WXFF 2020: Molly Moody
Women X is quickly approaching and today we hear from the talented Molly Moody, who directed, wrote, and starred in obscure origins, a brilliantly unique film which you can find in our Selfhood Stories strand. Molly tells us about the style of the film, her company Alinement Productions, and themes she wants to explore in the future.
Tell us about yourself and the work you do
MM: I trained as an actress, but I'm moving towards making and producing work. At the beginning of this year I co-founded a theatre and film company, Alinement Productions, with two other multi-talented creatives. It was born from our frustration with the projects we were seeing and being auditioned for, with an aim to tell more female, Black and LGBTQIA+ stories (on screen and behind the camera).
What is your proudest moment of your career so far?
MM: I find it very hard to be proud of myself, but I feel my luckiest when I'm creating with friends and people I admire.
What themes do you want to explore in your future work?
MM: I'd love to develop a feature film that looks into the matriarchal relationships in a family, with the physical and literal ghosts of our past, falling somewhere between Beloved and The House of the Spirits.
What three things do you always have on your bedside table?
MM: I actually don’t have a bedside table at the moment. But usually a book, a beverage, a bouquet.
Why did you decide that fantasy and mythology were the grounds in which you wanted to explore themes of gendered expectations and female bodily autonomy, as opposed to a more real-world setting?
MM: I think sometimes symbolism and mythology bring out a story more than reality. Or maybe I was just bored of the real world. Building our own envisioned time frame around the characters allowed much more creative and experimental freedom to explore the themes.
Was there any specific folklore or mythology that inspired the narrative?
MM: There was so much piled in that it became abstract.
How did you find the dual role of director and actor in this film?
MM: Hard and easy. It made me a better actor and a worse director. It was a real team collaboration in filming this and I am incredibly grateful to Anna Gudbrands (Cinematographer), who I adored working with, and really saw the vision.
The yellow and blue tones of the costuming are so striking - what’s the significance of those particular colours?
MM: Mainly our love for Ikea. And the meme of Girl with a Pearl Earring and Portrait of a Young Woman side by side. When talking about costumes, we deliberated about making them fit into the landscape or juxtapose it. Everything about the film has a hint of something not being right, not being natural, not being as it should. They were inspired by West African carnival masquerade, but made in mid-eighteenth century English style, breaking away from the usual western witch iconography.
What are you working on at the moment/next?
MM: With Alinement, I’m in the midst of producing a short film about positive black gay love, written by Ashley Byam. I'm also at the beginning of writing two short films, and they both include mother-daughter relationships but at very different ages.
Tell us three things you're grateful for?
MM: Loving words, friendship, vegetables.
You can watch Molly’s film obscure origins as part of Women X - tickets are available here!
You can find Molly at the links below:
