E31 • The Serious Business of Effective Comedy • EGIL PEDERSEN, dir. of ‘My Father’s Daughter’ at TIFF + Reykjavik Int. Film Festival

In this conversation, Egil Pedersen reflects on his experiences growing up in a small Norwegian village and how he transitioned from short films to his first feature film, “My Father's Daughter,” the first-ever Sámi-language premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. His cinema inspirations include David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” and “Show Me Love” (orig title: Fucking Amal) directed by Lukas Moodysson. 

Egil touches on the challenges and opportunities in the Norwegian film industry, the importance of cultural representation, and the evolution of his creative process. The discussion also delves into the nuances of humor in film and the intricate relationship between comedy and drama, exploring how these genres can intersect and enhance storytelling. 

He also discusses the importance of identity in his film, the challenges of navigating film festivals, and the excitement of future projects, all while reflecting on the inspirations that have shaped his filmmaking journey.

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Chapters

• 0:01 Past Present Feature, Hosted by Marcus Mizelle
• 0:19 Introducing Filmmaker Egil Pedersen, dir. of "My Father's Daughter" at TIFF
• 4:01 Filmmaking in Norway: Opportunities and Challenges
• 6:56 Cultural Identity and Representation in Film
• 9:40 The Journey to Feature Filmmaking
• 12:40 The Role of Film School in a Filmmaker's Development
• 15:56 The Creative Process: From Shorts to Features
• 18:47 Exploring Humor in Film: A Personal Journey
• 22:29 The Intersection of Comedy and Drama
• 27:08 Exploring Identity in Film
• 32:49 Casting and Character Development
• 37:11 Navigating Film Festivals
• 40:43 Future Projects and Inspirations

Transcript

Marcus Mizelle (00:02)

Welcome to the Past Present Feature podcast.

Marcus Mizelle (00:19)
In this combo, Egal Peterson reflects on his experiences growing up in a small Norwegian village

and how he transitioned as a filmmaker from short films to his first feature film, My Father's Daughter, the first ever Sami language premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. His cinema inspirations include David Lynch's Twin Peaks and the Coen Brothers Fargo.

Egel touches on the challenges and opportunities in the Norwegian film industry, the importance of cultural representation, and the evolution of his creative process. The discussion also delves into the nuances of humor and film and the intricate relationship between comedy and drama, exploring how these genres can intersect and enhance storytelling. He also discusses the importance of identity in his film

the challenges of navigating film festivals and the excitement of future projects,

all while reflecting on the inspirations that have shaped his own filmmaking journey.

Marcus Mizelle (01:10)
love a short feature film. I really do. Your movie is 78 minutes long, right? That's true. How do you pronounce his name? Nikolaj Kostervaldo. It's Danish. I'm Norwegian. But I think it's Nikolaj Kostervaldo. Probably there's a YouTube video that says how you're to pronounce it, but I haven't checked that. And you literally have a joke about that in your movie, right? Where somebody mispronounces it and then it gets correct. Yeah, I should have probably had some kind of more jokes about Nikolaj.

One week before we started principal photography, we got a mail saying, okay, August 21st, he's ready. Because up to then we were like, maybe he will be in, maybe not, we were not sure. And during the principal photography, we didn't know, are we all going to film him for one hour or three hours, just one shot? So if he's not available, the film still has to work that she has him as a dream father. And I think you could have accepted us as well. think Taika Waititi's film,

I think there he's idolizing Michael Jackson, of course, but not Michael Jackson being part of the film. mean, but it also worked out, right? He probably shot all of his stuff in one day, I would imagine. We did, and it was nice. He came to the main location.

because sometimes we have to go to LA and film him there for some hours. But we were so lucky and so happy that we was able to come to the main location. Sometimes these things works out. was a big dream and we had it in the script and people said, you're no way you're going to get him for one day up in Northern Norway. Nobody didn't want to take him out. It didn't feel like it was just one day. The way the story needed him and the way it's parceled out in the first kind of half of the film, or not even half, first third maybe, something like that. It didn't come.

to my mind is, they only got this guy for one day. It actually worked, most importantly for the story and her character's need for him. And it's always so fun when a real character's name is acknowledged in a fiction film. When somebody plays themselves, it's always fun. Exactly, and being John Malkovich, for instance. There you go. What else would be? Nicholas Cage has some kind of film about him. Yep, the one that came out with Pedro Pascal.

