On Wednesday 13 December, Directors UK members attended a special screening of The Party, followed by a Q&A with film’s director Sally Potter. The Q&A, which was moderated by Beryl Richards, touched on working with actors, pitching the film, and Sally’s experiences as a female director.
We're looking forward to tonight's member event: a screening of The Party followed by a Q&A with the film's director Sally Potter! The brilliant @berylrdirector will moderate. Follow #DUKTheParty later for the live tweets! pic.twitter.com/cPXtPvCCwh
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Well we loved squirming squirming in our seats watching The Party! Now it's time for the Q&A with director Sally Potter, moderated by @berylrdirector. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally Potter is an award-winning filmmaker, whose work includes Orlando, Rage and Ginger & Rosa. Sally has received awards from both the Berlin International Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, and has been nominated for a BAFTA Film Award and a British Independent Film Award among many other plaudits. In 2012, Sally was appointed OBE for her services to film.
Beryl Richards is an award-winning director of TV drama, comedy and short films. Beryl has won three BAFTAs, an RTS Award, a British Comedy Award, the Prix Jeunesse, and two International EMMY nominations for her directing. Her work includes Secret Life of Boys, Leonardo and Wild at Heart. Beryl is also a former Chair of Directors UK and also won Achievement of the Year at the 2016 Women in Film and TV Awards.
Beryl kicks things off by suggesting The Party can be interpreted as a direct response to politics today. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: The Brexit referendum occurred halfway through filming, and in a way the spirit of this project - one of collaboration - can be seen as a response to that. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally tells us she started thinking about The Party after the 2015 election, when political parties were harder to distinguish between. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Beryl asks why the film was shot in black and white. Sally: because black and white is more colourful of course! #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Amazingly the film was only shot in two weeks, with only three days rehearsal. There was minimal improvisation. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: All the actors were paid exactly the same, and I was also paid the same rate. It created a real sense of collaboration. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Beryl asks about Sally's experiences as a female director. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: I used to quote Virginia Woolf, who said the soul of the artist is androgynous. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
It can feel inhibiting: as a female director there is pressure to fly the flag - and certain qualities are expected, as is filling your films with positive role models. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally says she used to think she'd be making more films if she had a beard to stroke. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
#DUKTheParty pic.twitter.com/loPLWHf52U
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: Experience accumulates - I'm a much better director of actors now than I was when I started off. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Beryl hands it over to the audience for questions. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
An audience member asks Sally how she chose the music for the film. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: Quite a few of the tracks were in the script already, but in some cases I added it and let the actors know when the music would work as counterpoint and not complementary to the mood. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
A member asks about Sally's writing process. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally tells us she starts by writing her idea as a short story, as freely as possible - and that's where you discover the characters. Then she will adapt that short story into a script. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: I don't allow myself to look at my emails do the dishes, anything like that until I've done my five hours writing a day. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Towards the end of the writing process I'll create a huge image bank - photography, film - something that obliquely helps me capture the world. Then, perhaps most crucially, I think of actors. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
I try to build a relationship of trust with actors. I try to use the naked eye, and not look into the monitor too much. I want actors to know they're under my gaze, that we're diving off the cliff together. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally has even released a book, Naked Cinema, on working with actors. You can find out more about it here.
It wasn't always easy to pitch - there were some backers who felt it was too theatrical on the page. But they were nice enough to regret it afterwards. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
An audience member asks how Sally found the balance between nastiness and humility in her characters. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: They are all human. Nothing that happens is more extreme than what I've seen or cherry-picked from friends' experiences. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
There does seem to be a debate about whether characters can be fundamentally good or bad, or oscillate between. This is reflected in life generally. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
An audience member asks about Sally's work ethic - how did she shoot it in two weeks? #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: No shot lists! But we did a study of the scene the night before. I did a lot of thinking on my feet too. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
My main goal was to get through it without my actors ever feeling rushed. If I knew we were falling behind I would gather my actors and explain it, and we'd work out how to get what we need together. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
We had no storyboards and no fixed idea of how to shoot. We shot the rehearsal and corrected. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Beryl asks about working with the actors individually. What were the sort of things they needed to discuss? #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Sally: I always find actors are the best readers of scripts. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
Mostly they wanted some sense of subtext. But apart from that I wasn't prescriptive, and I wanted the actors to follow their comedic impulses. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
And that's a wrap! Thank you so much to Sally Potter and moderator @berylrdirector for that fascinating discussion. #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
The Party is available on DVD in February 2018. Don't miss it! #DUKTheParty
— Directors UK (@Directors_UK) December 13, 2017
After the screening, our members had their say.
A British auteur of #film, director Sally Porter presenting her latest great film. #DUKTheParty pic.twitter.com/Wh8aptFViD
— Diego Barraza (@chinoixchinoix) December 13, 2017
Thank you to everyone who made it down! If you haven't yet had the chance to watch The Party, catch the trailer below, and look out for it on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2018.
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