Josephine Decker is part of Time Warner’s 150 incubator, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier Lab, and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film.” Her previous works have played at numerous festivals and garnered many awards, including Tangerine Entertainment’s Juice Award, which acknowledges female feature film directors.
“Madeline’s Madeline” will premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 22.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
JD: “Madeline’s Madeline” is about a young woman whose interior life is so big and glorious that it can eat anyone.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
JD: I met Helena Howard while judging a Teen Arts Festival in New Jersey. She is talented — I mean talented— and so we decided to build something around her artistry. That very process of building went, well, not as expected, and eventually became the content of the film itself.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
JD: Our project is all about the light and dark of imagination. I generally try to leave the end of my films open so that the film continues for the viewer beyond the experience of watching the film itself.
I hope people leave completing the film in their minds and using their own imaginations to build the future of the characters.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
JD: I think when you make art collaboratively you are forced to see yourself more clearly. I think I have a much deeper understanding of myself thanks to this film, its unusual process, and the great, honest, creative people who made it with me.
Growing is always a painful process.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
JD: We were independently funded.
W&H: What does it mean for you to have your film play at Sundance?
JD: I have been going to Sundance for years. I first went in 2011 as an actress and then in 2015 and 2017 just for fun. The films they show are powerful, insightful works that speak to the most pressing issues of our time.
To be counted among the films at this year’s festival is an honor I don’t even know how to process.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
JD: The worst advice I think I received when I was about to make the movie was that we should make it for more money. We did not have said money.
The best advice was something Joe Swanberg said to me on set a long time ago: “Everybody just wants you to be happy. And we’re not happy until you are happy.” It gave me permission to keep asking for what I wanted and not feel guilty about pushing everyone till we got there.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
JD: Don’t let anyone intimidate you. You know your film better than anyone else in the world. Fight for what you want, and when you know something feels off, say something.
The right collaborators will help you solve your problems – creative or logistical. The wrong collaborators will create many more problems.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
JD: Sophia Takal’s “Always Shine” just blew my mind. She’s such an artist in every way: her frames, her performances, her world.
W&H: Hollywood is in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. Many women and some men in the industry are speaking publicly about their experiences of being assaulted and harassed. What do you think of the recently announced anti-sexual harassment Commission made up of industry leaders? Do you believe that it will help make systemic change? What do you think needs to be done to address this issue?
JD: I’m so grateful that people are taking the blurry boundaries of our industry and working to make those boundaries clear and respected. Our jobs involve an enormous degree of intimacy and exposure and many have used that intimacy in manipulative ways.
I think we need to look more deeply at this issue’s roots. It’s not just an issue of sexual harassment; it’s an issue of a deeply skewed and ingrained power dynamic between men and women.
There is a deep confusion at the root of our culture about when a woman is consenting. I am from Texas, and the enormous societal investment in protecting a man’s ego can often keep a woman from freely expressing her own needs and wants — and from speaking out when those needs and wants are violated.
We have to empower all women to know that their needs, wants, and feelings are valid, and that when they feel slighted or betrayed they have the right to share — and the right to be heard.
As Anita Hill herself says, “It is time to end the culture of silence.” Importantly, for men, it is also time to begin the culture of listening.
