The Bloom Is On The RoseInterview conducted by Christina Schultz  (photo: courtesy of Annie Amaya) Annie Amaya is a young animator and filmmaker from Canada currently studying VFX in London. Her latest film, Why Do Flowers Die?, is being screened at the Future of Film Showcase (FOFS) today - May 14! Christina Schultz: Hi, Annie! Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. I’d like to start out by having you tell us about how you became interested in film and animation. Annie Amaya: Prior to my undergraduate studies at Concordia University in Montreal, I didn’t do much animation but I was always interested in visual arts. I was known as the artist in elementary school. In Grade 8 we had a school trip to a career center and I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I remember asking for information about becoming an animator. It wasn’t really a plan but it’s funny to think I was already thinking down that path. I’m currently studying VFX and not 2D animation, but it’s still related and I’m just seeing where it goes from there. CS: When did you realize animation was what you wanted to pursue? AA: After high school, I was very indecisive about what I wanted to study because I’m also into music. I chose animation because it is an art form that combines the visual with music and sound components. Animation appeals to me because it’s very broad. CS: Do you write the music for your films? AA: For one of my short films, Grow, I did write the music. I have a music background and even if I don’t score the music for my films it certainly helps me pick music for them. CS: When did you start making your own animated films? AA: It was part of the program at school to make short films but animation is something that I’ve always loved. I used to watch the behind the scenes footage from all the DVDs of Pixar films and I wanted to be one of those people. CS: I think you’re a talented artist and illustrator. How did you develop your skills? AA: Well thank you! I always liked drawing and the arts but I didn’t know exactly how to animate before starting my university program. I had some visual arts skills but I really only went into animation after starting the program and learned my way around it at school. CS: Do you plan on making any live action films? Or have you made any? AA: Well, VFX is somewhere in between because it is CG integrated with live action. And that’s what I’m planning to do as a career but I’ve always loved 2D animation so I plan on doing that as my own personal side project. I think it’s better that way because I can make my own films and not cater to the commercial industry. CS: You are from Montreal, Canada and now study in London. Do you notice any differences between the film cultures in the different places in which you live and work? AA: It’s funny because a lot of the big studios in London also have studios in Montreal. So they work on the same films, just in different places. The film cultures in the two cities are definitely connected. CS: The story for your film Why Do Flowers Die? was inspired by your family and your mother’s struggle with cancer. The main character Rose is based on your sister who was in and out of hospitals at such a young age. Was it hard for you to make the film because of this?  (photo: still from "Why Do Flowers Die?" courtesy of Annie Amaya) AA: I think for Why Do Flowers Die? it wasn’t hard. The short film Grow, which I made prior to Flowers, was really based on my mom’s struggles because I was making the film while going through that experience. By the time I made Why Do Flowers Die? she was fully recovered. It was more of a reflective piece so I wouldn’t say it was difficult but it was definitely personal and whenever I have to talk about my film I have to explain the context. The point of me making the film was to express those ideas and themes. Rose is inspired by my younger sister who was going through this when she was 10 years old and it really affected me. We have more of a mother-daughter relationship than a sister relationship. Seeing her go through the experience was a big inspiration for the film. I wanted to show how a would child see these things. CS: It couldn’t have been easy, but I’m glad to hear your mother recovered! AA: She’s obviously not the same because she underwent a major surgery but the cancer is gone. It is a miracle really so we’re grateful for that. I always have to give a disclaimer before I show the film: mom is ok, so don’t worry! [laughs] CS: Your film Why Do Flowers Die?, which has won an award from Toronto Youth Shorts, is now being shown at the Future of Film Showcase (FOFS) this coming Monday. Tell us about what it’s like to have your film shown at festivals and your interactions with the audience. AA: I unfortunately can’t attend the FOFS in Toronto because I’m London for school. But it’s a nice to know people are seeing my film. Since most of my films are very personal, whenever I see them shown on the big screen I think Oh my God, people are peering into my soul. But it’s also a nice feeling because I have people coming up to me afterwards saying I get what you’re saying. Everything you said in your film I totally understand. It’s nice to connect with people on such a deep, personal level. It’s very rewarding. I have no negative experiences, it’s all been positive. CS: That’s great to hear. And might I add, best of luck to you at the festival competition. AA: Thanks! But I usually don’t worry so much about the competition part. If I get an award it’s nice but that’s not a big deal for me. CS: That’s a good approach, I think. Now for a Femfilmfan question: If you were to pick a woman in film or a woman in the media who inspires you or who has influenced you and your work, who would it be and why? AA: