Welcome to the The Hot Seat.
Every month we will feature a filmmaker who is redefining West Coast filmmaking. It's time we start shining that ever elusive spotlight onto those in our community who are at the forefront of the BC Indie Revolution.
Each featured filmmaker will answer the same 10 questions, giving insight into their minds, inspirations, aspirations and dreams. The first five questions are rapid fire. Quick. Juicy. Intriguing. The last 5 are more profound, insightful, all about filmmaking.
This month, we're inviting the local legend Kathleen Hepburn to brave the Hot Seat. Let's dive in!
Kathleen Hepburn is a writer/director based on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations. Her work thus far has been naturalistic and heavily steeped in landscape, exploring issues of motherhood, grief and identity.
Her debut feature, NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL, which Variety Magazine calls a "stoically broken hearted debut," premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017 and was awarded Best Canadian Film and Best Director by the Vancouver Film Critics Circle, as well as Special Jury Prize at the Dublin International Film Festival. It went on to be nominated for eight Canadian Screen Academy Awards including Best Picture. Her sophomore feature, THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN (co-written and co-directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) premiered at Berlinale in 2019, was awarded the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, an honourable mention for Best Canadian Feature at TIFF '19, and the Toronto Film Critics Association Rogers Best Canadian Feature Prize. The film won 3 Canadian Screen Awards, including Achievement in Directing and Original Screenplay, and is in distribution with ARRAY Releasing.
Hepburn is currently in development on her next feature project with Experimental Forest Films. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing, and a BFA in Film Production from the Universities of Guelph and Simon Fraser respectively.
Filmmaker Kathleen Hepburn
1. What is the first film you can remember having an effect on you?
I have strong memories of David Bowie's Labyrinth as a kid, that one always stuck with me! Before that, definitely the Last Unicorn.
2. If you could work with one filmmaker, dead or alive, who would it be?
Alice Rohrwacher
3. If you could remake any film, what would it be and what would you change?
I would not… this seems like a lot of work!
4. What is your biggest passion outside of being a filmmaker?
Showing my son the world – and reading.
5. What are you working on now?
Still from Perfumed
A film about the existential struggle brought on by motherhood and the interconnectedness of grief and new birth.
6. Creatively, what inspires you to continue your journey in filmmaking?
Still from The Body Remembers When The World Broke Open
What else am I to do? It is what I’ve spent decades now learning about and practising in all kinds of ways. I find it is the only way I know how to process my thoughts about the world, and, though it can be excruciating at times, it also brings me great satisfaction to create something out of nothing – to find ways to solve a problem creatively. It also really helps to see people affected by my work in one way or another, the idea that you can express something very vulnerable - launch it out into the world and have someone receive it with kindness and connection is a reminder of what makes this process and all the work it entails, worthwhile.
7. Who are your frequent collaborators and what do they bring to your projects?
Kathleen and Norm Lee on Never Steady Never Still
My most frequent collaborators are my producing partners (Tyler Hagan and Lori Lozinski) who are the only reason my films get made… they are both emotional and logistical guardians and have been crucial to my development as a filmmaker. Norm Li has also been one of the most vital contributors to my work in the past – as one of the most gifted cinematographers this country has ever produced, he’s really helped me to develop a visual style that elevates the emotional experience of my work. And then of course, my writing and directing collaborator on our previous film THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN, the undeniable Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers who brought her whole heart to our film and who was a fierce and incredible creative partner. And my latest co-writer and co-conspirator Joanna Reid – who has brought such brilliant character development and humor to our work together, who holds an encyclopedia of knowledge on the craft of writing and is to boot, a very lovely person to be around.
8. What is the most rewarding part about being a BC filmmaker? What is the most challenging?
The most rewarding part is seeing our community grow and blossom, and being reminded of the talent that exists here that is committed to telling stories that matter to us here at home. I feel like we go a little unnoticed sometimes by the east side of the country, which actually allows us the freedom to develop our own unique voice and ways of telling stories. The most challenging is that we have limited provincial funding options compared to our Ontario/Quebec counterparts, which makes it tricky to close our financing. We also don't have access to industry in the way Toronto does, for example, there is less domestic production, less opportunity for sustainable careers as writers or directors outside of the commercial or MOW space. There is also a lack of philanthropic interest here, less commitment from our municipality to culture as a part of a healthy thriving community. And housing is… you know, insane. Which makes everything that much harder for artists of all kinds.
9. As a filmmaker, how do you measure success?
Success is having the means and opportunity to continue to create with people you respect and admire, to be able to continue to challenge yourself creatively– while also being able to make rent and put food on your table. It is having your work seen and having people (or even just one person) feel moved by it.
10. Tell us about a time you failed and how it helped you.
Still from Never Steady Never Still
In trying to put together my first feature, NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL, I struggled to find a producer – all of the more experienced production companies I approached turned it down, which at the time felt like a failure, I really didn’t think it was going to happen. In the end, we managed to partner with James Brown, who had worked with Carl Bessai on several of his films in the past, which allowed us to apply to Telefilm, but James had a full time gig producing with an animation company in town - so my partner Tyler ended up becoming the lead producer. It was a trial by fire that was incredibly difficult but in the end was the start of our journey to becoming the “full-fledged” company we are today. I use the term fully-fledged loosely because really we work out of our kitchen pantry most of the time and have only just hired someone for the first time this year… but we carry on and we have control over our own projects. And I don’t think we’d be in the same position if a more established company had taken on the film.