E62 • From Lockdown to Locarno • JANICKE ASKEVOLD, dir. of Solomamma at Locarno

Janicke Askevold unpacks her journey from shooting Together Alone with friends during COVID to premiering her new feature Solomamma at the Locarno Film Festival. The Norwegian actor-turned-director traces how a one-page pitch led to full Norwegian Film Institute backing and a 25-day Oslo shoot that balanced long summer daylight, short 8-hour workdays, and a five-year-old co-star.

Solomamma follows Edith, a journalist and single mother who secretly seeks out her sperm donor - an encounter that evolves into love, deceit, and a search for self. Co-produced across Lithuania, Latvia, and Finland, with sound design by a collaborator of Ruben Östlund, the film examines modern solo motherhood in the wake of Norway’s 2020 legalization of single-parent conception.

Janicke’s cinematic influences span Fritz Lang’s expressionism, Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, and Maren Ade’s Toni Erdmann. On craft, she champions preparation, the power of casting chemistry tests that “made her cry,” and editing as the stage where “you can make a whole new film.”

Her advice to young filmmakers: trust your instincts, start sooner, send the story out—and don’t wait for permission.

Tickets @ pastpresentfeature.eventive.org

12 films. 3 nights. 1 Collective. The Past Present Feature Film Festival is a curated, three-day showcase of cinematic storytelling across time, highlighting overlooked gems, current festival hits, and future feature films in the making. Sponsored by The Past Present Feature Podcast and Leica Camera, all screenings take place Nov. 19 – 21 in Hollywood, CA, at the Eastwood Performing Arts Center (1089 N OXFORD AVE, 90029)

The Past Present Feature Film Festival - Nov. 19-21, 2025 in Hollywood, CA - Tickets at pastpresentfeature.eventive.org

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Chapters

• 1:56 The Past Present Feature Film Festival, presented by Leica Camera
• 2:25 Past Present Feature, Hosted by Marcus Mizelle
• 2:46 Janicke Askevold, dir. of Solomamma at the Locarno Film festival
• 49:48 Presented by Valerion Projectors

Transcript

Marcus Mizelle (00:51)
Askevold unpacks her journey from shooting together alone with friends during COVID to premiering her new feature film, Solo Mama, at the Locarno Film which was nominated for the Golden The Norwegian actor turned director traces how a one-page pitch led to full Norwegian Film Institute and a 25-day Oslo shoot that balanced long summer daylight, short eight-hour workdays, and a five-year-old co-star.

Solo Mama follows Edith, a journalist and single mother who secretly seeks out her sperm donor. An encounter that evolves into love, deceit, and a search for self. Co-produced across Lithuania, Latvia, and sound design by a Rubin Oztlund collaborator, the film examines modern solo motherhood in the wake of Norway's 2020 legalization of single parent conception. Yannick's cinematic influences span Fritz Lang's expressionism.

Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard

and Maureen Ade's Tony Erdman. On craft, she champions preparation, the power of casting chemistry tests that made her cry, and editing as the stage where can make a whole new film. Her advice to young filmmakers,

Trust your instincts, start sooner, send the story out, And definitely don't wait for permission.

Marcus Mizelle (02:01)
Are you excited for LaCarna or what?

Janicke Askevold (02:03)
I'm so excited. I really can't wait to go there. Yeah, I'm so happy.

Marcus Mizelle (02:08)
I wanna go, it's so crazy to me because it's been a whole year since, it seems like maybe three months ago since I was interviewing filmmakers at last year's La Carta. ⁓ And it seems like just such a wonderful, special, unique place to screen a film. ⁓ Like the massive outdoor, what is it? The don't tell me, don't tell me, I should know this by now but I can't remember. What's it called? The massive, ⁓ Grand Plaza? Piazza Grande?

Janicke Askevold (02:17)
Okay.

The piazza...

Something like that, This is my first year, so I'm discovering everything.

Marcus Mizelle (02:39)
Let's go with that, Piazza Grande.

Do you know if you're playing there? Is that where your film is screening?

Janicke Askevold (02:49)
No, no, no, it's in the indoor theater. ⁓ But it's still 2,800 seats or something, so it's

Marcus Mizelle (02:54)
Okay.

Wow.

Janicke Askevold (02:59)
I mean, this is my first festival, it's, you know, starting out. Yeah. I mean, we've done work in progress ⁓ in Gothenburg and in Les Aix in France on this project, but that's a little bit different.

Marcus Mizelle (03:02)
Ever. First festival ever. What?

Okay. Okay.

So let's just jump in. We've already jumped in, but let's jump in further.

Janneke Askevold is a Norwegian film director, actress and model. You've acted in several notable films, including China's Salesman and My Way. You also directed the 2021 film Together Alone. Is that a short film? What is that? Or is that a feature?

Janicke Askevold (03:35)
It's actually a feature film shot during COVID with no budget. So first.

Marcus Mizelle (03:43)
What happened with that film? Where's

that film? Tell me more.

Janicke Askevold (03:45)
That film actually ⁓ got a theatrical release in Norway. ⁓ But we actually shot it with a couple of friends during COVID. The actors wrote the script themselves in very few weeks and we shot the film in 13 days in the island outside Oslo. So it was first experience and the goal with that film was kind of to get

Marcus Mizelle (03:51)
Amazing.

Amazing.

Janicke Askevold (04:14)
first access into the film industry, I guess, because none of us had gone to film school.

Marcus Mizelle (04:17)
Okay.

Something about that

time period was so fertile. I guess the something would probably be that we had so much time and creative juices flowing. I made a film. So many filmmakers made films during COVID, feel like. So it's, you know, it's pretty cool. It's like, I'm have to just.

