Joseph Amenta was born in Toronto and has an honors degree in film studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University). They have directed the short films “Cherry Cola” (2017), “Haus” (2018), and “Flood” (2019). “Soft” (2022) is their feature debut.

“Soft” is screening at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, which is running from September 8-18.

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

JA: “Soft” follows three adolescent queer friends who become enraptured in the nightlife scene over a formative summer break before a missing person pulls them back to the reality they have chosen to abandon.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

JA: Growing up as a feminine queer person, I never got to experience friendship and freedom as displayed in the film. I wanted to discover what it looked like to have a group of young queer kids who unapologetically owned their power and love for one another. The film is a love letter to a childhood I never got to experience.

The piece is also a collection of stories and memories from queer people I have met in my community, a catalogue of unique experiences that collage together to form a new whole.

W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?

JA: I want people to realize the three dimensions of my queer characters. I think often in cinema queer characters are displayed in very specific ways that isn’t always reflective of our experience or colorful community.

I want audiences to see my characters as flawed people who are doing what they can to thrive. The film celebrates the beauty of being different, while also honoring how those differences can make us vulnerable.

Ultimately, I want people to be transported to their own childhood memories, immersing themselves into the world of the color bandits we are following and the beautiful naivety of youth.

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

JA: The film posed so many challenges, from working within a limited financial structure, to telling a story that involved three young leads. I think the biggest challenge — outside of my own struggles to keep the production moving and producing quality work — was the casting process. Finding the right trio for the film took my team and I almost two years.

We worked tirelessly to meet young talent across the country and even ventured into American talent. Finding the right chemistry for our three leads was integral to the success of the film. I think the biggest challenge of all is maintaining the vision and integrity of the film in an industry that doesn’t understand the experience I am trying to display.

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

JA: The film was funded by Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program, with supplementary funding from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Council for the Arts, and Toronto Council for the Arts.

We were lucky to get the support we needed from these funding bodies, as well as some in-kind services from companies, like Panavision allowing us to use their camera equipment at no cost.

We worked really hard pitching the film as much as possible to get the support we needed to execute the vision.

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

JA: It all comes down to storytelling. I am not a cinephile by any means. I love cinema, but above all else I love to craft stories and find small moments where the human experience is reflected back at an audience. Filmmaking is the perfect medium for telling stories, with the collision of image, sound, performance, and story.

I have been writing scripts and making small movies since I was 12 years old. I was writing constantly in my notepads, and saved up bits of money for years to buy a camera. The trick then became how to get the VHS tape onto the computer to edit. I didn’t figure that out until much later. Ha! 

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

JA: The best advice I received was from an older man who was working as an third AD on a TV movie I was interning on when I was 17. He asked me what I wanted to do, and I told him I wanted to write and direct. He then pointed to most of the crew and stated that all of them also wanted to write and direct but weren’t doing it, as they were filling other roles in the industry. He looked at me dead in the eye and said, “If you want to write and direct, only write and direct.” The downside to that is securing enough money to live along your journey, but I think that focus on writing and directing has led me to this point.

The worst advice I’ve received was probably regarding a collaboration with a company or industry person where I didn’t end up seeing growth or development from. Watch who you work with — people love to talk out of their ass.

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

JA: As someone who moves through gender expression, I think what I would say is to understand that this industry is still not formulated for your success. It’s a reality that you need to understand in order to survive. You will often be one of few, if not the only, non-binary person in the room. Make sure your voice is heard, and realize that you are there as a touchpoint for your community.

Never forget to remind those who are attracted to your art that it comes from your perspective and that needs to be respected and considered. I would add, when you show up to a swanky event or industry party, do you 100 percent — never try to fit in, because being a special person in those spaces is important for the other people there to see and get used to. 

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

JA: Andrea Arnold is a favorite director of mine, period. There is such humanity and grit in her work. She focuses on the story and the lives of her characters with such precision. I also am excited about filmmakers like Dee Rees and Jasmin Mozaffari. I can see such a perspective from them as filmmakers — it’s inspiring to me. 

W&H: What, if any, responsibilities do you think storytellers have to confront the tumult in the world, from the pandemic to the loss of abortion rights and systemic violence?

JA: I think the filmmakers I am interested in are innately socio-political. We are creating media that moves audiences in a way that has the ability to enlighten experiences they have previously neglected or discriminated against. My work is rooted in the underbelly of queer culture, and expressing the talent and hardships of my community is the biggest joy I experience as a filmmaker. I

t’s important to listen to the world as it lives beyond you and to understand how you want the perspective of your work to contribute to that. I think that having a voice, a seat at the table, creates a tremendous responsibility to unapologetically display your truth.

I think we talk about representation a lot, but what we don’t talk about enough is the idea of honest or nuanced representation. One person or film cannot represent everyone from a demographic, nor should it, but it is a piece of a larger puzzle we are working to build. I want to see characters from all facets of life and identities, and they don’t always need to be “perfect” or “digestible” representations — they need to be human. 

W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?

JA: As a filmmaker who creates works based on a community of people who do not come from a homogeneous racial background or gender expression, I often struggle with this myself. To not include the wide range of colors in my community is to erase them and their contribution from our recorded history, and I refuse to do that. I think what we need to move towards is including numerous voices in the development and filmmaking process.

I worked on the film with a story editor who is now a great friend of mine named Miyoko Anderson. She also plays the role of Dawn in the film. Working closely with her during the writing process allowed for me to learn aspects of my characters I was unable to understand on my own.

Again, I am not interested in having perfect characters that dilute the experience of being a minority so that white straight cis people can sit in a theater and easily digest them as an archetype. I am interested in showing human experiences in a variety of bodies and forms. I take the time to research and engage with my community. The most important element of this is the ability to listen.

My work is a collection of experiences filtered through my lens as a filmmaker. These experiences are gifts that have been given to me by various members of my community, and it makes me proud to be able to give these stories some space in the world.