The first person I can think of would be Ava DuVernay. I love love love her films and I wish I could make films that are so important and so culturally relevant like she does. She makes films about people of color and raises awareness for issues going on today. I think that’s very inspiring and very important. CS: Yes, definitely. Now for a hard question: what’s your favorite film? AA: [laughs] I don’t think I can pick. But if we can narrow it down to animation, my current favorite is Song of the Sea by the Irish cartoon studio Cartoon Saloon. Aesthetically and narratively it’s the kind of style that I like. They also made a new film called Breadwinner. Angelina Jolie is the executive producer. It was a mind blowing and culturally relevant film. I appreciate that a lot because it shows how girls in Afghanistan live and the issues they face. So that’s also at the top of my list. I really like Cartoon Saloon’s films a lot. CS: What’s up next for Annie Amaya? What can we expect from you in the coming months and years? AA: I’m busy with my Master’s right now so I’m not able to make new short films. However, I did work on a short film called Tapping Tango before I started. I was the animator for that project and the writer took on the role of the director. It’s going around festivals right now. As for the future, I have to find a job first [laughs] and then I can start thinking about personal projects. CS: Well I wish you lots of luck and it sounds like you have a promising future ahead of you. AA: Thanks! Why Do Flowers Die? is now available on Vimeo. Click here to watch the short film. Check out Annie's portfolio here. You can also follow her on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. And if you're in the Toronto area today, get your tickets for the Future of Film Showcase so you can see Annie's film on the big screen!
(L, C: stills from Why Do Flowers Die? courtesy of Annie Amaya; R: Future of Film Showcase, click image to be redirected to their site)
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 (photo: www.artistandpervert.com/press) EN: The interview with Beatrice Behn was conducted by our editor Christina Schultz in German. Christina then translated the interview into English. You can read the original German version here. DE: Das Interview mit Beatrice Behn wurde von unserer Chefredakteurin Christina Schultz auf Deutsch geführt. Christina selbst übersetzte das Interview auf Englisch. Du kannst die originale deutsche Version hier lesen. If you missed it yesterday, please read Part One of our interview with Beatrice Behn! Christina Schultz: So what led you to make the film The Artist & The Pervert? Beatrice Behn: René Gebhardt and I stumbled upon this story about two years ago because of an article in the The New York Times [featuring Georg Haas and Mollena Williams-Haas]. I thought it was exciting because everyone, including myself, had a kind of ad hoc reaction. They immediately wanted to give their opinion about it. That triggered so much! We wrote to Georg and Mollena and they said sure, come on over, let’s make a film - and we made it right away. Since it all happened to fast, we never had the time or really even cared to think about why we’re making this film. We just made it. Period. Nobody does it like that, but we did. CS: How did the public react to the film? BB: Now we have the first screenings behind us and we were surprised because we thought the audience would leave the theater and think oh my God, these perverts! I’m going! I don’t want to see these people naked! They’re old and fat for God’s sake! But the exact opposite happened. Everyone stayed in their seats. The more the film was screened, the more people came to the theaters. The Q&As afterwards were unbelievably long and there were so many questions. We were blown away by this because we, funnily enough, thought that the film would not be received so well. We were not prepared for the film to be received so positively. We are still trying to wrap our heads around it [laughs]. CS: It’s interesting that the film was made so spontaneously. I read that it was financed by crowdfunding. Is that right? BB: Yes and no. We filmed it without a budget. We already had cameras and when we went to see them we paid for everything out of pocket. When we went broke we had fortunately finished filming. We just had to take care of the postproduction. The good thing is that René and I have enough knowledge that we could do just about everything but the sound design. We needed money for the sound designer and we did it with crowdfunding. CS: Kudos to you! The couple, Austrian composer Georg Friedrich Haas and his wife who voluntarily serves him as a slave, the writer and sex educator Mollena Williams-Haas, is pretty unique but also full of contradictions. There is no commentary in the film so that their relationships is shown as authentically as possible. But who are they really? BB: I think there are two levels. The one as a real life couple and the other as a symbol. And that’s what the film is about because after they outed themselves in The New York Times, most people reacted to Georg and Mollena as a symbol for something. For some it was a symbol for total freedom, for others a symbol for absolute perversion. The symbolic level is bigger so we made this film to find out who the real people are behind the symbolism. A 24/7 BDSM relationship sounded totally exhausting to me. But we wanted to find out how it works and why they do it. How can it be that they both consider themselves feminists and are in a power exchange relationship where the woman is submissive? Where they play out a 1950s household story? That’s very hard to capture. And naturally the whole question of race as well. How can a white man from a Nazi