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"I wanted to tell the story of young women. Unfortunately, even in 2021 it was perceived as a radical act" - Walla! culture

2021-03-06T21:52:24.089Z


"Rocks", one of the most talked about British films of recent times, will launch the Jerusalem Women's Film Festival tomorrow. In an interview, Jewish director Sarah Gavron (Assaf's cousin) explains why it was important to her that 70 percent of the cast be women, but that white men also enjoy the film.


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"I wanted to tell the story of young women. Unfortunately, even in 2021 it was perceived as a radical act."

"Rocks", one of the most talked about British films of recent times, will launch the Jerusalem Women's Film Festival tomorrow.

In an interview, Jewish director Sarah Gavron (Assaf's cousin) explains why it was important to her that 70 percent of the cast be women, but that white men also enjoy the film.

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  • Women's Film Festival

Avner Shavit

Sunday, 07 March 2021, 00:10

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Trailer for the movie "Rocks" (Altitude Films)

Tomorrow, the world will mark International Women's Day, and a 2021 edition of the annual Women's Film Festival will take place in Jerusalem.

It is a significant event as well, and this time it is particularly exciting, as it will take place in part in a physical format at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, making it the first local cinematic event to take place in theaters since the onset of the plague.



The festival will launch a (virtual) premiere of "Rocks", the film in question by Sarah Gavron, a British director of Jewish descent, a cousin of Israeli writer Assaf Gavron and, above all, one of the most prominent filmmakers in England for the past decade and a half.

Her two previous films, "Brick Lane" and "Superheroism," also resonated, but her current film jumped her a few more steps.

He enjoyed rave reviews and won the Independent British Film Award, and now comes to us as well.



The film is called by the nickname of a London girl whose mother disappeared from the house, leaving her to deal alone with her little brother, with the economic and social distress and with the authorities.

With the help of her friends, all of whom are high school students like her and almost all of them are immigrant girls, she manages to overcome the difficulties and do it with a big smile.




The behind-the-scenes work process is no less interesting than the film itself: it was co-written with the girls who star in it, for a long time, and some of it is also improvised during filming so that it is as close as possible to the reality of its protagonists.



"The idea was to make a film about young women, with young women," Gavron says in a zoom interview from her London home, ahead of the screening in Israel.

"The first part of the process was going to schools in London, meeting the girls, sitting with them in class and having conversations. We worked out with them what kind of film it would be, and what it would be about."

More on Walla!

The best director in the world has done it again: it's one of the best films of 2021

To the full article

About young women, with young women.

From "Rocks" (Photo: Charlotte Croft)

When did you realize that the film was going to be successful?



"The world premiere was at the Toronto Film Festival, before the Corona. It was an exciting experience, because a lot of the actresses had never traveled outside of England in their lives, and they were very excited. Most of the audience in the hall were white men, not exactly the automatic target audience of such a film. Enjoying it - we realized that everyone would enjoy.Then there was a London premiere, even more exciting, because the girls came with their families and friends.When they saw themselves on a big screen, in Leicester Square, in central London, they first realized that their stories were important too, and that people We want to see them.



"We wanted to make a film different from previous films made in England, and it was initially perceived by us as a niche.

We assumed the film's exposure would be limited, but we're at a historic moment where the audience seeks to see worlds they had not known before, and that helped us break through.

The interesting thing is that we talk about 'Rocks' as a radical, simply because we are so not used to seeing on the screen young women from this background.

Even at -2021, it is perceived as something unusual. "



What do you think about the fact that we, Film Festival screened films women." No need to explain why should such an event, but on the other - Is not that kind of feminine creativity ghetto?



"I Always glad there are festivals and institutions that focus on female action.

This is something that needs to be promoted, because as we know, there are not enough women in our cinema.

We are in a period of change, and perhaps in the future it will not be necessary.

At the moment, I'm glad there's an event that exposes people to things they might not have been otherwise exposed to. "

More on Walla!

"Women have become more aggressive, and men do not like it"

To the full article

A period of change.

"Rocks" photos (Photo: TagDSC)

The film takes place in Hackney, one of the most vibrant and multicultural areas of London.

"For me, 'Rocks' is a love song for Hackney," says the director.

