Jasmin Mozaffari’s student thesis film, “Firecrackers,” premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to screen at numerous other fests across Canada and Europe. It was subsequently sold to the CBC as a part of their Canadian Reflections program. Mozaffari’s next short, “Wave,” screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival and Aesthetica Short Film Festival in 2015. “Firecrackers” is based on Mozaffari’s student thesis and marks her feature directorial debut.

“Firecrackers” will begin screening at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on September 8.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

JM: “Firecrackers” follows two best friends – Lou and Chantal – who have plans to escape their small, repressive town. Their plan becomes derailed when the consequences of a night of debauchery begin to dismantle their friendship and threaten their chance at freedom.

For me, this film really is about the fight to survive and feel free under patriarchal oppression.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

JM: I based the feature film off of a short I did in 2013, also called “Firecrackers,” which played at TIFF. It was my thesis film at university.

I’ve always been drawn to exploring the idea of freedom, or the lack thereof, especially when it comes to women. However, in the feature, I wanted to look at how both men and women are affected by these ideas of masculinity, femininity, and sexuality, and how patriarchal ideas keep all of us feeling trapped and have held us back from truly feeling free.

I knew these were huge ideas to explore, so I did my best to ground this exploration in realistic characters, settings, and situations that were familiar to me.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

JM: I care more about what people feel after seeing my films rather than what they think. My favorite films are ones that I leave from wrestling with my own emotions. It can be good or bad, just as long as they feel something. That means I have done my job right.

With “Firecrackers,” I hope they feel moved in some way by the story and struggle of these girls. It would be great if they just sat with those feelings for a while, and then sorted out what the film meant to them later.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

JM: One of the biggest challenges in making “Firecrackers” was finding all of the real-life locations. It was important to me that the film had an authentic post-industrial atmosphere. Because we had such a tight budget, we didn’t have a location scout — myself and the two producers [Caitlin Grabham and Kristy Neville] had to drive all over Ontario searching for locations ourselves for several months.

The biggest location challenges were finding an old rural motel and Lou’s house. Kristy was going door-to-door in several towns, asking people if we could use their house for a film. She got tons of rejections. The motel was the same. We were really down to the wire when we found Lou’s house just outside of Hamilton, Ontario.

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

JM: The film was funded through Telefilm Canada’s Micro-Budget Production Program — now renamed the Talent to Watch Program. Through this fund, Telefilm supports filmmakers with their first feature. This fund was an incredible help, however, it was an ambitious first feature to make. Most of it was a labor of love because the crew connected so deeply to the script.

W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

JM: It was a bit of a long road for me to get to filmmaking, in some sense. I had always loved films in my youth, but never thought of making it a career. I had gone to university first for journalism, and then switched to study film theoretically. As I was sharing film history classes with film production students, it finally dawned upon me that I needed to be making films too, not just studying them.

I think if there were more visible examples of female directors for me growing up, I would have considered becoming a filmmaker earlier.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

JM: The worst advice: Fix it in post.

The best advice I received in filmmaking was actually from one of my favorite filmmakers, Kelly Reichardt. She came to speak at my film school to a small group of students and alumni. My editor and I had spent many months in the edit for “Firecrackers,” and at this point in time, I felt like I had lost some perspective. I asked Kelly what she does if she ever faces this challenge. She told me to let the film be “bad” for a while — try not to rush through the edit in a panic to make something good. She said it was important to take as much time as you needed in the edit so you can try as many things as possible, and in that process you can discover moments you wouldn’t have otherwise. She also told me to watch the film on different screens and in different spaces.

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

JM: Keep going. Sometimes you will make films that don’t perform as well as you would’ve liked, or that you’re not proud of — that’s okay. You learn from every directing experience.

Be realistic with yourself about what you can do better next time. Be honest in your work and take risks. Be bold, and try not to compare yourself to others. Do you.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

JM: It’s very hard to pick just one, but I will go with the one that affected me the most in my youth.

I was a teen in the early 2000s, growing up in a small city, so we didn’t have access to a variety of cinema. However, I distinctly remember seeing “The Virgin Suicides” by Sofia Coppola with my younger sister, and we were both changed people after watching it. It was one of the first times I had seen a film that focused on the dark side of being a teenage girl.

Sofia was able to tap into the very particular and inexplicable feeling of being trapped that I think only women can understand. Interestingly, it’s told through the boys’ perspective, which I thought was clever because it showed, in the end, just how much those girls were romanticized — as teenage girls often are — and how the reality was so much bleaker. At that time, I was so used to watching male-coming-of-age films, and to see something that reflected the truth about how I felt as a teenager really moved me. Sofia Coppola definitely became one of my teenage heroes after that.

W&H: Hollywood and the global film industry are in the midst of undergoing a major transformation. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched?

JM: The biggest difference I’ve noticed is that there is actually room to have these conversations. I think before #MeToo and #TimesUp, people weren’t ready to allow people the space and time to talk about their experiences, which is truly unfortunate.

However, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement. The issue of sexual abuse and oppression, not only towards women, but people of all genders, is so steeped in the patriarchal system we live in. Until we can shift or dismantle this system, these issues will continue. I think we’re getting there, but it will take time.