Shana Feste’s first feature, “The Greatest,” premiered at Sundance 2009 and went on to be nominated for a Humanitas Prize. Her second writing and directing effort, “Country Strong,” was a musical which garnered Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for “Best Original Song”. In 2018, she earned another Huminatas Prize nomination for her feature “Boundaries,” which premiered at SXSW. Feste has been named one of Variety’s “Ten Directors to Watch” and one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “New Faces in Independent Film.”
“Run Sweetheart Run” will premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival on January 27.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
SF: “Run Sweetheart Run” is about a single mother fighting for her life and for her daughter’s future.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
SF: I was really inspired by “Get Out.” I found it an interesting challenge to think of what the equivalent of “Get Out” would be for a woman. If one of the most terrifying experiences for an African American man is going home to meet his white girlfriend’s parents, then one of the most terrifying experiences for a woman is trying to get home by foot after a bad blind date.
I wrote it from an angry place, which I usually don’t do, but I had just had a daughter and I was feeling overwhelmed by the thought of her experiencing the same harassment and violence that I experienced being while raised in Los Angeles.
W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?
SF: I want people to think about the daily challenges women deal with when facing the patriarchy. It’s life-threatening in this film, but there are smaller experiences that I tried to capture – experiences with advertising, Uber rides, pet names, and work environments — that can also be suffocating.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
SF: The biggest challenge was how to show the violence against women. As a victim of sexual assault, I had no interest in watching a woman get physically tortured for two hours. Yet I was making a horror film, and needed a frightening, violent antagonist. Much of the violence happens off camera, and when I do show violence, I tried as much as I could to be on Cherie’s feet or tight on her face. But it was no easy feat. And people thought I was insane by using so much off-camera violence.
It was also difficult to maintain perspective in the editing room. I definitely got jaded to the violence as I was editing. I remember watching my dailies for the first time after the shoot, and being horrified by what I shot. I had a physical reaction and was convinced I had gone too far. Now I can watch incredibly violent scenes and not feel anything. It’s disconcerting, and something I had to keep reminding myself when in the edit. But for me, the hardest scene to watch is actually when Cherie and her date slow dance. There’s no violence whatsoever, but the unwanted touching and abuse of space is very unsettling.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
SF: I wrote this script very quickly and had a previous relationship with Blumhouse. My incredible producer Bea Sequeira was working there and we had gone to AFI together – I was excited about getting the opportunity to work with her professionally, as opposed to shopping at Costco for craft services on one of our student films. I had been in ongoing conversations with Blumhouse about some other projects, so I decided to show the script to them first. They greenlit it within their model and we were off to the races.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
SF: I’m quite shy, but I have a lot of big ideas that I want to get out into the world. Filmmaking is a way for me to use my voice and only be public about it for the five weeks it takes to shoot the film. I can handle five weeks of attention every three or so years.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
SF: The best advice I have ever received was from Tim McGraw. He told me that they only want to tackle you when you’ve got the ball. I sometimes forget where I am when I am getting inundated with negativity. It’s easy to overlook the actual accomplishment of making a film. That advice was helpful for me in that it forced me to acknowledge that at the end of the day, despite the negative reviews and online comments, I had done something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl. I had made a film.
The worst advice I’ve received is “Do it. This is a good opportunity for you.” I’ve been told that a few times in my career, usually when I’m asked to take less money. The subtext is usually that women don’t get opportunities to work in male-driven genres and I should take less just for the chance. But men work out of their genre constantly, and I don’t think they get that same advice.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
SF: If you can, write your own material. It allows you to work in different genres. If I didn’t write, I would most likely still be making YA driven films. While I enjoy the YA genre, there are tons of stories I’m interested in telling that are not YA. The best way to attach yourself as a director is to write the project.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
SF: “Lost in Translation” by Sofia Coppola. That movie was a real visceral experience for me. I vividly remember shots, music, and scenes from this film. It was also just super cool. I wanted to be her after seeing that film.
W&H: What differences have you noticed in the industry since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?
SF: I’ve gotten more scripts sent my way, but I haven’t necessarily gotten more jobs. The scariest thing I’ve seen is a reluctance to call a film “feminist” for box office reasons. When I first wrote “Run Sweetheart Run,” I was telling everyone that it was a feminist thriller. I don’t use that word anymore, because I don’t want to scare anyone away from the film.
Audiences don’t like being preached to, and just the word “feminist” feels preachy to them. It’s messed up. I want to embrace the feminist spin in my film, but I also want people to see my movie. It’s a tricky position to be in, and I think it’s because of how divided America is with the #Metoo and #TimesUp movements.
