After spending years directing TV shows such as Eastenders and Casualty, Joanna Hogg felt it was time to do something a bit different. She releases her first feature film Unrelated this month for which she won a Fipresci prize.
The film centres around Anna, a childless woman in her 40s who fears she is condemned to a life on the periphery of events. A summer holiday in Italy with the family of an old school friend sees her getting drunk with the kids, nearly having an affair with a 20-year-old and forgetting all about her marriage problems back in London.
Was it a conscious decision to write a film about a middle-aged woman?
It was just inevitable really, because of who I am, and the age I am, and what I'm dealing with in my own life. It was natural for me that whatever I created was going to reflect that. It wasn't a conscious thought that I wanted to create a film about a woman because they are underrepresented in filmmaking. But I am very happy to depict the trials and tribulations of a woman that age and things she's dealing with in her life.
Is it in any way autobiographical?
It is drawing from my life. I'm inspired by things that I experience. So it's just a question of pouring those ideas and experiences into a creative project, but not in a literal autobiographical way. It's more an instinctual natural process for me. I'm not interested in a chronology of my life and depicting that in a film. It's just to do with my preoccupations and ideas and they go naturally into what I'm writing.
How has your experience in television influenced your work on Unrelated?
Well it probably has influenced it but not necessarily in a positive way. I think a lot of the things I did in television were things that I was forced to do because of the limitations with the series I was working within. So I couldn't, for example, use a lot of long takes where things developed in a natural space and time. I wasn't able to let the camera drink in what was going on around, you work to very tight structure. It was a very positive transition then into film and one I don't want to go back on.
Are you nervous about the release of Unrelated?
I'm excited about it and I'm really pleased that it's being released and it's going to be shown on lots of screens. At the same time, I'm aware that the important thing is to keep moving as a filmmaker and an artist. I'm in the process of writing my next film and that's where my energies are right now.
Are you reading your reviews at all?
It's a trap, I like to think I'm not going to read anything. I've already read some things but now obviously this is a cross point because reviews are going to be coming out in the next couple of weeks and I'm taking a deep breath. I'm not sure if I will be able to stay away from them. But I also think I just can't avoid the bad reviews, I've got to take a balanced view too so if I'm gonna avoid the bad reviews, I'm gonna have to avoid the good ones [laughs].
You wrote and directed Unrelated, do you prefer either process?
They each have their ups and downs. I mean when you're writing, there are really great moments of elation where you feel you've struck gold in some way. Then when you're shooting obviously there are practical things that come into play but that's quite interesting as well. I love being in a group of people so when I'm writing, I might be a bit isolated. Then again when you're editing, it's fantastic to shape everything you've created before.
Although Unrelated is very much a British film, it seems to have a more European sensibility. Would you agree with that?
You're not the only person to comment on that. There's no real simple answer except a lot of the films I like don't tend to be British on the whole. They're either European or Asian, mostly from Thailand and Taiwan. But I think its more my sensibility and it just so happens that I like films that take time to unfold, that don't explain everything and don't have incidental music. I think some of those ideas add up to possibly to a film that doesn't feel so British.
Interviewed by Amanda Kavanagh
See for yourself at Light House Cinema from Sept 19
www.lighthousecinema.ie
Film Information
Theatrical release date: 19 September 2008
Directed byJoanna Hogg
Cast Tom Hiddleston, Harry Kershaw, Kathryn Worth
Runtime: 100 minutes
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