Janicke Askevold (04:23)
Mmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

it was for me, it was a really creative and nice experience during COVID actually. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (04:41)
Very cool.

And then your new film Mama. And is it essentially about what it sounds like it's about?

Janicke Askevold (04:44)
yeah.

It's exactly what it sounds like it's

Marcus Mizelle (04:51)
There you go. And that's the podcast. Thanks for coming. I'm just kidding. Edith is a curiosity

driven journalist and single mother. Solo parenting proves to be complicated, but when the identity of the man who donated the sperm that got her pregnant surfaces, she seeks him out under the false pretext of interviewing him about his company. Their encounter gradually deepens into a genuine connection and Edith sinks deeper into lies, endangering the fragile life she has built. Wow. Okay. So.

Janicke Askevold (05:16)
Mm.

Marcus Mizelle (05:17)
Where did this movie

come from? Where did this concept? What are the origin stories of this film?

Janicke Askevold (05:23)
Yeah, I mean, I really wanted to make a film about a woman who I could relate to in a way. A woman in her 40s finding her place in the world, I guess. ⁓ I have more and more friends who become solo moms because they find themselves single. Time is running out to have a kid, so then they choose to go through...

Marcus Mizelle (05:36)
Mm-hmm.

Janicke Askevold (05:53)
donation to have a family on their own, which I think is very interesting.

Marcus Mizelle (05:55)
Okay, sure.

Janicke Askevold (05:59)
Yeah, I guess I always, since I was little, I imagined myself as a solo parent. I had a hard time understanding as a kid why people ⁓ lived as couples. It seemed very complicated and a lot of work.

Marcus Mizelle (06:06)
really?

Okay, this is interesting. This is interesting. Let's talk.

Janicke Askevold (06:25)
And I always saw myself having kids. I always wanted to have kids, but I always imagined myself alone. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (06:32)
Interesting. I mean, I always

saw myself as having kids too. And my parents were divorced when I was five. So maybe part of me also didn't make any sense of, you know, what, what, together, ⁓ parents being together. I never really experienced that. So maybe we can relate here. Yeah. Were your parents, did your parents divorce when you were younger? How did you grow up? What did you, what did growing up look like for you as far as your parents?

Janicke Askevold (06:37)
Yeah.

Mm.

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Yeah, I mean they were married until I was around 12, I guess. ⁓ Yeah. So it was...

Marcus Mizelle (07:03)
Okay.

so you got used to it first

and then they split. Is that correct? Which is different, I think, than like my first memory not being them together, really. Do know what I mean? Like I never experienced change because it was always split. ⁓ You have a director's note here on the Lekarna page. says, the film explores solo motherhood through Edith, a woman who hides her identity from her son's father.

Janicke Askevold (07:10)
Yeah. ⁓

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (07:33)
torn between desire, duty and identity. She navigates love, ethics and motherhood in a deeply personal journey. I mean, let's go deeper though. Like why you had to tell this story. Obviously making a movie is very hard and you have to stick with it and stay with it. And like, and what gets you through probably is usually is the subject matter, right? And the themes and all this. like, why did you feel so deeply about having to make the tell this story?

what I mean? Out of all the things you could do. And this is like a very important thing, but I mean, where do you think it comes from besides, you know, just your childhood of thinking or never seeing it clearly as far as being a, ⁓ you know, a traditional kind of parenting situation? Why do you think that is?

Janicke Askevold (08:19)
⁓

Yeah, I mean, I'm very, very interested in family relations. ⁓ Having kids, it's the most challenging and great experiences that I've ever had. So it's something that ⁓ I wanted to dig into and having a child by yourself. ⁓ I have more and more friends who choose to go that way.

And I heard a story from ⁓ this woman that I know that she actually found her donor on Facebook and started to date him, which is, I think it was a very nice premise for a film. So that was the starting point of it.

Marcus Mizelle (09:11)
It really is.

Like, baby first and then get to know you.

Janicke Askevold (09:15)
Yeah, exactly. It's like going the opposite way. And then I didn't want the story to be about her. I wanted it be a fictional story, but ⁓ based on realistic ⁓ how it is really to be a solo mom. So I started out doing a lot of research, talking to a lot of solo moms all over Norway.

listening to their stories, ⁓ to why they became solo parents, what the upside is, what their fears are, what the challenges are. And that was the base of who Edith became,

Marcus Mizelle (10:03)
got you so research was very deep it sounds like yeah just going going through interviewing what were some of the most fascinating things that you picked up on ⁓ when ⁓ you interviewed these people these mothers solo moment

Janicke Askevold (10:04)
A lot of research.

I mean, there's a lot of pride in the word solo mom. It's, you know, they take action, they make their own family. And, but what I also discovered under the surface is also this fear ⁓ of not being enough for their child, which I think any parents can relate to. Whether you're alone or...

Marcus Mizelle (10:39)
Yep, can. Every day I'm like, did I do something wrong?

Janicke Askevold (10:43)
Or yeah, you get divorced or even you're together, but you maybe you're a couple who is fighting. I mean, it's, it's so easy to feel insecure as a parent and you know,

Marcus Mizelle (10:54)
man, yeah.

Janicke Askevold (10:56)
Edith, the main character, she ⁓ grew up alone with her mom because her dad left when she was little, which left her with this void in her whole life because there was a father, but he left.

When she got the baby, then her insecurity is what if he feels the same void in him that she never gave him a dad? So what she needs to realize is that it's not the same thing as having a dad who left and never having a dad that he doesn't miss because it's never been a dad.

