Sabrina Doyle is a British writer and director based in Los Angeles and London. The AFI alumna’s directing has been supported by Women in Film LA, the Chimaera Project, Google, Panavision, the Mary Pickford Foundation, BAFTA LA, and Fulbright. As a screenwriter, Doyle has written for Participant Media and been a Nicholl Semifinalist.
“Lorelei” was scheduled to screen at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival, which has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
SD: A biker and a mermaid reunite after a long time apart and have a reckoning with their past, their future, and their dreams.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
SD: Wanting to make a film about working-class people that shows their resilience, their inner lives, and their hidden dreams. I grew up in a working-class family, and feel I don’t often see the working classes depicted insightfully or tenderly on film.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
SD: Maybe not so much a concrete thought as a feeling — which is what my favorite films leave me with — that life is mysterious, tragic, complicated, and kind of wonderful.
Our composer, Jeff Russo, said he hoped his score for the closing moments of the film would make audiences lean forward in their seats, and I think that’s a genius instinct when so many films at the end ask you to relax and lean back.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
SD: Time and money, of course!
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
SD: We’re 100 percent indie, financed independently by a film lover called Arnold Zimmerman, and helped by grants from Women in Film Los Angeles and The Chimaera Project, and also by the Oregon film incentive — we shot most of our film in Oregon.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
SD: It was seeing “Apocalypse Now” in a movie theater — and in particular that moment when the jungle bursts into flames to the opening lines of “The End” by The Doors — and realizing that a filmmaker was behind this alchemy.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
SD: Best advice: Whenever anything went wrong on “Lorelei,” I’d freak out, and my producers Francesca Silvestri and Kevin Chinoy would say “Just work through the problem,” and I did, and things were always okay.
Worst advice: Don’t speak up, don’t cause a stir, don’t be visible.
W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?
SD: I think the best advice I can give — especially to women and other underrepresented groups — is the advice I give myself, and it’s about having the confidence to take risks in your storytelling.
Listen to the quiet, persistent voice in your deepest, most ancient brain. Keep your finger on the pulse of what’s current, certainly, but don’t be swept away by that. Deep down, you know what stories set you alight — and you don’t need to please everyone or play by all the rules.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
SD: An all-time favorite is too hard to narrow down, but in the last year I’ve loved Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” and Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire.” “Atlantics” for its genre-defying fusion of social commentary, ghost story, and romance. “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” for so many reasons, but above all for that devastating last shot of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) listening to music.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?
SD: We’re actually still finishing “Lorelei.” We did our sound mix and some of our color remotely under lockdown, so we’d have something to show the Tribeca jury and the press. We’re still not finished, though, and we’re busy planning for a final finishing pass once social distancing restrictions ease.
