Publishing my short film “Sunday”… this Sunday

Hello dear readers, I hope you had a wonderful month of February. It was a busy one, right?

First, there was the Oscars. Parasite! My opinion is that the Academy didn’t want to reward a period piece this time. So the foreign film won! This is surprising, refreshing, and a shift in the industry. Also this shows what I believe: we want to see more stories about today.

Then, I acted in a short film called The Truth (made by passionate and professional students from Hertfordshire University). The film is currently being edited and I am grateful and proud to be part of it. If the script comes to life as I imagine it, it’s going to be tense and gloomy – a true dystopian piece. My character is a woman living in a squat and hoping for a better life that can only be given to her by creepy bureaucrats.

I also got pictures taken in Greenwich Park with photographer Anna Rakhvalova. The photos will be ready in a few days, and I can’t wait to share them.

I was back on stage for three days at the Hen and Chickens for One From the Heart, revisiting a role I had played a few months before. I got to love my moody and frustrated character Beatrice even more.

Finally, Un Dimanche! My French short film will be published on YouTube this Sunday. I do want to celebrate this, as it was a true passion project and I am super flattered that so many people stepped in to shoot it. Stay tuned this Sunday on my social media. If you can’t wait that long, you can see one scene on my French showreel on Spotlight.

Until then, here is a still.

Toodloo!

What’s been happening in October

Monologue Slam London

Back in September, I auditioned for the Monologue Slam, which is a showcase organised by the Triforce Network. They are an amazing group that has been growing every year (I’m going to one of their filmmaking workshops in two weeks), and I was delighted to be picked for the one-minute slot alongside some truly talented performers of all ages. I also reconnected with Georgie Grier, who I attended an “Intro to acting” workshop at the Actors Centre in 2012! Fun fact, one of our teachers was Vicky Jones (director of Fleabag).

The evening was nerve racking, mostly because I only had one minute – you can rehearse all you want, it’s all about what happens in that short slot. I performed a monologue from the play Gloria by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, can’t quite remember how it went, but I do know I had a fun night and connected with interesting people.

New performance

It looks like 2019 is a year of monologues, following “Don’t Judge Me By My Accent” and the Monologue Slam. From November 14 to 16, I will be performing a comedic monologue written by Ken Jaworowski (New York Times editor and critic) involving me, a bathtub and a lottery ticket. I just had my first rehearsal with director James Wren yesterday, and now have to buckle down and learn my lines. You can find tickets here: https://www.unrestrictedview.co.uk/one-from-the-heart/. The evening will involve multiple monologues.

Preparing a French short film

Following my work on the German short film “Der Gugelhupf” (still waiting for a few answers from festivals, and will publish it in 2020. If you’d like to see it, please contact me), I’m now writing and rewriting a script in French. My aim for the moment is to film one of its scenes for my French showreel, stay tuned!

London Film Festival

LFF is a great London event to connect with filmmakers and watch lots of quality films from all over the world. My highlight this year was Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (read my review here), a layered and completely unique picture about friendship and love.

What happened in August

It’s September 1st! This means three more weeks of official summer, a wave of exciting movies coming to my local cinema, and hopefully some new exciting acting work.  

It’s been a good month of August to be honest, in fact it was the kind of month, acting wise, that I’d like to experience all the time.  

It started with two corporate jobs booked through my agent and a German voiceover job from a recurring client on the themes of harassment at work and being a good team member.

In terms of auditions, I attended two short film auditions at Met Film School and one commercial casting – my second ever, and the first time I felt right for the part.

Finally, I lent my French voice to a short animated film set in a war-torn country in the 17th century. This is a project by Rising Dawn Pictures which, once finished, will serve as a pitch to produce a live-action version of the film. Due to its theme, it requires specific locations, costumes and sets. I think it’s a smart move to create an animated version first and not jump into production on the wrong budget. The process on this project was a very positive one: I enjoyed working with director Fredrik Gustafsson who also has experience in theatre directing, and loved the script. My character Séraphine is in charge of defending her farm, and the stakes in her life as well as her anxieties were very fun to play opposite fellow actor Johnny Neal, playing Marius. Talented actor and mover Luis Amalia is also in this! One of my aims right now is to steer towards more French work, and this is a good start.

With regards to Dear Mum, a film I co-produced and acted in in October 2018, it is fully finished. With a beautiful musical score by Oleta Haffner, a voiceover track I contributed, and great final touches by Donovan Swart and editor Felix Dembinski, it is off to festivals! We’ve so far been selected by Rome Independent Prisma Awards, Direct Monthly Online Festival and Florence Film Awards for the film, its cinematography and score. I am quite proud of this film and what our director Donovan Swart achieved with his script, and look forward to sharing its journey with you.

I would like to end with my latest director crush, Joanna Hogg. Her film “The Souvenir” came out a few days ago, so I’ve been exploring her filmography, starting with “Unrelated” and “Archipelago” (next is “Exhibition” and finally “The Souvenir”). What I love about her movies are how they centre on tight family circles and the terrific pain that bounces off the walls of the temporary homes her characters find themselves in. I say bounce – I’m actually picturing more of a slow snake hovering in the air until an argument explodes off screen. The long takes and very few close ups are also enjoyable, and I wonder how much she leaves to improvisation.

Thank you for reading, and toodloo!