Known for her work as a UK television comedy actress, Alice Lowe made her move into film with her screenwriting debut “Sightseers,” directed by Ben Wheatley, in which she also starred. After premiering at Cannes, “Sightseers” went on to receive several accolades, including acting and screenplay awards for Lowe. “Prevenge” is Lowe’s feature directorial debut.
“Prevenge” will premiere at the 2016 BFI London Film Festival on October 13. The film will hit theaters in 2017.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
AL: “Prevenge” is a dark comedy drama about a pregnant woman who takes revenge. I filmed it while I was seven months pregnant.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
AL: I was pregnant and had a chance to make a film. It came about as a twisted little hybrid of an idea! Pregnancy meets revenge, and birth meets death. [I wanted to explore] the absurdity of [those combinations].
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
AL: I want people to feel a mix of emotions — like they’ve been on a roller coaster, but one that flashed past waxwork scenarios of their own lives, so then they’re left thinking, “Hang on, after all that, what was the deep profound meaning of this bit?”
Really, I want people to take whatever they want. They can see it as a fun guilty pleasure slasher or as a meditation on the existentialism of pregnancy or whatever. I deliberately made lots of tonal shifts so that you could feel flashes of lots of different conflicting emotions — a bit like the experience of being pregnant.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
AL: Probably the edit with a tiny newborn baby. I enjoyed it thoroughly, though. It was such an amazing process getting to know my baby and getting to know my film at the same time.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
AL: It’s privately financed and it’s a dark art of which I have little knowledge, so in that respect you’d have to ask my producers. I’m just very very grateful I got to make a film.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at LFF?
AL: Oh, everything. To have the support of my city, of my country, and to be able to show the film to a UK public, which includes my friends and family [is amazing.] It makes me very proud to bring the “Prevenge” home.
I hope the film makes them proud, too: It’s a very British film, filled with eccentricity and humor and all the weirdness it means to be British. It wouldn’t happen unless we had the support of organizations like LFF.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
AL: The worst advice was, “Don’t tell anyone about your pregnancy!” Ha. Although, sometimes that probably isn’t a bad idea and I didn’t tell anyone for ages because I was so scared about losing work.
The best advice was probably something like, “Choose your battles.” Sometimes you may have to compromise on the small stuff, so that other times, when it’s something really important and you dig your heels in, people know you mean business.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
AL: Try to see your weaknesses as strengths. You don’t have to follow any preconceived ideas of what it is to be a filmmaker. You can do it your own way, and carve your own paths. There are ways you see the world that a male director doesn’t and can’t, and that can be a really exciting advantage. Our stories are still original and new because our perspectives are still rare in cinema. So just do it your own way.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
AL: Is it a cliche to say Jane Campion’s “The Piano”? I just think it’s a masterpiece. I’ll never tire of it.
W&H: Have you seen opportunities for women filmmakers increase over the last year due to the increased attention paid to the issue? If someone asked you what you thought needed to be done to get women more opportunities to direct, what would be your answer?
AL: I have worked with so many more female directors as an actress over the last two years — that has to be a good sign. I think child care is a big issue: [some] women drop out because they can’t find the time or the support to have a family as well as make films.
I also have my own private theory that advertising is very male director dominated. It means female directors don’t get to play with the fancy toys, expensive kits, visual ideas, or get money in order to sustain working on their own projects. I think that’s the next thing that could do with a shake-up.