And also we have Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCV, the film. I love that movie! The unbearable weight of massive talent is that Nicolas Cage film where he plays himself. And then JCVD, God, what a movie. You need to watch that because... Okay, thanks. I don't even know what you call that kind of movie. He's playing himself. I want to look this up. What would that be considered? It's obviously a fiction film, but it's like this almost subgenre in a way. What would that be called? That's exactly it. It could be like subgenre because it's...

a fictional version of his name to himself. Like a hybrid. It's just this exaggerated version of themselves. Anyways, also what's crazy about Nikolai as far as where I'm sitting, I've been talking about Game of Thrones randomly. I was talking to somebody about a really great antagonist that kind of turns into almost a protagonist for the viewer and how like, you know, can start off with someone that you hate so much and then by the end of it, you're like so on board with them and

The character that always comes to mind more than anything when it comes to that is Jamie Lannister from Game of Thrones. The Pusheen of the One. I interviewed a filmmaker who has Peter Dinklage in the film and we were talking about that just like this Game of Thrones connection. And then my last interview which happened about an hour ago, the guy's previous film had Nikolai in it as well. The universe is weird. It's just Game of Thrones month for me. Anyways, where are you coming from? I'm coming from a small village far northeast in Norway.

It's part of the... Sápmi is not like a land, but it's like the area where the Sami people are living. The indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. But only in the northern part of Norway, Sweden and Finland and northwest of Russia. The traditionally Sami speaking indigenous people inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

You're still living in this small town that you shot in? No, no, no, no. I'm not only close to Oslo, actually closer to the Oslo airport than Oslo. So it's easy for me to go out and travel close to the airport. How many people are living there? Maybe 800,000 people. I feel it's like a small capital, which feels safe for most of the time, for most people, most of the time. During the last 20, 25, 30 years, it's been more cooler, better.

Places to eat, better clubs, Norway is a rich country. we just have a new national museum, a new opera building from the last 20 years. So really new, great architecture. Yeah. Then also what about filmmaking in Oslo and I guess Norway in general? What is the current state of affairs? Norwegian Film Institute presented all the films this fall, all the Norwegian films. There were 19 films that I will premiere in the cinema from the fall till Christmas.

Some of them are documentaries. So I in a year, I guess around 35 to 40 feature length films are premiering every year. And I would say maybe like our documentaries, I'm guessing a bit. Most feature films are funded by the Norwegian Film Institute, which is the governmental funding. Most non-American countries, it seems, have this situation. Exactly. And we also have regional funds, army funds, and Norwegian Film Institute, and also Nordic.

Okay, I feel like it would be a pro and con situation where it's like, that sounds great film funds, but you're still competing with everybody else that wants those film funds too, Exactly. But since they are states, so we own them because they are here for us. Of course, they want us to make money, but they accept that films are being made that don't do that much money and a filmmaker can still continue to have a good career. Actually, I was born in Tromsø, but that's far away. I grew up in Sirma.

very small village. I went to school from first to ninth grade. We were 30 pupils. my goodness. It's very small. Wow. 30 people from the third grade to ninth grade. First grade to ninth grade. So you went to the Norwegian Film School in 2002. You graduated there. You directed 18 music videos, 15 shorts, several commercials and corporate films. Your latest short film, satirical comedy, Indigenous Police, Kofte Politea.

Politea means police. Kofte is the Sami outfit. Policing the way you dress in the Sami. And so this short film created much public debate in the Sami community. Is that correct? One week before the premiere in Tromsø Film Festival, which is the best festival in Norway, I wrote a chronicle which was published to the biggest place, Norwegian broadcaster. The chronicle was titled, What is the right way to be a Sami? So was a bit of criticism about Sami communities.

And also, sometimes as a Sami person, which is a minority, at least from my perspective, I felt that I was not good enough Sami for my own community, because I didn't speak the language and other things, because I maybe was from the wrong family. But also when I got older, then I experienced racism. Even though I'm white, I have a Sami facial feature which...

At least people in North can recognize, you're a Sami. And also I felt the Sami Parliament, which is a place that can give you money, had an attitude which is criticized. And the people of the Sami Parliament had to give answer to me in the media. And I was invited to several radio stations, TV programs where I could debate the film and also the Chronicle. And they were related because they were all about the right way to be a Sami and indigenous person. Got you.

And do feel like you've opened up and progressed some conversations through doing that? Definitely. People were both sending me private messages and comments on social media. I experienced this, so I'm happy that you're doing this. And I met the CEO of Saudi parliament or the leaders. thank you for criticizing us. We are changing the way we handle rejection because there was a rejection letter I criticized. And so they changed it. And I mean, they still support my film.

and we have a good tone and that's a thing in a democracy. You can criticize the people in charge and they will, okay, we'll listen to you. Yeah. And okay, we will do better. It's not about something personal. Got you. My father's daughter, your world premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival, and this is your first feature film. You've done a ton of short films and a ton of music videos. That means you've been prolific. You have been making things and you have a lot to say, apparently, right?