Marcus Mizelle (11:16)
Gotcha.

Hmm.

Wow, so interesting.

Janicke Askevold (11:42)
And there has been studies shown that kids of solo parents are at least as happy and fulfilled as other kids. Because the most important thing is the attention they get and all the love they get. That's what matters.

Marcus Mizelle (11:59)
I just found a little quote on the internet about solo parenting. Being a single parent is twice the work, twice the stress, and twice the tears, but also twice the hugs, twice the love, and twice the pride.

Janicke Askevold (12:04)
Okay.

Marcus Mizelle (12:11)
It's the biggest joy of my life, you know, not to be a single mom, but to be a single daddy. And I think, ⁓ it reminds me to be grateful. It's like, I've got everything I need here. You know, like I'm so lucky.

Janicke Askevold (12:11)
I mean it's.

Yeah. And

when you become a solo parent, you have to go through a lot. There is a financial cost. You have to go in for treatments. Since 2020, it's actually legal to ⁓ become a solo parent in Norway. ⁓ But before that, we had to go to Denmark. You had to go abroad, ⁓ which takes time. It's expensive. And also,

It kind of gave the message to Norwegian women that it's not legal. So it's kind of wrong. And since it became legal in 2020, I think it was a very important message to women who wants to have a kid by themselves because it showed them that it's a good thing. It's a positive thing. ⁓ It's okay to have a child by yourself.

Marcus Mizelle (13:10)
then. ⁓

Wow. So that makes it super timely than your film. Like it's actually also very important to talk about this. Wait, so it was illegal to be a solo mama and like do the whole sperm donor donor thing.

Janicke Askevold (13:18)
Yeah.

Yeah.

So women went to Denmark, which is a challenge in itself. as I said, it gave the message that it was not okay to do

No, I mean, I can talk about this for hours. I think it's very fascinating.

Marcus Mizelle (13:39)
Yeah, no, mean, well, it's,

yeah, it is fascinating. mean, well, also I just try to always like connect with my guests in the strongest way possible. And if we have something in common as far as being a single, and of course my version is surely different than yours. I'm not a mother, so like it's different. ⁓ But also, you know, I'm a co-parent, you know, so I have him half the time, which is an interesting thing because...

Janicke Askevold (14:03)
Boom.

Marcus Mizelle (14:08)
I think being a co-parent, functional, in a functional co-parenting situation, which I do have, thank you, ⁓ baby mama, ⁓ we're able to have half our time off, is, which I enjoy because I can maintain my individuality and do whatever I want. And then I get to look forward, I get to reset, recharge, and then I get him back and I'm like, ⁓ I miss you, man. What's up, let's go do something. So that's my situation,

Janicke Askevold (14:20)
Mm.

Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (14:35)
We'll talk about your movie one day.

Janicke Askevold (14:35)
Yeah, I mean, I'm actually not.

⁓ I actually didn't know that since I'm home, I, I had my daughter with the, with a man. Yeah. And then I was a single mother for six years. And then I had actually a baby while developing this script.

Marcus Mizelle (14:37)
We'll talk about your movie soon, I promise.

okay. Okay. Got you.

Janicke Askevold (14:58)
So then I had my daughter half time, I had my son full time, and I was a stepmom for a wonderful five year old. So I've been in many different parenting situations.

Marcus Mizelle (15:10)
Okay, got

you. Wow. ⁓ Right on. your film, okay, let's talk about the development. You when you started up this film, like the writing and just the early phases of this project, like how did it come together? What was kind of the, what did that initial phase look like? What were some more memorable moments for you?

Janicke Askevold (15:31)
Yeah, I I started out by myself in my little apartment in Paris writing the first synopsis, the director's notes, which I sent out to Bacon, the production company in Oslo, who responded positively. I was very thrilled. So then I...

Marcus Mizelle (15:47)
Okay.

And you just sorry to cut you off.

So you just sent them the synopsis and maybe a director and the director's note, just kind of like a pit, like a one pager type situation in a way, like a vision, like a one page vision.

Janicke Askevold (16:02)
Yeah, made

a pitch deck, I would say, with the synopsis, with the photos, with the description of the characters and all this. And then we met up and we decided together to try for the Norwegian Film Institute to develop it as a film. And then we were very lucky to get the green light on that. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (16:06)
Okay.

Okay.

Sure, nice. Okay.

Janicke Askevold (16:30)
And then I searched for a co-writer. didn't feel ready yet to write the script myself. I I had a lot of ideas, but I didn't have the experience to write it out myself. So then I met with a very interesting Norwegian screenwriter who worked on it for a year about. So we got the funding for the first...

Marcus Mizelle (16:43)
Okay.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Janicke Askevold (16:56)
developing of a treatment. Then we had to apply again to write out the whole script, which we also got. And then when this script writer finished his version, we applied, no, then we shot a pilot. We shot the sequence with the, with the actors, ⁓ which was. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (17:04)
Amazing.

Okay. Was it just a scene from the script?

Janicke Askevold (17:22)
which was part of the application for the production financing. then we had the script and the pilots.

Marcus Mizelle (17:27)
Okay.

It seems very – props to the Norwegian Film Institute and just – it seems the Norwegian film community. ⁓ know, you're – Christian is your publicist, right? ⁓ Hype Park. And he sends me wonderful filmmakers with wonderful films and they all seem to be really supported by the Norwegian Film Institute or some form of it. And ⁓ I'm jealous. I wish we had more of that here.

Janicke Askevold (17:43)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (17:59)
It seems very functional and very support. I actually just simply supportive. I mean, it's different. here it's more private money, right? Of course. And, you know, America, America is America, but, I guess a lot of European, ⁓ countries have film funds, but it's still also not so easy, right? You have to play that strategic pitch, you know, game, you have to still be chosen and selected. And there's so many people, I would only assume trying to get into the door. So not so easy, but it's just wonderful and nice to see. Is it a government entity?

Janicke Askevold (18:05)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah!

Marcus Mizelle (18:28)
the Norwegian Film Institute. So yeah, it's just, damn, I wish we had a more, I wish we had a government like that. That's what I wish.

Janicke Askevold (18:29)
Yeah. Yeah.

So

Yeah, and so they're very focused on telling ⁓ important stories. know, they, of course, they also think about commercial success, but mostly about ⁓ variety and stories being told. that's very nice. Yeah, so I mean, we were very lucky too.

to have because we don't have many ways to make a movie. If you don't have the Norwegian Film Institute, you don't have a lot of solutions. So, yeah. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (19:00)
Nice.

really? Yeah. Because there's not a private

money situation or anything like that? Yeah.

Janicke Askevold (19:12)
No, I mean, you have Netflix, but I don't think they do a lot of productions in Norway.

Marcus Mizelle (19:15)
Yeah, yeah, yeah,

Well, you know, lot of people, I feel like in America, just they go and make their own movie and then they with no distribution plan or no distribution attached, which is cool because, hey, go make your movie.

But I was gonna ask, what do you think an important story is for the Norwegian community? What would you say?

Janicke Askevold (19:29)
Hmm.

⁓

Marcus Mizelle (19:36)
Or is it just broad? it more of a universal kind of human thing? Like it's no different mainly than other places.

Janicke Askevold (19:37)
No, we have.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's important for women to be able to tell stories from their point of view, of course, because, you know, that's what I'm interested in. ⁓ And in Norway, they have been very focused on that for four years now, and we have more equality ⁓ than many other countries. that's very... ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (19:49)
Okay, nice, sure.

For sure, nice.

Let me ask you a broad question as an American,

as a Californian also. What is Norway like? What is the vibe? What is the kind of state of the, you know, what is the vibe check there? Like how are the people? I mean, I've talked to, the only Norwegians I've talked to are the filmmakers that Christian sends me. So I'm curious, you know, what is the vibe there?

Janicke Askevold (20:22)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

I, I'm in a region who lived the bigger part of my life in France. So I guess I see Norway a little bit from the outside now. ⁓ I moved out when I was 19 years old. And I have to say, I really enjoyed working in Norway. It's yeah, it's

Marcus Mizelle (20:37)
Mm.

Janicke Askevold (20:51)
I just have really, really good experience with that, with the nice, respectful people. I guess the challenging thing we had is that the working days are so short. It's only, we only had the five hours days. ⁓ But it's, yeah, I mean, it's, I just feel that it's a very well-functioning society. Oslo, I mean, I love the city actually.

Marcus Mizelle (21:03)
yeah.

Is that it?

I want to

I want to go. Yeah,

Janicke Askevold (21:21)
Yeah, you should definitely go. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (21:23)
tell me about production of your film, if you don't mind moving into that and maybe highlight and a challenge that comes to mind during production when you're filming this. How long did you shoot for? Things like that.

Janicke Askevold (21:34)
⁓ When we got the production funding, we decided that we wanted to go another round on the script and then we contacted this Danish scriptwriter, Mats Degger, who is very, very talented. And he came in and he did his take on the script. That really... ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (21:58)
Hmm.

Janicke Askevold (22:01)
He really understood what I wanted to do with the film. ⁓ So that was a really, really positive thing. ⁓ And then I did the last version myself where I found the tone and ⁓ how I wanted to tell the story. ⁓ And then we got in touch with the casting director. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (22:30)
Mm-hmm, I love that process.

Casting, it's my favorite.

Janicke Askevold (22:33)
Yeah,

Marcus Mizelle (22:34)
it's where it comes, it's like the first moment where it comes off the page, right? It goes from like page to stage. Just really, literally. Yeah.

Janicke Askevold (22:39)
Yeah, it comes to life. then, yeah, and I have

my idea of who the characters are, but then they come with their personalities and they make it there. And it's just amazing to watch. comment.

Marcus Mizelle (22:52)
things you've never could predict

or control or expect. Yeah, and somebody's like, well, just shows you what it needs to be.

Janicke Askevold (22:57)
Yeah. And the most important thing,

yeah. the main character, mean, the movie was kind of laying on her shoulders because it's about her emotional journey as a solo mom. And so it was important to find the right actress who could really carry that. And secondly, the most important was the chemistry between her and the

Herbert who is playing the donor. It was very important that we felt that chemistry between them and that we're of like rooting for them, even though the situation is very wrong.

Marcus Mizelle (23:30)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

How did you know when you found the right two people for this?

Janicke Askevold (23:39)
So,

first I met each of them separately and then we did a chemistry test and that was just amazing. I mean, I just started crying when I saw them acting together. They have this amazing chemistry that you cannot pretend. mean, it's really real. It was...

Marcus Mizelle (23:56)
wow.

wow. So you then you felt good,

you felt really solid about each one individually, but you weren't quite sure until that what their chemistry would be until you put them together. And then once you did, it was, yeah, it sounded very relieving ⁓ or insert other. ⁓ Gotcha. Amazing. And then you went and shot your scene after that or before that.

Janicke Askevold (24:12)
Yeah, yeah, for me, also for the producers and everybody, know, need to see that they work together. Yeah.

Yeah,

the sequence. Yeah, after that, yeah. So when we got the production financing, we kind of already had the actors.

Marcus Mizelle (24:28)
Got you, okay, cool. ⁓ great.

So that's a requirement though, that you said, from the Norwegian Film Institute to shoot a sequence. Kind of like a proof of concept in a way.

Janicke Askevold (24:44)
It's,

I mean, I see it as an opportunity that they give. You don't have to, but it's kind of an opportunity that you get and that

Marcus Mizelle (24:48)
No, it's a no-brainer in my opinion.

Okay.

It's an opportunity for sure. So let me ask you a question. What did you kind of gain from that once you were on the other end of that pitch, that visual, I guess, proof of concept or whatever you call it?

Janicke Askevold (25:01)
Yeah, yeah.

The pilot shooting the palace

Marcus Mizelle (25:13)
Did you like, understood just like more,

yeah, the pilot. Did you understand more about like who you're, you know, what you were trying to do thematically and with your actors? I mean, just talk about kind of the benefits of making a pilot for yourself as a filmmaker.

Janicke Askevold (25:26)
Yeah, yeah. mean, also just to get to know the crew members that you were working with was ⁓ very helpful. And also, yeah, with the DP, we went one way and when we saw the pilot, we realized it's maybe a little bit too dark. Let's go a little other direction for the film. So it just gave us a chance to try things out and see what worked and what...

Marcus Mizelle (25:32)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Janicke Askevold (25:56)
we wanted to do in a different way, I guess.

Marcus Mizelle (25:59)
Yeah, for sure. Just

little tweaks, little things. As opposed to getting on set and being like, shit, we should have done this, but now we can't.

Janicke Askevold (26:08)
Yeah, especially because we had only 25 days of shooting and eight hours days. So you really have to prep and be sure what you're doing when you come on set, you know, which is, yeah. the preparation, the pre-production was ⁓ very, very important. And we did a lot of readings for the actors and we started working really early on with the DP and with the

Marcus Mizelle (26:13)
my goodness.

Ugh.

But yeah.

Some more ⁓

Janicke Askevold (26:37)
costume designer and everybody. So that's when everybody came outside, everybody knew what they were doing.

Marcus Mizelle (26:41)
Did you, and you guys shot, sorry.

That's amazing. ⁓

You got shot in Norway. Yeah, sorry, I should know this. you? Okay, so the lighting there, is the lighting very soft? I would assume the very soft lighting, very diffused lighting from like the ⁓ natural weather there, or what would you say?

Janicke Askevold (26:48)
Yeah, you know, so yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, the weather is very unpredictable. It's very far from California. So you don't really know what you're going to get. We were super lucky. So we got mostly really good weather and a little bit of rain when that was interesting for the scene. So the summertime, ⁓ the days are very long, which is challenging when you want to do night scenes because, ⁓ you know, it's...

Marcus Mizelle (27:05)
Okay. Okay.

Got you.

Janicke Askevold (27:28)
The sun never goes down.

Marcus Mizelle (27:31)
yeah, why the eight hour limits? Because of the lighting or because of also just crews not working longer than that?

Janicke Askevold (27:38)
No, it's a budget thing. I mean, it's just more expensive to shoot 10 hour days.

Marcus Mizelle (27:44)
⁓ okay. Because the thing is, yeah, it's just, yeah, people just get overworked here. feel like even people take for smaller films, they take flat rates and they still work them 12 hours minimum. It's really messed up here. But eight hours is appropriate. 12 hours is out of control. It's ridiculous. Even if you do have money to pay for it. And I would be I used to grip I used to be a lighting guy on huge movies and we would work fucking 16 hour days on average. Sometimes 18 hours. Sometimes it's like what? Why? Anyways.

Janicke Askevold (27:44)
So we.

Yeah.

Mm. Mm.

Marcus Mizelle (28:13)
8 hours sounds wonderful.

Janicke Askevold (28:16)
Yeah, I mean, the good thing is that you keep up the energy, you don't get tired, and when you come to work, I mean, you just have to get going. There's no time to lose. So it gives energy in a good way, I guess, because you're...

Marcus Mizelle (28:32)
For sure, yeah. Do

you guys take like kind of walking lunches? Like, do you just eat while you work kind of thing? like a, what is that? What is that? French hours? Is that what it's called?

Janicke Askevold (28:37)
No,

no, no, we would sit down. I mean, yeah. Yeah. I mean.

Marcus Mizelle (28:40)
Okay, so you still do like a 30 minute thing. I'm curious as far as the eight hour production day. That's nice. It's lovely. Clint Eastwood kind of does that.

I'm trying to think of American filmmakers that kind of keep it under eight or 10. I Clooney, Clooney does that. And I think Eastwood to keep it under 10, which is admirable for

Janicke Askevold (28:56)
Yeah, I mean, we also worked with very small children. had a little boy who was not even five years old. He had 15 days of shooting. So, I mean, we had to be really quick on the scenes that he was working on. I mean, he was amazing, but, you know, he's a little boy, so there's a limit to how much attention we can have, yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (28:59)
Mmm.

Yeah, you gotta be strategic.

what's like a highlight? What's something that was just amazing, like an amazing memory of production?

Janicke Askevold (29:26)
I mean, I was very, very, I have to say we were so lucky with the crew members, with everybody working on the film, ⁓ with the weather, with the, I mean, it was just an amazing experience, the whole thing. It was, I have to say, of course it's hard, it's challenging, but.

