WomenCinemakers vol V WomenCinemakers vol V | Page 10

Can you tell us your biggest influences
and how they have affected your work?
'Up on the Roof' was its own unique film in
my body of work - it had its own style
determined by the kind of story I was telling
that drew inspiration from Bernando
Bertolucci, Guiseppe Tornatore and
Fernando Meirelles’s works. But as a
Director my biggest• influences are David
Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu and most recently Denis
Villeneuve.• Fincher in particular has really
shaped me as a filmmaker and how I
approach visual storytelling.• I’m inspired by
the way these filmmakers have managed to
find the balance of telling• challenging,
gripping stories that touch you emotionally
and are also accessible to a commercial
audience.
What do you hope viewers will take away
from Up on the Roof?
'Up on the Roof’ has a• bittersweet ending;
there is hope in that our protagonist will no
longer hide away but will face• the• world -
he is stronger than where he started but
ultimately he is still a child in a world where
nothing is in his control, and his mother may
never come back for him. All I ever hope for
is for my films to resonate• emotionally with
my audience - if you• have connected to my
protagonist and have felt something for him
then I have succeeded.
We want to use this opportunity to ask
you to express your view on the future of
women in cinema. For more than half a
century women have been discouraged
from getting behind the camera. What's
your view on the future of women in
cinema?
Interview•by•Yasmine Mahet (France)
cinemakers // 11