What motivated you to make all this content? Sorry, these films, these music videos, these short films? Yeah, content. that's the buzzword. I think actually it all started when I was like 14 years old. I grew up in this very small village. Like maybe like 150, 200 people living there. There were no movie theater. At that time we only had one Norwegian TV channel.

So I didn't see much films, but when I saw something, was like, wow, it was like opening up some doors and I was being bullied much at school. So I longed to something else. Till I was 16 years old, I probably watched only five films in the movie theater. But when I was 14, Wind Peaks, they were missed. It just came on television and I was mind blown. I thought, shit, I don't understand this, but still I'm intrigued and charmed.

Characters can be silly, comic, then it's horror again. Also, would say Dale Cooper was almost like a personal idol for me at that time. And I thought this became my thing. I was talking, maybe I can make a TV series like Twin Peaks in my village when I grew up. So already then it started this idea that I, this feeling of creating something that can have such a huge emotional impact. think that was.

What got really started me was a huge thing that really gave the drive to work with films. But then of course I didn't believe I could make films in North Norway because there were no film schools there. So I thought, okay, I'll be an engineer. But then my grades were too bad and I was like, okay, I can be a nurse, but my grades were too bad for that. So I was like, okay, I can do nothing.

But when I was 21, I saw Norwegian Film School. You could apply for that school. It was really hard, but they didn't look at the grades. There were like interview, a short autobiography, and two pages, and a short story. So I applied, and when I was 22, I came into Norwegian Film School. thought, hell yeah, I deserve this. But I realized, shit, I know nothing about film industry and storytelling, but okay. But you got in. I got in. You crashed course?

It was Crash Course, I would say, because my childhood was traumatic with lots of bullying and really harsh environment in the village I grew up in. And I took a lot of that in my twenties and it was really hard to be a leader when I was not carved to be that yet. I think I can count on one hand how many days I thought it was.

to make films during the three years at film school. So it was really hard, but I learned a lot of things, especially the technical side. And I thought if I would have been a director teacher, I would have taken each student and say, okay, who are you? Where do you want to go? Why do you want to go there? And to help each student to find their voice, way of filmmaking. The film school in Norway was quite new, so I thought they were more like, okay, this is how you...

think axis in film. This is how you direct actors, but it was no like shaping the person. The actual like craft of making a film, not much film theory or autobiographical creations, but more of this is how you do three point lighting. This is how you don't cross the 180 line. This is how you do. Yeah. Exactly. And technical for the director's point of view. It feels like good film schools are definitely the ones that have a film theory aspect, analyzing the emotional impact of a film and how to approach that.

I had some of it, but the personal development of each student because we were only like six directors. the teacher could have helped each of us to develop our own voice. Some of the directors were strong and maybe were able to do it on their own. But I wish that I could be like a stronger teacher on those things. But you going to film school, your privilege, there's a lot of money they throw at you. I was always making films and...

watching movies all the time and got on film sets. But I did have two years there where I was going to film programs there, mainly so I could rent all the criteria and all the good movies from the library at school. No streaming, no movie. Yeah, but so I remember getting those intro to film classes and getting the history of film like Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and like Citizen Kane and Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and all that kind of rundown of a lot of German cinema history and a lot of American history and all that. It was really nice.

And at the end of the day, I don't think it's about the stamp of whatever film school, even though that can help you out in certain circles. But I look at film school as, it's better than nothing, right? But also I think some people lean on it too much, just like anything else in life, right? Where they have this dangerous expectation of, okay, I've completed film school now, I'm ready. And it's, that's not good, the expedient entitlement. And then when they come out into the real world and they don't get what they expect, they give up and they move on.

I think the information and the knowledge and networking and understanding that you're not the only one out there trying to do this. think that's really helpful. Once you get out in the real world, that's when your journey really starts. Circling back to your many short films that you made, what did you learn making? You've made 17, is that correct? Short films? Yeah, I made my 19th music videos two weeks ago. Like it's for the film. It's like promoting an artist in a film and around 15 shorts.

Creating all these short films and music video, it's like my own film school 2.0 or like a master's degree in film school, but I did it on my own without getting a degree. When my first son was born, I got some funding to buy a camera, a Canon 5D Mark II. yeah. I thought, shit, you can make so great images with this camera. That was a huge deal. The DSLR. Yeah, DSLR. That was the 5D. It had a huge impact for my career. And then I realized...

Okay, I have the equipment to make something good. Now it's only up to me and I don't want to be that guy who said I got kids and then I didn't have time for my girl. So like when I got kids, okay, he's sleeping now, go out. Then I had filmed like a short term music video slash short film. And when my boy was sleeping, I went to my bedroom and did After Effects. And again, he woke up. I was playing with him and then he slept again and more After Effects. I think I did like this idea. I thought, okay, in five years.

