A Heartwarming Journey Into The World Of Teenage Dreams And Curling Rinks

We sat down with Josephine and Mike to chat about the process of getting CURL POWER to the screen. Josephine, we’d love to know where the inspiration for this film came from?

Josephine Anderson, Director, Photographed by Brian Van Wyk at the Filmable Portrait Studio

Josephine Anderson (JA): I was curling in a beer league a few years ago. I wasn’t very good at it, but I loved it. At some point, as I watched other newbies like myself tumble all over the place, I noticed a parallel between the awkward, misunderstood nature of teenagehood and the misunderstood, fringe sport of curling. It seemed like the perfect subculture for a coming-of-age film. My intention was to dismantle the traditional heroic sports doc, and instead create a funny and tender story about five girls on a curling team, fumbling towards adulthood. We filmed for nearly 4 years, focusing more and more on the strangeness of inhabiting a body out in the world, especially as a young woman. I saw my documentary participants harnessing their bodily power as athletes, while also struggling with body dysmorphia, disordered eating, depression, and anxiety. And I saw the girls leaning on each other through the chaos of it all. The documentary became a film about transcending loneliness, and an anthemic call to arms for friends everywhere to band together as we face the unknown.

Wow, 4 years of filming, I’m sure you ran into some hurdles! What were some of the biggest challenges you faced during the production of this film?

Mike Johnston, Producer

Mike Johsnton (MJ): We had a phenomenal amount of footage that was captured over the course of four to five years and needed to be edited down into an 85-minute film. The first assembly of the film clocked in at 4.5 hours. This created a monumental challenge of distilling 4-5 years of moments into a narrative. The story team that consisted of Josephine, Editor Alex Bohs and Jocelyne Chaput took incredible care into finding the threads to guide the audience through the experience of these 4-5 years in an engaging feature film format.

JA: Birthing a baby in the middle of our production phase, and raising my little one alongside the making of this film, was exhilarating and challenging. I am forever grateful to my Director of Photography, Claire Sanford, who went above and beyond as a creative partner through it all (leading a shoot while I was in labour, for example). This film would never have been completed without Claire’s dedication and hard work.

Over so much footage and moments that you caught on camera, do you have a favourite scene or moment in the film?

JA: The scene of Sav and her grandma dancing in the front yard makes me tear up. It’s nearly impossible for Sav’s grandma to reach across the generational divide and really understand her teenage granddaughter’s inner struggles. But you can feel her love piercing through the unknowingness.

MJ: I would have to agree with Josephine! The scene between Sava and her grandma is one of the most touching and heartfelt moments of the entire film. Having seen the film many times now, I always find myself looking out amongst the audience when this moment appears on screen to see how everyone else is reacting to it. The Gordon Lightfoot music is forever stuck in my head!

Josephine, we’d love to get to know a bit more about you as a filmmaker. How would you describe your directing style?

Still from Curl Power

JA: My films are typically quite intimate, sensorial and imaginative. You’ll hear me frequently asking for tighter shots that emphasize skin texture and bodily details, because I’m interested in emphasizing the subjective and intensely personal elements of any given situation. Our crews are usually tiny, and it’s important to me that we integrate as seamlessly as we can into the environment we’re in. Sometimes you’ll find me hiding behind a door or crouching on the floor so that I’m less obtrusive, because I want our documentary participants to feel more relaxed and less “observed.” We try not to take over the spaces we’re filming in. I’m a very intuitive director when filming, but I’m very detail oriented during the planning stages. I do a lot of research and a lot of written brainstorming during development and production prep. I also write out an hour-by-hour list of story beats for most shoot days. Once we’re on the ground filming though, I lean into the moment and try to be as present as possible.

There is no time like the present that’s for sure! That said, what filmmaker’s past works have influenced your films the most?

JA: I often look to Alma Har’el’s work for inspiration, from Bombay Beach to Lovetrue to Honey Boy. Her imagination is out of this world. She’s my all time fave.

Speaking of inspiration, what are you working on next? Are there any upcoming projects you're excited about?

Still from Curl Power

JA: I’m busy releasing another project alongside CURL POWER, called TEXADA, which is my first virtual reality project (co-directed with Claire Sanford). I also just released an audio documentary, DAD’S SECRET LIFE OF MATCHMAKING for BBC Radio 4's Short Cuts. I’m developing a couple of other ideas in early stages, but can’t speak to them just yet.