family dominate a black woman? Why does she allow this? Those are the big questions hanging over them and that we are trying to answer on a personal level. CS: What do you like about them? BB: There are things they do that I find really great. It’s so radical that they live the way they want at their age - Georg is 65 and Mollena is in her 40s. That personally touched me and got me thinking. And the audience too. They have no choice but to think am I really living my life the way I want? That’s very exciting. There are also aspects that I personally find problematic like the time aspect. She gives up almost all of her time to serve him and that helps him in his daily life and with his art. He can produce so much more than before. But she is also an artist and produces art. They even make art together but she gives up so much time for him. But just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean that I have to judge the two of them. It’s their life and not mine. That’s the most difficult and most exciting part about the film. CS: What do you think about the accusations that the couple is putting on an act? BB: I find it super fascinating that Georg has been accused of using it as a PR strategy. But he is so renowned and well-known that he doesn’t need it. If his music was total shit and no one knew him, OK. But he was already established beforehand. I think it’s simply an attempt to deny that two people fulfill themselves in such a radical way. It’s easier to believe that it’s a PR strategy than believing the two of them are serious. And I think that’s really funny. CS: You mentioned feminism and racism. How does a feminist behave, in your opinion? How does feminism, sexism or racism play a role in the film and in their relationship? BB: To the first question: what is feminism? That is a personal question. There isn’t one kind of feminism. There are thousands of kinds. For me, feminism is the wish for equality between all possible genders (I believe there are more than two) and that one has all opportunities open to them to live their life the way they want to, regardless of their gender. It’s not against men. It simply means that we want equality. I believe Georg and Mollena would answer this question in a similar way. And if you think about it, you realize there isn’t a big discrepancy between how they live and feminism. Because the whole point of feminism is that one should realize themselves the way they damn well please, regardless of gender or even race. And then everything makes sense. If you reduce feminism to such a narrow pop culture idea that only women can demand equal rights and that they have to be strong and can’t be submissive, then you realize that there is a discrepancy. But to me that’s more a sign that one hasn’t thought out their feminism and not a sign that the two of them are lying to one another. CS: And with sexism and racism? BB: This racism, this sexism, this perceived anti-feminism are all in the film but not where most people think they will find them. Instead - and I think this is the most interesting part - these things are all found in the individual prejudices that one holds as members of the audience. And they are somehow confronted with their prejudices, that’s one of things the film does, just by seeing the way these two live out their daily lives. That’s the source of friction the film creates. I think that’s why people have so many questions after seeing the film. And that’s awesome. CS: It is. I definitely want to see the film! My last question to you is: what would you say to girls or women who are interested in a film career? Do you have any tips or encouraging words for them? BB: Part of me wants to say, don’t do it. Part of me really wants to be protective and say that it’s very exhausting and annoying because you have to fight against so many things. And if you deal with feminism and film like I do, you are very quickly put into a niche and that’s a struggle. The other part of me wants to say, yes absolutely. We need more women, we need more voices, we need more diversity, especially in film criticism which is dominated by young, white, middle-class men. We also need other kinds of people so we can have different perspectives in the current discourse. And I believe - except for saying that you should realize that it won’t be easy to establish yourself, especially as a woman - I can’t really give any other advice. CS: It certainly can be a struggle as a woman, whatever field you’re in. Thank you for speaking with us and thank you most sincerely for your wise words. The Artist & The Pervert is on tour. Check for screenings near you here: http://artistandpervert.com/ Be sure to sign up for the newsletter for updates!  (photo: courtesy of Beatrice Behn) EN: The interview with Beatrice Behn was conducted by our editor Christina Schultz in German. Christina then translated the interview into English. You can read the original German version here. DE: Das Interview mit Beatrice Behn wurde von unserer Chefredakteurin Christina Schultz auf Deutsch geführt. Christina selbst übersetzte das Interview auf Englisch. Du kannst die originale deutsche Version hier lesen. Beatrice Behn is a film scholar and film reviewer. She received her degree in Film Studies at the Free University in Berlin. Her main interests in Film Studies are body cinema, gender (especially masculinities), action films and comedies. Beatrice is editor-in-chief for Kino-Zeit and writes for other publications such as VICE, Deutschlandfunk Kultur, Celluloid, Indiewire, Fandor, Sissy Magazin and Königsalle. She is also a lecturer at the Free University in Berlin, a curator and a filmmaker. Her first film The Artist & The Pervert is expected to be screened in Germany by the end of the year.