This was in 2010. Then I have made enough short films and music videos so I can make a feature film. So that was 2010 and of course now it's 2024. But then I realized I decided for each film I have to try something I haven't tried before. Get out of this comfort zone. So if one film was in color, maybe handheld, maybe next thing in statics, black and white. Or if one feels traditional, then it's one more surreal.

and one with voiceover and then something, the documentary. So always trying to develop the filmmakers tools. I remember one time somebody called me, so you're prolific. And I'm like, I always misunderstood what that word meant. But what it actually means producing young or fruit, especially freely, fruitful, causing abundant growth, generation, reproduction, marked by abundant inventiveness and productivity.

This is what I'm thinking about when you're telling me all this stuff and I can relate to it. I guess I want to know where you think that comes from. You're clearly motivated. Several things, partly genetically from my father's side. He was the principal, he was being a mayor, someone who's want to achieve something. And also when it comes to the idea that, I this thing, I just want to make it better. I like the joy of making something beautiful, artistic work. When I make something, either it has the good money or it has to be fun to do it or has to...

be something quality that can bring me further in the career or best all of those three. Yeah. Or at least two of them. Makes sense. Does time have anything to do with it? Do you feel like you need to get going? I think my friends said, when I said, I'm not doing enough and they say, what are you talking about? You're making films all the time. And I also think quantity is like a negative word because some filmmakers make a short film and then it's four years and they make a new short films.

That's too little. I think it's better to go out, do something, because it has to be like your regular job. So when you suddenly stand there on a feature film set, you don't have to do safe choices. Because if you've been daring to do different things on short films and music video, then you're easier to do the same thing when you're doing something with bigger money. It's that 10,000 hours rule, right?

You're only good enough until you have done it. Yeah, and I think you're right as far as there's a negative view on quantity when it comes to filmmaking. I didn't feel okay about it until I actually realized that Alfred Hitchcock had made like, I don't know the exact number, but like tons of feature films, 10 or 15 before he made The Lodger. He was prolific. He was making things that we don't talk about now. Way before he found that groove.

I think it's the same also with Ingmar Bergman and Mikael Haneke. I think also they have did quite a lot of films before they were international superstars. Your movie, My Father's Daughter, when did you know that you were ready to make a feature film and why this film? I dreamt about it since I was probably 16 or 17. And I had another screenplay around 2008, 2009, which went nowhere. And I realized...

I have made so little films, so nobody will give me the responsibility to handle that much money. So I thought, okay, I have to make a lot of films. But I think around 2015, I had made several short films and I was never nervous when I went on the set as well. like, it's just a job. It's always hard in some ways, but it's still a job. And around 2016, I started to write My Father's Daughter. So it's like...

In a way, you think you can do it when you're, when I was young. yeah. Basically around 2015, felt the plan was go from 2010 to 2015 and make shorts. And 2015, then I could do the feature film. You had a plan in mind for sure, specifically. I had a plan, yes, but that took longer time than I, yeah. But you shoot for the stars, get to the moon. Yeah, that's a quote I have used several times. Why My Father's Daughter? What about the story did you need to get off your chest? Good question. When I wrote it, the first verse in...

The story was supernatural. It still was about a young girl who was living with her mother and still a guy came and put up a tent outside the house. But then I had written treatment and it didn't work out that way. I met this Swedish consultant for the first time, a script consultant, and he read this. No, no, no, no, no. This is more humor. It's not supernatural. It's not horror. It's not thriller.

There's some comedy elements here. It's comic, it's drama. And we had a two hour meeting and he had opened my eyes. And I've used him as a script consultant every year since that meeting. And then I realized, okay, this is something humor here. And I always thought I had humor inside me and I was never able to use humor in private life, but to use it in films I never was able to do. So I realized, okay, well, how do people write something? It's not a comedy, but some people find it quite humorous.

Because it does feel like a comedy, but I don't know if it's a comedy. Yeah, it's the time of humor, at least the type of comedy I like. Maybe don't call it comedy or like drama. don't know. People from a sales perspective, it's drama, but people see the failure. this looks really funny. I remember I Googled, how do I transfer from strange drama to comedy? And I thought, okay, I just Googled how to write comedy. And I checked like the 10, 21st links. So I thought, huh.

