With Stacy Gardner
How did this film come together?
It was a poem I had written first, then I workshopped it in a class with Sherry White in 2018, finally in 2023 I applied for my first Picture Start, and made the film late March 2024 with a stupendous and hearty crew and cast. Shot over three days, first day our caterer prepared meals for 25, but once in the classroom scene, it was 65 meals each of the two days at MUN. A communal experience: filmmaking.
Did anything unexpected happen as you were making this film?
A poster we had hoped to have in a scene, didn’t arrive, so as Director, I decided another shot. No major hiccups. I managed to acquire 15 parking permits from my immediate neighbourhood during the shoot on my street in both my house and neighbours. Ruth Lawrence: how did you do that? Me: I just asked. :) All the help mentioned in the credits individually. The chalkboard scene was hilarious because the chalk was sooooo noisy! There was no getting around it. Thank You Post! Great story too about a piece of art in my house that was done by Hilary Thomson that I had acquired in the early 2000’s while living in TO. I had no idea who she was, and lo and behold, she’s our set designer and sees her artwork on my wall. We ended up using it in the bedroom scene. Having the scenes well organized in advance given all the youth we were working with and labour laws, we made good time as they say. The kids joy was really special.
What's the best filmmaking advice you've ever received?
Besides fix it in post? Probably trust yourself, and ensure you have folk around who know more than you to learn from. I’m a constant student, so that’s logical to me.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
As both writer and director, it was a special film to make because while not my story, it was a memory of a time that captivated the world and before the internet, it was witnessed by so many, especially by kids in classrooms because of the role of Christa McAuliffe. The idea of the juxtaposition of something extraordinary aligned with something ordinary compelled the idea of who we are in one moment, can be changed in an instant, and youth and puberty, already such a volatile time. I wanted to honour the chaos of being human from the perspective of young people.
Elling Lien
