Amber Sealey is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and performer. Her films include “A Plus D” (2008), and “How to Cheat” (2011), which won the Best Performance Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival. She was selected for Film Independent’s Directing Lab and their Fast Track program.
“No Light and No Land Anywhere” will premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival on June 3.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
AS: “No Light and No Land Anywhere” is about a woman lost at sea, both internally and externally, in that she is a Brit in Los Angeles. It’s an exploration of the ties that bind us to the people we love, and an atmospheric quest for identity.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AS: I wrote it for my friend Gemma Brockis, the lead, because she’s an amazing actor and we’ve wanted to do a film together for years. And the storyline was inspired by the fact that Gemma lost her own father when she was young, and that innate longing for connection that we all feel as human beings.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
AS: When people leave the theater, I hope they feel strongly about the movie! I think there is no denying that Gemma is an amazing actor, and I hope they relate to the pure honesty of her performance, free from any vanity. I hope they respond to the feeling of longing and connection that she goes through.
I hope they are essentially reminded of the things in their own lives that they care about, and that touch them deeply, and how we are all basically the same deep inside.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
AS: It’s boring to say that the biggest challenge was budget, but that’s usually the case in indie filmmaking, as it was for us. But other than that, we really didn’t have any big challenges. The group of people that came on board to make this film are all one-of-a-kind people, and because everyone was doing it as a labor of love, it made the whole experience really special.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
AS: Our budget came together through a few different private investors, and then our big Indiegogo campaign that we did.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
AS: In terms of filmmaking — not talking big life issues here — probably the best advice I ever got is a two-way tie between Miranda July and Joe Swanberg. Miranda said “don’t put yourself down” — she knows that can be my tendency, and that there is a difference between being self-critical and recognizing where you need to try harder, or get better, and just being mean to yourself.
Joe told me to “just do it” when I was ruminating about whether or not to make my second film, “How to Cheat.” I think he made me realize that no one was going to come over to me with a magic wand and let me know that “now” was the right time to make a movie. I had to just do it myself if I wanted to: the only person to put the wheels in motion is going to be yourself.
And as for the worst advice I’ve ever gotten, I honestly can’t remember anything. I’m sure I’ve gotten loads of bad advice, but that’s not the sort of thing that you really remember, is it? Don’t we all just remember the things that impact us in a helpful way? Those are the things that we hopefully hold onto and think about for years because those are the things that help us move forward.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
AS: Help each other. I think women are so often socialized to be in competition with each other, that it’s really important to remember that there is room at the table for each of us.
I think it’s really amazing that Film Independent and LAFF is putting their money where their mouth is in terms of bettering the awful statistics about diversity in this industry, and more of us have to be willing to go out on a limb for each other.
Other than that, my advice would be to take risks, try weird things, don’t worry so much about the outcome, and fuck shit up in whatever way you feel comfortable.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
AS: Andrea Arnold’s “Fish Tank.” There are so many films that I want to name, but if I had to name one I think it’d be that. It’s just so specific and personal, while at the same time saying sprawling things about the nature of being human, a woman, and working-class in England. I worked with Andrea Arnold when I was an actor in London before she had won an Oscar. It was so clear even then that what she was doing was different and special.
I just love everything about “Fish Tank”: the acting, the story, the centerpiece of the family relationship, the scene at the end with the dancing, and the hug between the sisters — I love that moment! That film was also an inspirational reference point for us for “No Light and No Land Anywhere,” not the least because both movies have absent fathers.
