On Thursday 8 November Directors UK members gathered for a screening on Private Life, directed by Tamara Jenkins — followed by a Q&A moderated by Beeban Kidron.
You can catch up with all our live tweets from the event below. You can also view a gallery of photos from the event at the bottom of the page. You can also catch up with the event on the Directors UK Podcast.
The stage is set for our Private Life screening and Q&A with Tamara Jenkins, moderated by Beeban Kidron. Follow #DUKlife for the tweets after the showing! pic.twitter.com/fQE8E86xUd
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
We just watched and *loved* the brilliant Private Life and now it’s time for a Q&A with the film’s director Tamara Jenkins - moderated by Beeban Kidron. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Beeban starts by asking about the gestation period in between films - Tamara has made three films: why the gaps between them? #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara: It’s not like instant rice! This was a five year thing - things like financing, casting, location, they rarely resolve right away. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Then I have my own problems - it takes a long time to write a screenplay. Two years, I’d say - I know a screenplay will take me two years. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Beeban points out that Tamara’s films have a root in her personal life. Tamara: It starts there but the demands of fiction take over. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
I was an actor, so I know that when I write characters I have to really understand them all the way through. It also influences the way I cast - I look for actors with a point of view on the human condition. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
#DUKlife pic.twitter.com/YLZ4v89iFy
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Beeban asks about the pace of the movie, which has some suspenseful, awkward scenes. Tamara: I need those slow moments to really capture character behaviour, that’s the juice of it. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Beeban hands it over to the audience for questions. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
A member asks about the use of foreshadowing in the film, pointing out how well it works. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara: It comes down to that Hitchcock idea of the difference between surprise and suspense - this is all about suspense, and again it’s about human drama and behaviour. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
An audience member asks about how Tamara achieved such authenticity in her writing - to him it recalls John Casavettes. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara: Thank you so much for saying that! I think there’s a misconception about Casavettes that his work has so much improvisation- but I think there’s less than you think. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
What helped was having actors that were able to truly inhabit the dialogue. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara shouts out to Private Life’s star Kathryn Hahn, who has mysteriously appeared in the audience! #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
A member asks about how Tamara works with her cast. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara: I don’t know how it works here but we had very little rehearsal. Paul (Giamatti) Kathryn and I stole some rehearsal time. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
I made pasta and then as a rehearsal I made them do the dishes, you know, as a couple. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Beeban says she heard Tamara’s apartment is full of mood boards - but it sounds to her like she’s obsessed with words. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Tamara: Usually it doesn’t start with pictures but with words - once you start with crew and cast, then the pictures come. But that’s what it starts with: words. #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
And that’s a wrap! Thanks so much to Beeban Kidron and Tamara Jenkins for a fantastic Q&A, and thank you to everyone who made it down! #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
Private Life is a warm, unsentimental, moving and funny film. You can catch it on Netflix now! #DUKlife
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) November 8, 2018
See a selection of photos from our event below.
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