Marcus Mizelle (29:47)
Nice, right on. So moving,

I mean, but it's probably exhilarating for you, right? I mean, to get it to that stage and to have like a proper crew and budget and, or yeah, well, proper quote unquote subjective, but I'm sure it was like,

like, know, when you get to that phase of like actually having your own set and you have your crew and you got it figured out and you got your cast and you've got what you got. And then you're in the scene, you're directing the scene, you're behind the monitor or whatever. It's like such a euphoric thing sometimes, right? Did you ever feel any of that, you know? Yeah, I mean, it's such a,

Janicke Askevold (30:11)
Mm.

No, every day.

not like when you're 25, maybe you think it's normal, but when you, you know, the road has been long. And when you finally get that opportunity, I, I mean, I was thinking about it every day, how lucky I was. So that's a good thing about doing the first film when you're a little bit older.

Marcus Mizelle (30:28)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Nice, totally. Well, as far as the kind of moving in from production to post-production, mean, how did you feel once you wrapped? Did you feel like you got everything? And how did the edit come together? I were you pretty happy? Were you stressing out? What were you? What was it like?

Janicke Askevold (30:58)
⁓ I mean, I'm always stressed out. But I mean, I knew we had a really good editor. And the first period when he was sitting by himself, just getting to know the material, I think that that was a very challenging time when I just have to sit and wait to see his take on the first edit. That was a very stressful time. But we worked really well together.

Marcus Mizelle (31:23)
So, mm-hmm.

When you saw the first edit, what was your initial response?

Janicke Askevold (31:29)
I have, I mean, it's, I know it's a process. It's always a little bit painful in the beginning because you, you know, it's a process. So, I mean, it's, the beginning is not easy, but then when you start to, you know, spend time together, you start to know each other. And I also worked really closely with my producer, Rebecca. So we, ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (31:35)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Janicke Askevold (31:55)
⁓ Yeah, when we got to know each other with the editor and we had really good mutual understanding, I think.

Marcus Mizelle (32:05)
I feel like if you're not kind of a little bit freaked out during the early parts of the edit, then, you know, something's wrong. It's like, oh, this can't be ready already. I don't know. It's, yeah, it is part of the process for sure. Yeah. Cause there's been some, even the more I do it, the more I'm like, oh God, what did I do? Is this not, this is how it's going to be? And you kind of forget sometimes to a degree about, this is part of the process. Calm down.

Janicke Askevold (32:13)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah!

So you would say it doesn't get better with each film?

Marcus Mizelle (32:36)
Not for me, I don't think, but now I'm getting to the point where I'm learning to not even expect it or accept it, but to hope for it in a way. Does that make sense? Where it's like, want it to be, I don't wanna have to feel like I've got so far to go, but at the same time, seems like the one, the films that I've made where I thought it was so ready on the ⁓ quick, the end result didn't turn out so hot compared to the other, the opti inverted.

Janicke Askevold (32:46)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Marcus Mizelle (33:04)
you worrying and stressing about this kind of, you know, less than first cut where I'm like, ⁓ shit, what did I do? But then you know you have to, then you really do like start grinding and just you put more into yourself, more of yourself into the film. ⁓ Anyways, ⁓ no, it's, ⁓ yeah, it's the first edit. That's what it's called, that's why it's,

Janicke Askevold (33:05)
Mm.

Mm.

And then. ⁓

and you edit yourself.

Marcus Mizelle (33:32)
I do. But I also now have been bringing on kind of, I like, have a kind of a collection of editors that I like to collaborate with and they're good at, in my opinion, they're, really good at certain aspects based on how they, how we collaborate based on the stuff that I make. So I have someone who's so good at just being so, being less redundant with things.

and being stylistic and being able to very visually, ⁓ understanding of visual representations. But then I have someone who's really good at just minute, tight, really amazing, flashy editing. Really good for trailers and ⁓ scenes that need that. And then I have, ⁓ yeah, so I can, and then I'm a big fan of actually ⁓ story notes. But like, I've been...

Janicke Askevold (34:12)
Mm.

Marcus Mizelle (34:24)
doing a lot of story consultation reach out where it's like, there's this woman who made my last film so much better because of her qualified and fresh eyes, know? Like where it's like, and that's something that's, you you collect these people too in a way where you collect these collaborators where it's like, ⁓ shoot, I can bring you onto the next one now. You can save my ass here. Cause you get in the weeds, man. You're like, you're, I have to do probably a little more than I should.

Janicke Askevold (34:35)
Mmm.

Mm.

Mmm.

Marcus Mizelle (34:53)
You know, I'm directing and producing and editing a lot of my stuff and shooting, which I just love. I'm just that type of filmmaker. I'm not trying to be a multi-hyphenate, but I am. And so it really helps to have someone on the back end, like a story consultant who is good ⁓ to come in and say, well, what are you doing this again for? You don't need this. You already did this. This is redundant. This is redundant. This is redundant. Maybe think about doing this. Maybe switch this scene, da da da. You know, because it's impossible to always have the very best idea at all times. And especially when you're

Janicke Askevold (34:54)
Hmm.

Hmm.

Mm. That's amazing.

Anyway.

Mm.

Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (35:23)
30 cuts in, know, whatever it is, you know, so, so yeah. ⁓

Janicke Askevold (35:27)
Yeah.

I mean, I just, I love the editing process because it's amazing to see what you're able to do. I mean, you can make a whole new film. So, ⁓ so yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (35:34)
amazing.

It's such

an underappreciated phase. It just is. Even though filmmakers don't underappreciate it, it's not a sexy kind of, who edited this movie? Nobody ever asked that. But you should a lot of times.

Janicke Askevold (35:43)
Cool.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's definitely an important process.

Marcus Mizelle (35:57)
No, it's a, yeah, think it's probably the, I moved into documentaries mostly these days, so it's certainly like the key, the key aspect in that form. so okay, so the edit, the film's done, how did, like, when did you finish this film? And like, how do you feel about it? Do you feel confident? Do you feel solid? Are you happy with it? Do you love it? Do you like it? Somewhere in between.