This makes sense. And I thought, okay, so I took some tools, because I think it's like tools you have to write something funny, you have to understand the tools of humor, especially to what is a comical character. Yes. And also what kind of comedy are you going to try to make is important too, right? Subcomedy, subgenre, is it a... Or it's romantic comedy. Is it a sex comedy was like a big thing in the 90s and 2000s, wedding disguise comedy. I feel like comedy is never really the first genre in any movie.

felt like a lot of it has its own beats and its own traits, but also if it's just a comedy, then it's gonna be a hollow, soulless thing. It's not just about the laughs. Because like romantic comedy, you're still dealing with the romance genre beats. You're still dealing with someone who's got a fear of commitment, probably. That's the big driving common denominator with a rom-com. Not always, but a lot of times. I gotta say this, my first feature film, we did in 09, and it was based off a short film that I thought it was a drama.

I it was very trading places with Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, but it was like serious. Then my friend read it. This is hilarious, dude. Thanks for letting me read it. And I'm like, hilarious? What do you mean? And then I realized, very similar to your situation where I'm like, damn, this is a comedy actually. It was very interesting how we both started out with like kind of a serious kind of approach, but how others saw it as like a comedy of errors, maybe in a way, I don't know, at least with my story.

One thing that I think is really hilarious is Sopranos. I mean, because it goes from the really dark drama to really dark comedy because they are so silly. nobody calls it comedy, but I think it's super funny. It's always funnier when you don't expect to laugh too. That's true as well. One of my favorite filmmakers, but I never remember his name. Up in the Air, thank you for... Rightman, Jason Rightman. Jason Rightman, I laugh of his films, but they are drama.

Thank you for smoking. Yeah, thank you for smoking. Juno, Young Adult. At least they are the films I've seen. Get that Saturday Night Live movie coming out, I think. I know, yeah, I've one of the Ghostbusters, but that seems like a different vibe than some of his drama films. Yeah, it's that blend. Are we talking about calm dramas here? Comedy dramas? Yeah, I maybe that's like my favorite genre and where I want to go. It's Adam McKay went from comedy to calm drama. Damn, so good.

Great example. yeah. Big short. I'm a big fan of the big short. It's so good. I rewatched it about six months ago. I'm like, God, this movie's better than it was. is. And what is it? Don't Look Up, which is, yeah, is it can't be, but it's also maybe, yeah. Vice. I was actually in a test screening for Vice with Adam McKay sitting to my right and behind me one row. This dude was squirming, boy. And I've already said this on this podcast, but it was so comforting to know that somebody's

great and as big as Adam McKay was over there just like biting his fingernails and squirming just the way that I would. I guess it's for all of us. Will Ferrell and Judd Apatow were in the audience too. There's like 20 people in there. It was in Sony. It was just like, how is he? This movie is so good. How is he so nervous? That's how it goes. But I think Adam McKay though, yeah, dude, he made some of the best comedy films. Step Brothers, get out of here. Hilarious. I love Step Brothers. I've seen it so many times with my kids. It's a film that works for everybody and you could...

make the film as a drama. These two men are they are so sad. The saddest thing is if you're a man and 40 and living with your parents, it's so dark. don't know why I'm laughing when you say you do it as a drama. That's just funny to me. Yes, it's because it makes so sense to make it as a comedy because it's so dark. You could never bear to watch it as a drama. would be Mikael Harnik or something. It's so interesting because the drama and the comedy, it's like I think of those two masks, those two acting kind of masks or it's tragedy and comedy. They're opposites.

but also they're very close in a way. They're super close. I feel like a comical character. It's like a drama character, just you boosting the equalizer, the bass and the high frequency. He has to be less understanding himself, not able to understand himself and have like stronger motivation to do things. And another way to look at it could be action and reaction, meaning a lot of good comedy comes from some traumatic or tragic event. Even the concept of somebody having a happy day.

And then falling into a pothole. It's an old trick or pie in the face kind of thing. And it depends on the approach and the reaction of that character and how you present it. I think in a way comedy has to be more dramatic than drama. Bigger. Bigger because you have to be more painful because when it's really painful, no, and then you laugh. And that is part of comedy, proper comedy writing where it's not just comedy. You've got to always give a character some sort of drive or desire line.

in some way. You don't have to do anything, but I think that makes an effective story. And think about my favorite comedies. A lot of it starts with like them getting dropped. It's a metaphor of being happy and walking into a damn pothole. It gives you a clothesline for the story and all that funny shit, it goes on top. It's like the clothes that go on the clothesline. 30 minutes of just comedy is going to wear you out. When I made my short film, Identity Sight, before the feature film, the most common direction I gave to the actors were like, don't act like you think it's funny.

You don't think anything is funny at all. You think it's funny when you read the script, but you as a character are not enjoying this. The audience will have should laugh, not you. Yeah, and I've messed up so many takes by laughing and that's when you know it's working and it's funny, but also you don't want to be messing up any takes. Sorry, we talked a lot about comedy. I just couldn't help myself. The first three films I made were comedy, so. really?

