaking up the final time, our neighbors called the police, afraid that we would kill each other.
As with any beautiful experience, this taught me a lot. First and foremost, know your boundaries and never sacrifice what’s important to you. A lot of women, just like me, were raised to please men, often in ways that contradict our own needs. But f*** that. It’s not love, it only kills it.
So for me this film is about a woman, who is so desperate in her sacrifice, that she loses touch with her own instincts and body, but ultimately is able to regain enough perspective to see the whole picture and let go of her inner toxicity.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
As with any film, one has a chance to be an observer, with a bit voyeuristic preferences if you must, to forget his/her own life and emerge into a raw and juicy experience the film has to offer. And many times, the viewer has a chance to learn something about themselves and the world that might make them a more complex and fulfilled human being.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Every film is a writer's and director's personal interpretation of a universal theme.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
I had around 10,000 drafts of the film. And in my head there were even more versions of it. First and foremost it was a phenomenal learning experience for me - for the first time I was doing something very personal, yet in a genre form. I'm very grateful to my mentors and my team at AFI who went all the way with me. Along the way it changed a lot: from fantasy short film set in the underworld, flooded with frogs and snakes, it shifted into reality and became a psychological thriller. But the core always remained the same - I wanted to tell a story about toxic love, sacrifice, loosing sanity and finally seeing the light in the end of the tunnel.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Very different. Which makes me very happy - it means that the film worked. If you are getting the same reaction from everyone, you are doing something wrong.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would love people to question what is healthy love, what is toxic love, how far they can go for the ones they love and when is it better to stop and let go.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Everyone!
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like for it to provoke a conversation about love. We have to learn how to love and value ourselves in a very healthy and caring way. And only after that try to love someone else. Otherwise, one will make the same mistakes the protagonist does.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Is love worth dying for?
Interview: July 2021
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
Your One and Only
Length:
17 minutes
Writer/Director
ALICE BILETSKA holds a bachelor's degree in Economics, and a master's degree in Fine Arts. During university years, she worked as a freelance journalist, curator and lecturer. While studying for a semester in Paris, she was exposed to an avant-garde theatre, and started both directing and acting. Coming back home to Ukraine, she wrote and directed her first theatre play, and in 2015 switched to cinema and started directing and writing short films and commercials. Her films were presented at such festivals as VAEFF, Cannes Film Festival Short Corner, OIFF and others. She also continued teaching and, in 2017, joined Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University as a lecturer in the field of visual culture. In 2020 she graduated from AFI Conservatory as a directing fellow, having shot and co-written 5 short films.
Producer
Thomas Hartmann
Key cast:
CAITLIN GERARD (Sophie), TRAVIS HAMMER (Will), CHLOE RAY WARMOTH (Marsha)
Social media:
https://www.facebook.com/alice.biletska/
https://www.instagram.com/madam.o/
Made in association with:
AFI Conservatory