Janicke Askevold (36:18)
Yeah, I mean, I think I've gone through a lot of process of, you know, freaking out when the edit is done because it's, you know, now you cannot change anything anymore. ⁓ And then the music process was a really good time. I I worked with the duo from Lithuania because we had a co-production with Lithuania and Latvia and Finland. And I didn't actually know what to expect.

Marcus Mizelle (36:29)
Mm. Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Janicke Askevold (36:47)
So I sent ⁓ like, how do you say, ⁓ ideas of what direction I would like to go, made a list of songs that I liked and had no idea what to expect in return. And when they sent the first musics, because we didn't actually meet up in real until much later. I mean, I was like,

Marcus Mizelle (37:13)
Mm-hmm.

Janicke Askevold (37:16)
in love with the music already, the first things that they sent. Because it was, ⁓ they really listened to what I said. And at the same time, coming from Lithuania, it's a completely different culture, different background. And so they brought, you know, something really unexpected to it. That was really nice. And

Marcus Mizelle (37:19)
good.

Nice.

where you smile, all smiles

when you heard the music. God, it's the best when you actually get something back, right? You're like, my God, this is better, not worse. Ugh, ugh.

Janicke Askevold (37:44)
Yeah

Yeah,

definitely. mean, my fiance is a music supervisor and he helped me supervising the music and he really helped me put my vision into words, which is not always easy when it comes to music. Yeah, definitely. So the music and then we did the final sound mix in Finland. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (37:53)
Okay, nice. Amazing.

So he helped curate that process. It's nice. That's a...

Janicke Askevold (38:15)
And yeah, I mean, we finished in May, so it hasn't been that long actually that it's done. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (38:20)
Nice, so fresh. How

heavy do you go with your FX, you know, sound effects where it's like, how loud do those footsteps need to be if I even want footsteps here? I'm sure you did a full &E mix or whatever, but either way, it's like,

Because I'm to the point now where I just finished sound mix notes and I'm like, how loud, how much do I want that? Do you know?

Janicke Askevold (38:34)
Yeah, no, I...

Yeah, I mean, I had the chance to work with a really good sound designer and he works with Ruben Östlund and he's a great guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean, that was really lucky. And we just like to experience with music, with the sound of,

Marcus Mizelle (38:53)
okay. Well, nevermind then. Next question. Boom. Nice.

Janicke Askevold (39:09)
Oslo is surrounded by water, for example, so, you know, the sound of the boats, train, I mean, like we really like to experience with the sounds we could.

Marcus Mizelle (39:21)
Okay,

got you. Are you a Ruben Oztlund fan or what? And also, did your sound designer, sound mixer do his new film, the airplane satire that he's doing? Whatever that's called.

Janicke Askevold (39:33)
I

believe he's working on it, yeah. I mean, I don't know where they are in the process, but yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (39:38)
my God, I love him

so much. He's so good. Love him.

Janicke Askevold (39:41)
Yeah,

and Lisa, the actress of my film, she's the actress of ⁓ Forrest Major, so that's...

That's two people who worked with the German national.

Marcus Mizelle (39:53)
got three O's for me. Lisa Loving, Kongsley,

okay, got it. Amazing, amazing. ⁓ So any, that's so cool. So I don't wanna forget about past, just a quick discussion on past influences, past cinema influences for you. But I think before we do that, let's just wrap up the kind of, ⁓ I got one more question for your film, your film, ⁓ Solo Mama.

Janicke Askevold (39:58)
Yeah, it's an amazing interest.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Marcus Mizelle (40:19)
So playtime, international sales, moving into kind of distribution and releasing. So you got Lacarna, that's your world premiere, right? Which is wonderful. And when is your date? When is your screening date for that?

Janicke Askevold (40:24)
Mm-hmm.

Yes,

August 11th. So in the middle of the festival.

Marcus Mizelle (40:36)
Okay, nice. it probably a week-long festival or a bit...

Janicke Askevold (40:38)
at 2am.

Yeah, from the 6th till the 16th, so it's like 10 days. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (40:41)
Okay, nice. Yeah, 10 days. Nice-ish. Okay, so

Playtime, your international sales agent. Tell me about them. How do they kind of come on board and what have they been like so far?

Janicke Askevold (40:51)
Yeah, I believe we met them in Les Arcs in France. We went to the festival for a work in progress where we pitched the film and showed a couple of sequences. ⁓ And then we, I mean, I didn't have so much to do with the meetings in the festival, but the producers met with ⁓ different, Rebecca and Gary. Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (41:13)
Rebecca, Gary, Magnus. Okay.

Janicke Askevold (41:19)
And then they met with several and figured out that Playtime was the right partner. And I'm even more happy because they're French. you know, I think that's my hope.

Marcus Mizelle (41:19)
Amazing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Is their name based off of the Jacques

Tati movie? Do you know?

I'm just curious, I'm gonna look that up real quick. Playtime group, I'm just always trying to tie back into an old movie, know? Playtime.

Janicke Askevold (41:42)
Yeah,

yeah, Maybe.

Marcus Mizelle (41:44)
It is, it is, it is. It's a reference to the classic film Jacques Tati, 1967 masterpiece comedy Playtime. One of the first classic films sold by the company. That's how they got their name. How cool is that? I just watched it two days ago. Re-watched it,

Janicke Askevold (41:46)
Wow!

Okay.

Wow.

Yeah, you just taught me something.

