{"id":10671,"date":"2021-07-23T11:48:21","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T09:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.queerlion.it\/?p=10671"},"modified":"2021-07-27T12:49:38","modified_gmt":"2021-07-27T10:49:38","slug":"uk-mona-fastvold-on-making-space-for-mothers-at-work-and-directing-sex-scenes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.queerlion.it\/en\/uk-mona-fastvold-on-making-space-for-mothers-at-work-and-directing-sex-scenes\/","title":{"rendered":"Uk: Mona Fastvold on Making Space for Mothers at Work and Directing Sex Scenes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cSometimes stories choose you\u201d: Director Mona Fastvold opens up to Martha Alexander about shooting her latest film The World to Come, which tells the tragic story of two farmers wives who fall in love in 1850s upstate New York<\/em><\/p>\n

Farmers wives living in a remote landscape in the mid-1800s who begin an illicit affair \u2013 the elevator pitch of The World to Come could so easily be interpreted as a bawdy, steamy period drama accented by heaving busts and unpinned hair. But the film was in safe, subtle hands right from the screenplay by Ron Hansen and Jim Shepard, through to director Mona Fastvold and stellar cast including Katherine Waterston, Vanessa Kirby and Casey Affleck.<\/p>\n

Set in rural upstate New York, The World to Come tells the tragic story of Abigail and Tallie, two women in strained marriages, each literally and metaphorically isolated, who fall in love with each other. Norwegian-born, New York-based Fastvold was instantly drawn to the story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an intuitive feeling that this project belongs to me; sometimes stories choose you when you\u2019re lucky,\u201d she says. \u201cIt felt like a piece of literature more than a script. It was so carefully written and had so much historical detail and yet I felt there was something modern about the approach to this relationship which really spoke to the present.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Fastvold, who is also a writer, speaks of how she was able to \u201cmove into the story\u201d, she refutes the idea that the film has her mark on it \u2013 or that it is hers, preferring to highlight how much of filmmaking is collaborative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no room for ego when you are directing,\u201d she says, detailing how she likes to remain open to ideas from any of the collaborators on set. \u201cYou have to create room to pull out what best serves the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The relationship between Tallie and Abigail is touching, intimate and tragic. The film lifts with tension and pure romance at times \u2013 such as when Tallie gives Abigail a much-coveted Atlas, clearly a symbol of adventure and escape. But the heart of the film can be found in its title, which suggests a future ahead of two women who have no words for what they want or feel.<\/p>\n

Fastvold thought a lot about the title and everyone who came after Abigail and Tallie. \u201cThe little brave decisions that they make by choosing to pursue this relationship and to have these \u2013 at the time \u2013 dangerous conversations about who they are as women in society and how they feel about one another and dare to dream outside the four corners of these houses they are confined to. That brave way of thinking leads to someone else who stands on their shoulders making an even more brave decision and eventually here I am directing this film telling this story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The World to Come received critical acclaim and the Queer Lion Award at Venice Film Festival<\/strong> \u2013 and has been embraced by the LGBTQ+ community. \u201cSo far we\u2019ve gotten incredibly lovely letters from all over the world, particularly from young women who have connected with the story,\u201d says Fastvold.<\/p>\n

Filming took place in the unspoilt and extraordinarily, often bleakly beautiful landscape of Romanian mountains over a period of 24 days, split into blocks of 12 \u2013 one in summer and one in winter so as to capture all seasons on camera. It was hard, unglamorous work. \u201cEveryone had to walk through the mud and eat whatever was served to them,\u201d explains Fastvold. \u201cBut there was the luxury of the incredibly beautiful nature surrounding you and eggs from the chickens outside and fresh milk.\u201d The rustic remoteness was a boon for the film not only in terms of a perfect set, but also because it transported the cast back some 150 years.<\/p>\n

Fastvold admits that she was lucky to get the exact cast she wanted \u2013 and that they got along so well with strong chemistry from the start. Working environment is so important to Fastvold, who was a child actor with mixed memories of life on set. \u201cGrowing up on film sets I often felt a tense and frantic energy,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI try to create a more positive energy on set. But that\u2019s hard when you have little time to shoot and you\u2019re dealing with animals and weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

The environment she strives to foster during filming is one of inclusivity, especially towards mothers. \u201cOn The World to Come we had a lot of babies on set,\u201d she says, listing cast and crew \u2013 herself included \u2013 with newborns, breastfeeding babies and toddlers. \u201cI don\u2019t need my trailer so that was a breastfeeding room. We would stop for Katherine to breastfeed before moving on.\u201d<\/p>\n

That this seems wildly and brilliantly progressive in 2021 is depressing, which is specifically why Fastvold believes in the importance of having women in both the director and producer chairs. \u201cHaving children is a natural part of life and work,\u201d says Fastvold, who admits that there have been many occasions when people in the industry will not tell her they\u2019ve just had a baby, presumably for fear of professional repercussions. \u201cThe stigma is hard. People think \u2018you can\u2019t do your job and [be a mother]\u2019. But for me choosing was not an option \u2013 I wanted to be with my child while I was working so as much as I could I wanted to allow for [my crew] to choose that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

What is really notable in a film which is essentially a story of love and attraction is how sex is handled: how it was shot and where it was placed in the film. Fastvold was not interested in shooting sex scenes for the sake of it. \u201cA sex scene is a great way of telling a lot without any words which is always a great thing,\u201d she explains, adding that camera placement is key to capturing intimacy, rather than voyeurism.<\/p>\n

In the end, the love scenes are as intimate as Abigail\u2019s narration. Along with the darkness of winter thawing into a bloom-filled spring to echo the progress of the women\u2019s relationship, audiences are struck by a terrible, beautiful bitter-sweetness that serves to make the film\u2019s essence both timeless and universal.<\/p>\n

The World to Come is at UK cinemas from 23 July.<\/p>\n

AnOtherMagazine<\/a> by Martha Alexander<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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