And it's funny because I don't see a lot of people making comedies. No, it's difficult. It's the worst genre. If you say something is comedy and you go in the movie theater and no one is laughing, it's, okay, you failed. In a drama, you could say like it was an aesthetic drama, visual drama or like low We're very sensitive as a culture globally to take real chances with comedy. But that doesn't mean we can't sprinkle it on. The icing on the cake, if you will. As far as the other parts of your film, My Father's Daughter,

What do you think the main ingredient that really makes your film work from an emotional standpoint? I think the story which basically everybody in the world can recognize, the story about identity, to understand who you are and searching for an understanding of who you are in the world and where you come from. That's something I guess most people in all of the world can relate to. It's the coming of age, right?

But why it makes it unique is because of the Sami element and the queer mother. We live in a time where our character chooses to have a Danish identity. What is an identity? Is it something you're given? Is it something you choose or something someone else gives you? And now we live in a time which is good. People can define who they are and it's more of defining their identity. I think there's a lot of good drama and comedy in...

all this and how people handle it, how people around things handle things. Now people are, you're queer. So they want to show that they are very progressive. it's cool with it. Hey man, yeah, that's cool. yeah. So we'd have to talk a lot about it. problem. Yeah. Yeah. So cool that you're queer. We like it. then it makes them nervous is what it's really doing. Yeah. Just be cool, Brian. Why does it matter? Why do you care? Yeah. This is universal story about identity.

mixed with contemporary way of how people handle identity. I definitely picked that up for sure. I always appreciate a good story about parents child disconnect. The dad, he is not winning father of the year this year. Yeah, maybe next year or maybe 10 years. Maybe next year, but in this story, like bro, what are you doing? He was an interesting character because he was trying in his own way, but he's also just a fuck up and just couldn't quite understand how inappropriate he was being. But he didn't know any better it seems.

No, historically he was probably even worse 20 years ago, but now he's better in his own eyes. And he is probably better. It comes from a good place, but maybe just good for himself. It was very nice to hear that for his character to close his arc up at the end, where he's basically acknowledging his upbringing and how he's trying to break those chains. He has his own arc. When people were reading the script, people were like, some man at our age, yeah, there's something about him that resonates in me. And of course I'm not like that. I think many people...

has known this type of man like a friend or an uncle or for God. It reminds me of somebody from back home where they haven't really gotten out. There's one thing I would say just about the father, which is interesting. In a way, he's manipulative as well, but you still like him. And when we did test screenings for young people and were like asking, who is your favorite character? He was always the favorite character. I think I know why. At least for me, is that he just keeps trying to connect with her.

That might be, and he's likable. There's likable actors doing this, which does do the character with love. We have a test running for editor here in France, but why do people like him? He's so manipulative. yeah, he's likable. Sometimes it's not just the what, but it's the how it comes off, right? How your actor played him, just how the character approached each situation. But then there's sometimes where it's like, what the hell are you doing, dude? Don't let her on that four-wheeler. What are you doing? Yeah. What about production and specifically casting your actors? How did that...

process look for you? All the cast is Sami speaking, except from some of the really small roles. And it's not only Sami, but it's Northern Sami, language. And it's a small language, so it's like, there's not like a crazy amount of actress to search for. So, but we still have to find the ones who are like, it has to be her, it has to be him. So, me and the casting engines, we were like traveling in Sami area, going to schools.

contacting schools and saying, come to this youth club tonight. We have an open casting. Somebody was already registered. And one of the days there were so many coming for an open casting. I think I only had three minutes for each person, which is nothing. But the thing is you have to give them a chance to show something and give them some positive feedback. Thank you for trying. And suddenly one girl came in. She didn't have time to register.

So she just got the script in the hand and she read it just from the paper and I thought, shit, is it her? Is it her? And I think I spent 20 minutes with her and I thought, okay, now I still have many other kids to test. So I have to let the next one in. And that was the one who got the role. How exhilarating casting can be, right? That's one of my favorite phases of making a film for sure. It's really interesting because at some point you think you're never going to find someone.

And somebody, the person just pops into the room. I'm like, shit. Yeah. The moment it goes from page to the next phase, right? man, we found this person. This character is now alive and here they are. Yeah, it's great. You also could say about the adults, some of the grownup actors, the father, he's a reindeer herder. That's his main job. wow. Yeah. And sometimes he's doing some acting. So we've been in like one TV series and two feature films. No, this was the third one.

But he said it was the most challenging role because it was something really far away from what he was himself. The mother, she is working at an office helping artists. And she had done some acting before, like in short films and a small role in the feature. Some of the other actors, like the teacher, the principal, the mother's girlfriend, they're working only as actors. I love that. People paying the bills every how they can, but also like they're committed actors when they can be. Yeah. Yeah. That was our first feature film. And we got so much...