"It's a dynamic area, with countless ethnic identities, and it symbolizes for me all that is wonderful about the London Melting Pot. What we wanted to capture on screen is the brotherhood between young women who come from different cultures, and they do not distance themselves from each other because of differences, but celebrate differences and celebrate them".



"What a beauty in London, that behind every door hides a different world. During the filming, we visited the actresses' houses. We saw what they looked like, ate their food with them and documented other cultures. I learned a lot from this film. I also learned that the younger generation is very aware and very connected to what happens. "During the film, while we were waiting for 'Rocks' to be released in the UK, the girls set up an educational site on Black Lives Matter on their own initiative.'



In your previous film you worked with Meryl Streep and Carrie Mulligan.

How was the experience working with unprofessional actresses this time?



"It's great to work with professional actresses, they're so good at what they do. However, I also enjoyed working with inexperienced actresses. We did a workshop with them for a year before filming, so in a sense they did have experience. Anyway, always when you cast kids And boys, their experience is minimal at best, so you can never define them as experienced players. "



Have you experienced any hesitation towards you?

Anyone wonder why a white Jewish woman tells this story?



"I do not think anyone knew I was Jewish, maybe there would be a reason why a white woman does it. Anyway, I was here on the standard of a facilitator, a mediator. No I wrote the story, the girls wrote it, and I was the one who had the most to learn. I I belong to a family of immigrants myself, and I have always been interested in the stories of communities that are not represented on screen. "

Macari Mulligan and Meryl Streep for unprofessional actresses.

Sarah Gavron in the "Rocks" filming (Photo: Charlotte Croft)

Not just the characters in the film Women.

His team was like that for the most part - 70 percent of him, to be exact.

"It was a conscious decision. We wanted all the people behind the camera to feel like they were telling their own story, and for that they had to be women," says Gavron.

"I had never worked with a photographer before, and this time I decided from the beginning to interview only women for the job. Of course I will still work with men, but this time it was appropriate for me to work with women."



And for the role of photographer you chose Helen Louvre, the excellent Frenchwoman who also did a wonderful job in "Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Always", "The Happy Stranger" and "The Hidden Life of Yuridisa Gosmao" for example.



"She responded to the script very intuitively, perhaps because she has daughters herself. Her starting point was not technical, but to understand the essence and feelings of each scene. We filmed with two cameras, so that the actresses could improvise and be free, and actually be themselves. The filming was "It was quite chaotic, and given the circumstances, I had a lot of responsibility, and Helen helped me, because I could delegate a lot of my powers to her."



Speaking of French, the film reminded me of contemporary teenage films by French directors, such as "A Bunch of Girls."



"True, many of our references have been in French cinema - not just 'Bunch of Girls' but also 'Sacred' and 'Wild Girls', these are films about friendships between women in underprivileged populations, which is not a very common type of doing in the United States and Britain, for example, but yes We found it in French cinema. "




I realized that the stars of the film, Buki Bakri and Kushar Ali, have become best friends in reality.



"Yes, these are friendships that developed in the workshop we did before the filming, and one of the reasons we actually cast them both. They are the best friends now, and I'm as happy as a proud aunt.

Become best friends.

Sarah Gavron (center) with movie stars Kushar Ali (left) and Buki Bakari (right) (Photo: GettyImages, Tristan Pwings)

Like the script, the soundtrack of the film is formulated by the actresses themselves.

"Music is their life, and they always had something in their ear," says the director.

"They have an eclectic and multicultural taste, and we started compiling the playlist early on, making sure we got rights as quickly as possible so we could play the songs in the photos. One of the pieces the girls sang was a sample of the pastor and gospel singer Shirley Caesar, and we had to get approval from her. Only she's already an older woman, living somewhere in the United States and not so easy to reach. We sent someone to knock on her door. He tried again and again, but she did not answer, and we already thought something had happened to her, until she opened the door for him and gave it to us. The certificate. "



In conclusion, if the film could convey one message to young women watching it in Israel, what would you like it to be?



"I would like him to inspire them to tell their story. That they be storytellers themselves. This film is not enough. We are waiting for stories of the future."

Movie soundtrack

"Rocks" will be screened tomorrow (Monday 8.3) at the festival virtually at 20:00, and immediately after that there will be a virtual conversation with the director as well.

Tickets at this link



Information on films and other events at the festival, at this link

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Source: walla

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