FEATURE: 31 MARCH 2009
Noted Samoan writer/director Sima Urale talks about making short films, point of view and tackling the big funding guys …
The March Writer’s Room audience was treated to an evening of inspiring discussion from one of our most creative and original filmmakers, Sima Urale. Born in Samoa in 1967, Sima immigrated to NZ in 1974 with her family. She could not speak English and had no experience of how to live amidst the urban culture of Aotearoa. However, Sima knew what she wanted and made it clear to the audience that ‘if you really want to make films, you can – no excuses!’ In her award-winning shorts Sima tackles human issues and approaches her craft in ways that rattle the cage of convention.
A graduate of Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, Sima went on to study at the Victorian College of the Arts Film and Television in Melbourne, graduating in 1994 with a BA degree in arts, film and television. She returned to NZ and made her first film in 1996. Sima’s most recent film, debut feature Apron Strings, premiered at the Auckland Film Festival in 2008 and was selected for the Toronto Film Festival.
Sima’s approach to making films was defined during her three years as a student at Film School. Always challenging and questioning the conventional rules of filmmaking (arguing with tutors, running film backwards to see what that was like, experimenting with sound), Sima developed a style of writing/directing that focuses not so much on the aesthetic but rather on how a story affects a viewer emotionally.
O Tamaiti (1996)
Her first short film was O Tamaiti (1996), which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Festival. It is a film Sima professes she is tired of seeing. ‘I don’t like watching my own work. I constantly find myself criticizing what I’ve done and thinking about how I could have done it better. As a writer/ director we have to be self critical, constantly needing to improve and be open to criticism – but not to the point where you slash your wrists.’
Not only was O Tamaiti filmed in black and white, it was also subtitled. ‘At that time NZ wasn’t ready for a subtitled film. My reasoning to the NZFC was that if we watch fabulous French and Indian films, why can’t we accept that there are lots of languages right here in this country that we can explore.’
O Tamaiti is 15 minutes long and Sima wrote it because she gets ‘really mad at issues’. ‘I have something to say so I write a short film. I wrote this film because I wanted people to take more notice of children, be more considerate of them.’ Shot from the children’s point of view, the faces of the adults are never seen, we only hear their voices because Sima wanted to explore the subtle neglect and lack of consideration for them. ‘They did not have a voice. We had to be down there with them to see what was going through their heads. The camera stayed on their faces as everything happened around them. It’s quite the opposite of Once Were Warriors even though both films deal with domestic issues – and that was intentional. I chose black and white because it stripped away many of the stereotypes surrounding Pacific culture – all the colour and the clichés of laughing, dancing colourful Islanders – and also made the story timeless, one that could have taken place today or ten years ago. It’s a subtle film – it gets to people.’
When casting the children for O Tamaiti, she was asked by the parents, ‘How much do we pay you?’ Sima feels most people do not know a lot about the film industry and how it works so it is essential that filmmakers exercise responsibility and a high standard of professionalism and care, especially when working with other cultures.
The strength of Sima’s emotional concern for social issues can be seen again in her second short film, Still Life (2001). The first NZ short film to win the top award at the prestigious Montreal Film Festival, Still Life also received a Special Mention Award at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, as well as Best Director, Best Art Department and Best Script at the Drifting Clouds International Film Festival 2002. Still Life deals with the sensitive issue of euthanasia and the tragic stories of children being there or not being there for their elderly parents. Sima chose an elderly pakeha couple for her story.
‘Filmmaking for me is all about exploring emotional and social issues and I wanted to know what it’d be like to be in their shoes. The issue of what to do with our parents as they get older is very universal. Filmmakers should have the ability to cross over into other cultures and explore.’
Sima may be a ’social issue filmmaker’ but she is fascinated by how things look and sound. The opening scenes set the mood, tone and style for her films. Still Life begins with the camera exploring the textures, creases and folds of an elderly person’s skin. O Tamaiti uses sound to set the stage – a child’s footsteps echoing down a stark, lonely hallway, the harsh, empty sound of a coin slipping into a Coke machine. ‘I like to experiment with sound – sound is half the storytelling. I try to push the sound designer just that bit further. The script for O Tamaiti was written very visually because there is little dialogue. I wanted to tell the story both visually and with sound.’
Followers of Sima’s work often tell her she has a definite ‘director’s signature’ in the way she shoots her films but Sima insists it is the story that dictates the way she works. ‘The content tells me how I will shoot the film. Rather than impose a style on something, I let the story help me decide on shooting style and tone. I’m a control freak – I like to make all my decisions beforehand and am probably one of the more decisive directors out there. I don’t storyboard – it limits me – too constricting. I need room to move in case something better comes up.’ She makes extensive shot list notes and must see every location, where the camera will be pointing and what that is going to look like. ‘A shot list prepares you for the worst or the best – and you’re not constricted. I try to prepare for the best and if the worst comes, I won’t slash my wrists or bawl my eyes out.’
Sima encouraged questions throughout her presentation and was asked about the discipline of focusing on one idea in a short film. Sima said she saw O Tamaiti as a montage piece, not a straight narrative. ‘I had to look at ways to put more layers of ideas in the film without making it longer than 12 minutes so the montage worked better than narrative.’ She added that every story has its own, natural ending – a sensitivity for the writer that tends to be felt rather than taught or told. ‘You can listen to good advice but you should be able to feel that with your stories, reach a point where you trust yourself and know you’ve reached the right ending.’
When asked if she was making films for herself or for others, she replied it is not about style or format but more about getting the message out there and finding a team who support that too. ‘I’ve never felt compromised. I’ve always had good producers who have believed in and supported me. You need a producer who is there for you and shares your excitement. If they don’t, it’s like lugging a dead weight around.’ When it comes to assembling the team, Sima said she is the first to admit when she isn’t sure and doesn’t know something. ‘The worst thing is when people pretend they know everything – never bullshit yourself or other people. If I don’t know something, I tell my producer and see what or who they have in mind. That trust is so important.’
Sima shares her work with family and her mother is usually the first to see a new script. ‘She gives me the confidence to keep going. When I really want to hear the truth I take it to my older brother and he gives me a good reality check! I rely on my family. We talk a lot and they can be quite critical.’ She then shows her work to people she trusts. ‘When you show it to the wrong people, they don’t always get it.’
The budget for Still Life was $75,000 and O Tamaiti was $130,000. ‘I was paid $500 to write O Tamaiti, received no director’s fee and the crew lowered their fees for us.’ Sima added that the producer was also paid a total of only $500. Sima advised filmmakers not to undermine themselves with the budget they propose and to approach those organisations asking for enough money to finance projects. ‘I have lots of ideas I could make very cheaply but knew I wanted to make O Tamaiti on 35mm so the cost would be higher. Do your homework on the funding bodies and what they can offer.’
Sima felt NZ has an easier climate for filmmakers because competition for the limited funding pool is not as great as it is in other countries. ‘We can afford to take risks here. We can all be filmmakers if we put our hearts and minds to it. The funding bodies are there to encourage more writing and one of the biggest problems is getting enough writers. Good scripts are hard to come by.’
Sima concluded the evening by offering some encouraging advice for future filmmakers. ‘Go for the heart of what you want to do. My parents always said, ‘Don’t wait around for anyone’ so why torture yourself by mucking about doing something else? Go for the guts of what you want, keep going for funding and don’t hold back.’
Writer’s Room notes written by Jane Bissell March 2009