Christina Schultz: Beatrice, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Our focus at Femfilmfans is women in film and in the media. Not only is your career as a film critic and film scholar interesting for us, but also your first film The Artist & The Pervert. I would, however, like to start from the beginning and talk about the film later. Can you tell us about how you discovered your passion for film? Beatrice Behn: That’s pretty easy to explain. I was raised in the GDR and my entire film education consists of me secretly watching West German television at night. I learned quite a lot because 3sat and other stations played pretty good stuff and I believe that was my very first window to the outside world. After the Wall fell [in 1989] and I got older, this really stayed with me. Especially the idea that film allows you to travel to so many places that you otherwise can’t see, to meet so many people and to gain so many experiences that you normally wouldn’t be able to accumulate in your lifetime. CS: Is that why you studied film? BB: Yes. My journey through life wasn’t typical. I was in the States for a while when I was younger and I first completed my high school education in Germany at the age of 26. When I had my diploma the question became what do I really want to study? What would I like to spend years working on? Film was the only thing that I found interesting enough and that’s why I thought I should study film. I went to the Free University in Berlin for Film Studies and I think it was a good decision. CS: What or who inspired or influenced you? What kind of films do you like? BB: The worst question to ask a film critic! Next you’ll ask me what’s your favorite film?! CS: No! We won’t ask this question, we swear! [laughs] BB: It’s really hard to answer. Personally I love genre cinema, especially horror films, fantasy films, etc. I really like trashy cinema. I’m a big fan of midnight screenings and trashy films from the 1970s to the present. Those are the kinds of films I like a lot but I have less to do with them professionally. As a film critic I focus on indie and arthouse films, although I should differentiate between innovative arthouse films and commercial arthouse films, the latter of which I don’t like so much. If I had to spontaneously name a film that’s coming out soon and really speaks to me, it would be Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here [it came to theaters in the U.S. on 6 April and in Germany on 26 April]. A film with Joaquin Phoenix as a hitman who is totally broken and suffers from PTSD. It’s an awesome movie made by a woman, wonderfully innovative, really well directed and it’s tough. Movies should change or affect you somehow and not just make you fall asleep. CS: Definitely. You mentioned Lynne Ramsay, a female filmmaker. What are your own personal experiences as a woman in the film industry? Do you notice any differences between the roles you take on? BB: Not really. Generally I walk into a room and I’m one of the few women present. That’s the typical experience. The other thing I experience is surprise that I’m there. It happens time and again that there are some people who either are happy that a women is doing the job or are irritated and surprised about it and ask themselves if I can do the job at all. Then there’s the part where I have to prove myself, to validate my presence and after that it’s OK. That’s the basic structure that I’ve experienced in film critique for the past ten years. Interestingly enough this is repeating itself in a similar way with the film [The Artist & The Pervert]. There is one difference, however. The film happened to come out during this time of awareness inspired by the Time’s Up and #MeToo movements. I made the film together with René Gebhardt, a person who identifies as a man, but I am actually receiving more attention than him. We made a film about a very interesting topic and we are receiving lots of support from the feminist and film critic camps that specifically support women’s films. And that’s really new and totally amazing. CS: Absolutely… Tomorrow you can read the exciting conclusion of our interview with Beatrice Behn where she talks about her film The Artist & The Pervert! If you just can’t wait to learn about the film, check out the trailer. See you tomorrow! |
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