Good performances too. They were more hungry sometimes than say being out in LA and casting in that way. And sometimes you see a film, wow, he's great, but he can't be an actor or actress because he's looking in a special way or has some special aura. It just means more to some people, especially the ones that feel like maybe this film is their shot to do their thing as opposed to looking at it like, no, another film, whatever. I'm not an actor, so I'm just making things up over here. So as far as production, any notable?

Highlights and challenges? Yeah, of course it was challenge to finance it, but that's for all films. Working in nine years in development. After two days on set, I felt, wow. Like any other films I've done before, just with bigger crew and more professional. Not like the people who haven't been professional before. It took you about two days to just get comfortable and maybe shed an imposter syndrome type thing. Is that what you mean? I actually felt it on first day when I did this film. I've done so many shorts, many music videos. I'm ready. I've been ready for years.

You know, it was taking like on a jacket. it fits. I'm ready. And it's exhilarating, right? Once you're finally there and you're behind that monitor. It's, my God, we're making this scene. We're finally making this scene. now we're making this scene. shit. I have options. Yeah, it looks good and you have great actors and it's, yeah, it's really exhilarating. I love it. So that's the best job in the world. But of course it's always sometimes the stressful shit the clock is ticking. But we had a really good first date and she really structured the production very well. Amazing.

What about post-production? How long did you take for the edit? We started in August and finished first week of January. Nice. And people are saying, when you see the rough cut, you will hate it. But as for the rough cut, I think it's good. I think it's really good. I think like maybe one or two days during the whole post-production or three days of that, shit, now we have huge problems. Every film is different. I've experienced this serenity and the breeze. And most of the comedy films, honestly, have been like fun to write, make.

Our film, edit, watch. But more serious films, especially this one in particular, crime film that I will forever not stop talking about because it was a huge, it was like grad school for me. But it was just difficult. For me, it was that moment of in the edit, no, this is a bad feeling. that's a bad feeling, know. It's a long time since I had it, but I know when you had it, it's like now my career is over, feeling almost. I've done it now. I was in there and then I blew it.

It's so silly. You're a little ego. Every film takes its own shape, especially when you see that rough edit. What were your hopes and dreams and biggest desires for this film? And what are they still? Even though the big festivals don't take youth films, I still dreamt one of the big fives because I felt, okay, it's a youth film, but it's still so mature that a grown-up audience like people at my age can love it as well. So thought, I mean, it still has a place on a big festival.

And now we have Toronto, which is amazing. I've never been in one of these big five. What was your approach to your submission process? Just typical? Typical... For some festivals, we had showed some work in progress and showed for other festivals for Toronto. One of the programs just came to Norway and met all Norwegian filmmakers who had submitted. And was watching 24 films in some days. And also, I think we had the sales agents

Pluto Films in Germany, I think they had met one of the other programmers, which I knew a little bit before because he was working for Imaginative. So it's a mix though. You met someone and then sales agent do something, an Norwegian film institute do something as well. Several people are working together. And of course in the end, festival has to like it as well. It's more practical than people make it out to be sometimes as far as I feel like you just need to be able to get in the door.

And then if you can bypass any sort of spam folder, if you will, if you're just submitting code through film freeway, you can still get in for sure. You never know. It helps if you can get it to someone that can guide it at least around that first or second round. In the end, it's also the quality because there are so many. Two Norwegian films are going to Toronto this year. Yeah. And I just interviewed the other guy, Erik, great guy. But another thing that matters with festivals is if it fits their programming or not at that time, at that year.

They have their own criteria. Toronto is a big deal. That's exciting. And tell me about when you got that, did you get it through an email? Your sales agent hits you up and said we got into Toronto or how'd it go? Actually, I think all the communication were like before it Hologen. The invitation, I think, was direct to me and the sales agents because I got the news maybe before the producer. It was an email, but then it's like this long dialogue about screening time. I don't know everything they discussed, but this is...

handled by producers, sales agents and Norwegian Film Institute, which also are handling the festivals together with the sales agents. There was a lot of emails the last couple of months, but we got the news in June, I believe. So what about after TIFF? You're trying to look for some sales, sell some territories or what are you guys thinking? The Norwegian premiere will be 27th, so I will go directly from Toronto to Norway, one night at home, fly up to North Norway and tour.

seven places in the north. Just like a pre-premiere tour before the national premiere and then we will premiere in Tromsø, which is the biggest city in Northern Norway. And we'll probably also tour around the bigger Oslo area with the film. So it's getting a lot of buzz because it's really hard to sell tickets. In Norway, it's like films for kids and war movies that sells tickets. Interesting. For many years, they were kind of like

almost no films about the Second World War. And then suddenly they were making one, a kind of heroic story about a well-known Norwegian guy. It was a huge success. then producers and of course filmmakers thought, okay, a war film, that's kind of a way to do it.