Marcus Mizelle (42:01)
Your past cinema influences. Like what are some films that, two part question. What is like some of your favorite past films? know, whatever that might be. And then also, are there any films that inspired you or that you found inspiration from when you were making Solo Mama?

Janicke Askevold (42:09)
Mm-hmm.

I went to senior school in Paris and what really stuck with me was when the semester we were working on the German Expressionism and at that time I was watching Fritz Lang films and the Nussweret II film of Murnau from 1922 was a very big inspiration early on.

Marcus Mizelle (42:32)
Ugh, goat.

Mm-hmm.

I love this.

Janicke Askevold (42:44)
⁓

I think my first movie crush is Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder, I absolutely love. Is that The Metropolis? Yay!

Marcus Mizelle (42:53)
Look at this.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a metropolis, old, I mean,

a reprint of a one sheet. Fritz Lang, though, is so important for the history of cinema. So, so, so, so, so, so important. It's crazy. I just got to stop you there and talk about him for one second, because, I mean, had the heaviest hand in creating the science fiction film and the film noir, in my opinion, the heaviest hand.

Janicke Askevold (43:07)
Yeah. Yes.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. ⁓

Marcus Mizelle (43:19)
You know, and German Expressionism

is the parent, I think, of film noir in a lot of ways. You know, when you look at the heavy shadows and the thickness and the Expressionism, you know, the... Anyways, yeah, and then of course with the war and all that, it kind of convolutes things, but Berlin and German filmmaking, early German cinema, I'm a huge fan because it's literally right there with Hollywood when it comes to the birth of cinema, in my opinion. Anyways, and Fritz Lang being the man.

Janicke Askevold (43:26)
Mm-mm.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. ⁓

Exactly. Yeah, it was a

Yeah, it made a huge impact on me in theatre school. And also just the arts, mean, the painters at that time and the writers like Brecht and Otto Dix. Yeah, I mean, it's a very interesting time period, I think.

Marcus Mizelle (44:06)
And you were talking about Billy Wilder before I cut you off too.

Janicke Askevold (44:10)
Yeah, and Gloria Swenson playing this, you know, fated silent movie star. I mean, I saw that film so many times and I love the writing. love the, mean, it's just a brilliant film. I love the, my God, yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (44:25)
Sunset Boulevard. yeah. One of my favorite

shots in any film too, I would say. You know, the pool shot where it looks like the camera's inside the pool looking up and then you realize it's a mirror that they were shooting into. But that, yeah, such a cool movie, great movie. And I love movies about Hollywood and about...

Janicke Askevold (44:31)
Nepal Shah.

Mmm.

Mmm.

Yeah.

Marcus Mizelle (44:45)
What do call it? Tarnished dreams? I don't know. What would you say? Just like the sunlight beating down on a sad situation kind of thing.

Janicke Askevold (44:58)
Yeah, I mean, I lived in LA for a while and I came there as an aspiring actress and I know how tough that city is. And, and, ⁓ and yeah, so it's, it's a movie that really stick with me. And I guess for Billy Wilder.

Marcus Mizelle (45:15)
and Billy Wilder.

I was gonna say just his pacing. I feel like Capra for film pacing. Frank Capra was, I think, a huge proponent of film pacing and did a lot for movies in his time period. And I think after him, think Billy Wilder's pacing is incredible. Like you rewatch those movies and it's like they don't play the same as a lot of other films in that time period. They move faster, in my opinion. I just feel like I don't have to remember that it's made in, when was Sunset Boulevard made? When was that? When was that? 62, 58?

Janicke Askevold (45:39)
Mm. Mm.

1950

Marcus Mizelle (45:47)
What is it? 56? 1950? Jesus Christ. Yeah, that's even crazier.

Janicke Askevold (45:48)
50 50 yeah i think i believe

Marcus Mizelle (45:54)
Okay. And I would put Kubrick in that time. I would put Kubrick in that category as well, far as people who, directors who are just, were just so beyond, and Hitchcock, so beyond the average film when it came to pacing. But yeah, Billy Wilder. And Billy Wilder was a great all around filmmaker. How many different genres did he, I mean, one of the best, he made some of the best rom-coms, some of the best film noirs.

Janicke Askevold (46:00)
Hmm.

Mm.

Mmm.

so yeah, we agree. ⁓ I guess the biggest, mean, it's very different movie from Sule Mama, but a movie that I talked a lot about ⁓ is Tony Erdman from Marin Adde.

Marcus Mizelle (46:19)
Cool. All right.

Janicke Askevold (46:36)
it's just such a daring and funny and uncomfortable movie. I just, I have watched it so many times and I love it. And I love Sandra Huler in place, the daughter. yeah, I mean, I don't know if you've seen

Marcus Mizelle (46:42)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

She's so good. I mean, and also...

Janicke Askevold (46:56)
Anatomy will fall, but I

Marcus Mizelle (46:58)
What is your ⁓ filmmaking advice to your younger self? If you could go back in the time machine and tell your younger filmmaking self,

Janicke Askevold (47:05)
I mean, it took a long time for me to feel, that I had the, that I didn't go to film school. ⁓ so it took me a long time to build up that confidence to actually write something down and send it to a production company. And, ⁓ I think I would tell myself to do that earlier. Maybe.

Yeah, so I guess ⁓ I would tell myself to jump in it and just, you know, don't be so scared.

Write your story and send it out.

Marcus Mizelle (47:39)
And it worked out for you. LaCarna, good luck. I mean, this is a, well, you don't need luck because you're already on LaCarna, but have a great time and have a great screening. I mean, it's very exciting. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it. Let me,

Janicke Askevold (47:51)
Thank you so much.