Focus on AFI Conservatory - ELLE
In the midst of her sexual awakening, 16-year-old introverted Elle struggles to express her feelings towards her best friend who is about to move away.
Interview with Director Nicole Vanden Broeck
Watch Elle here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I was interested in the female friendship dynamic and the intimacy that is built around it. The thin line and gray area in between friendship and love. There was a particular scene that had been stuck in my head for years, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I decided to develop the story as my MFA thesis project at the American Film Institute Conservatory and was lucky to have a talented team on board in order to bring it to life.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
I think at its core, it is a universal love story. The film is often categorized as a LGBT coming-of-age drama. But if we put all labels aside, I think it’s simply a place we have all been at some point in our lives. We’ve all lived through the uncertainty of not knowing how the person we care about feels or how our love would be received, and taking the leap anyway. So my hope is for it to validate the courage people have when they’re vulnerable enough to express themselves, whichever way they can.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
The story is very personal to me. It is based on a close friendship I had at a moment where we both were trying to figure out who we were in the world. So there were questions and misunderstandings that never got answered, and that I wanted to do so in the making of this film. Also, I recurrently found myself moving to different places ever since I was young, either because of my father’s job or to study abroad. So there was always curiosity and a ticking clock present as I was growing up, and I thought that putting these two elements together could create an interesting story about love and acceptance.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Co-writer Asher Jelinsky and I worked on several drafts of the script during the pre production process. After principal photography, we did a test screening to get feedback. We went on to rewrite a couple of scenes and had reshoots, incorporating new footage into the final cut. The biggest change was the opening of the film. We took out a whole sequence of the girls swimming at the local lake and riding their bikes, in order to portray what their hometown meant to them. We ultimately decided to start the film in a more intimate setting, so we could introduce the tone and the conflict of the story from the very beginning.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
ELLE has been in the film circuit for almost a year now. The feedback we’ve received has been mostly positive, especially regarding the performance of the lead actors, Sarah Sawyer and Ron Dadon. On the other hand, some people have expressed that they were left wanting to know more about the main character's journey after the final scene. So maybe a part of the audience was not entirely satisfied with the open ending of the film.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I think that in terms of feedback, it is always important to listen and take what that resonates with you into consideration for future projects. After all, the point of this whole journey is to keep learning, experimenting and evolving. But it is also crucial to remember that feedback is often subjective, and that there will be some of it that won't necessarily speak to the type of stories or the narratives you want to tell. So listen, but always stay true to your voice.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
My goal with the film is for people who have found a situational or social obstacle in expressing themselves to feel heard and seen. It can be anyone, but in this story it particularly comes down to a young girl in the midst of her sexual awakening who is in the process of redefining her identity as she navigates her feelings towards her best friend who is about to move away, and We Are Moving Stories is a platform that encourages women’s films and supports diverse voices, so I think it’s an amazing place for ELLE to be in.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Distribution can definitely help films get a wider audience. There are not many distribution platform options available for short films, so it would be a great opportunity to connect with distributors who believe in the movie and that are interested in making it accessible to more people.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I guess what is most important to me is that people can see themselves in the characters. That they can empathize with their bright side, as well as their dark side. That their imperfections and nuances are a little reminder of our humanity. A reminder that the struggle is shared and that it’s okay to struggle. That sometimes the only way to know who we are is by taking risks and putting ourselves out there. And that no matter the result, being vulnerable is already brave enough.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Where is the line between friendship and love?
Would you like to add anything else?
Just to say that in order to make a movie it is key to surround yourself with people who believe in the story, but also who believe in you as a filmmaker. I will always be grateful to my principal team, and especially to my producer Gabrielle Cordero who is an amazing collaborator, managed to put the pieces together to make the film happen and trusted me throughout the process. Also, to my actor Sarah Sawyer, who did an incredible job embodying the main character and being vulnerable on screen.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m developing a narrative feature script, to which Gabrielle Cordero is also attached as a producer. It is the story of a recently divorced middle-class Mexican mother who explores the dynamics of her new life as a single woman in Los Angeles, while her preteen Mexican-American daughter spends her first 4th of July holiday away with her father and his new American girlfriend. We are currently developing it with the support of Cine Qua Non Storylines Lab and we are excited to see where the project will take us.
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
ELLE
Length:
21:25
Writer
NICOLE VANDEN BROECK is a French-Mexican filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She received the FONCA-CONACYT Scholarship to attend the American Film Institute Conservatory’s MFA Directing program. Her directorial work has screened at over 60 film festivals around the world. She is a BAFTA Newcomers fellow and is featured in the LatinX Directors list. She is currently developing her narrative feature film debut with the support of Cine Qua Non Lab.
ASHER JELINKSY is a Los Angeles based director and writer originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. Asher’s short films have garnered awards and nominations at over 70 film festivals around the world including Clermont-Ferrand, BFI London, and Palm Springs, among others. They earned an MFA in Directing at the American Film Institute Conservatory, and received the Franklin J. Schaffner Fellow Award for Directing, presented by AFI Fest.
Director
NICOLE VANDEN BROECK is a French-Mexican filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She received the FONCA-CONACYT Scholarship to attend the American Film Institute Conservatory’s MFA Directing program. Her directorial work has screened at over 60 film festivals around the world. She is a BAFTA Newcomers fellow and is featured in the LatinX Directors list. She is currently developing her narrative feature film debut with the support of Cine Qua Non Lab.
Producer
GABRIELLE CORDERO is a recent alumni from the American Film Institute Conservatory's Producing Program. She produced over nine films during her time at AFI. She was selected as a participant of the HBO and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's 2019 Tomorrow's Filmmakers Program and as a part of the Producers Guild of America's 2020 Power of Diversity Master Workshop. Gabrielle's passion comes from telling personal stories through the lens of the second generation Latino perspective.
Key cast:
Sarah Sawyer (Elle), Ron Dadon (Sam), Tucker Genal (Tyler), Ethan Smart (Mason)
Social media
https://www.facebook.com/nicole.vb.13/
https://www.instagram.com/nicolevb/
More info:
https://www.nicolevandenbroeck.com/
Made in association with:
AFI Conservatory