They are still making them quite often. People like horror stories and stories of heroism. But of course, Quistling is not like a heroic story. So I'm really excited about this Quistling film. Past films, anything that most inspired you in general growing up? And then also anything that's close to your film that you pulled inspiration from? good question. I would say in general, Twin Peaks and the Coen Brothers from the 90s. I think...

Both Twin Peaks and Coen Brothers 90s has inspired me. This quirkiness, characters that can be quite silly and dramatic. I think that's what I've taken from those filmmakers. If you had to pick one, Desert Island, Coen Brothers. I would say maybe Fargo. And I also love both the book and the film. No Country for Old Man. I haven't seen Miller's Crossing since I was very young.

I'm about that one, I loved it. Well, I would say maybe Fargo and Blood Simple. choose two. Nice. Right now, and Big Lebowski for me, number one. So damn fun. And I hear you though on the quirky with the drama. Gosh, and also just the uniqueness of their voice. I see them as a blend of genres. They're undefinable. Go on brother films. I think they understand genres so well that they can break rules. Exactly. They know genre and they know humor, especially comedy and thriller.

are two genres and also the sub genres in comedy and thrillers and of course drama as well. I think there's such power in understanding genres and how they work, right? Because a lot of us are inspired by genre films growing up at this point because they were so genre heavy in the 80s and 90s. Two more questions. What is your next project? I know you got something.

good question. Since I've been developing this film for nine years, of course I had to do something else in between. So I have developed a horror film, which was based on a music video called Goss Letter Don. It's on YouTube. So I'm tweaking the story from that video into a horror feature film. And also there's the identity satire in my short film Kofte Politiet, or Indigenous Police.

making none of the same characters, but the same people struggles with the same things about identity and some identity, minority identity. It's still in the feature film now as well, but maybe even more tweaky towards comedy than My Father's Daughter. I made a movie called Actor for Hire and it's a comedy and it's also about identity actually. And it's about this actor who thinks he's not getting parts because he's bald, so he puts on a wig, all of a sudden, boom.

He gets in this big park and he gets stuck in this disguise when he befriends this A-list celebrity. It was fun about identity. And I was trying to think of comedy films about identity in a way. I'd moved on too quickly. Is there a film that most inspired you when making My Father's Daughter? Is there anything you looked at? yeah, there's one film. The Swedish film Fucking Omol or Show Me Low as the international title is. It's from 1999, believe.

Teenage story about two girls around 15 years old, they fall in love. And of course, being queer in a school when you're 15, it's not so easy. So much inspired this one scene where this war scene, they're totally the same lines in one scene as in my film. But it's really, it's not so specific. So I don't think people will notice. I think the most important in that film, wishily, it's something different than my film.

tone of the comedy and the humor, daring to be more complex and as youth film that will work for older audiences as well. Because that's thing about fucking Amal. So it's called fucking Amal, but the translated title is Show Me Love. Yeah, because fucking didn't work internationally. We're gonna be able to sell that. So you can sell it in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Yeah, and then switch it up. This kind of explains why they change titles sometimes, right? Our title is Same Birr.

But for the English speaking territories, what would it be? My father's daughter from America, Canada? Probably, but the sales agent said this distributor can change you whatever they want. It's all about sales at that point, isn't it? Yeah. If it comes to that, then we're at least happy that it's been sold. Show Me Love is about teens. Ellen and Agnes are schoolmates. Ellen is upbeat and popular while Agnes is morose and friendless. And both girls are very frustrated with life. Ellen dreams of fleeing their dull Swedish town.

Agnes dreams of Ellen. Though Agnes has never acted on her feelings, it's widely rumored she's a lesbian, but when Ellen kisses Agnes on a cruel dare, it leads to an apology, a growing closeness between the girls, and a plan to solve the problems of both. Director is Lucas Moodyson. Okay, one more question for you. Is there any sort of filmmaking advice that you would give your younger self when you started out? yeah? Go out and make films. Don't spend too much time developing.

And when you're doing your first feature film, try to write that it doesn't cost that much money because no one will give you much money on your first feature film. And don't make 120 pages screenplay. Make it closer to 80 pages, actually. Hey, that's how we started this conversation, right? I was giving you props about that 80 minute. Yeah. Please like and subscribe to this podcast and follow us on social media at past, present, feature.

and let us know in the comments section what movies you're watching. Thank you so much for listening to the Past Present Feature podcast and we'll see you next time. Peace.