Your new movie In
Vino Veritas - in a few words, what is it about?
When Carolina and Jill went to a new years party, they never imagined
finding themselves on the bathroom's floor. What started as a great party,
ended up becoming a night of confessions and revelations. How
did the project fall together in the first place? As a
group of actors who are also close friends, we wanted to make something
together. As artists, we were looking to make a fun film together. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing In
Vino Veritas - and is any of the movie autobiographical or based
on actual events?
The
story came together based on an actual night, only we add some spice... The
drunkeness was real, but the rest...
You wrote In
Vino Veritas together with your co-stars Silvia Morigi and Freya
Lund - so do take us through the writing process!
Since I
had some experience with writing (this is the fourth project I've written,
after Love Letters to my Children, Bench, Double
Espresso), I wrote the first draft and after that, we sat together as
a group several times, making changes, editing and debating. This process
was great as sometimes when you write, you get attached to certain things
in the script, so a fresh pair of eyes, or, in this case, two are great to
"trim the fat". What
can you tell us about your director Ketak Dhiman, and what was your
collaboration like? This is my fourth time working
with Ketak, we've previously worked on Woody Pax: Black &
White, Bench and Double Espresso. Working
with Ketak has been a pleasure, we work very well together and understand
each other. I think working with people who get what you're aiming for
is very important and it makes the work easier and less stressful.
You also play one of the leads in In
Vino Veritas - so what did you draw upon to bring her to life, and
did you write her with yourself in mind from the get-go?
As
this script was very loosely based on true events, I did write Jill's
character with myself in mind. I didn't necessarily write her as me,
but I did know I was going to play her from the get-go. I was looking to
write a fun, relatable character. Do
talk about your co-stars, and what was it like working with them? Working
with Freya Lund and Silvia Morigi was an absolute pleasure. I think as
this was a collaboration, it was very important to all of us that this
film will come to life. I'm so grateful that they both brought their
talent and commitment to this project and we were able to make this short
film together. At one point, after shooting for 3 days, confined to a
small bathroom, we just had to decompress. We just burst into song and it
was great!
with Silvia Morigi, Freya Lund
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In
Vino Veritas was shot in an incredibly limited space - so what
were the challenges from that point of view? The whole film
was
shot in my apartment with the majority of the scenes filmed in one small
bathroom. I think the most challenging aspect of shooting was fitting
everyone in there. We had to have all actors, the director and the camera
operator inside. In one scene we have 5 actors inside. This made some
great moments as we were actually cramped together and also raised some
challenges as we didn't have enough room for the sound guy who had to stay
outside and work remotely and the rest of the crew as well. We came with
some creative ideas in order to cover all the shots like removing the door
from its hinges in order to get some shots from the door's perspective. What can
you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
We
had 5 actors and 7 crew members and as we know, the NY apartments are not
the biggest. But still, the atmosphere was great. I felt like the people
who chose to participate, wanted to be there. It was cozy and nice working
with such great and committed people. We had 2 days of over 11 hours and
one shorter day and everyone brought their A game. The
$64-question of course, where can In
Vino Veritas be seen? At the moment we're going
through the festival circuit, but as soon as we can we'll release the
film. Anything you can tell us
about audience and critical reception of your movie? So far
only friends have seen it and the responses were very good. We hope to be
accepted to some film festivals and get some more eyeballs on this
project. Any
future projects you'd like to share? Nothing at this time. What got you into
acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? Growing up, acting was always something I wanted
to do but I was to shy. After backpacking for 7 months at the age of 20 I
finally got the courage to start acting and see if this was something I
wanted to pursue. Very quickly it became very clear to me that this is
what I wanted to do and so I started saving money and moved to NYC to
study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
I graduated the two-year program and started my career as an actress in
NYC.
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What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to In Vino Veritas?
My
previous short film Bench was selected in 4 international film
festivals including winning 2 awards for best message and best actor for
my co-star Nathan Hinton. Getting to sit in a screening room and watch
other people watch my film was a nerve-wracking and amazing experience.
It's so great to see people's reaction to your work but also daunting. How
would you describe yourself as an actress? I think I
gravitate towards well-rounded and strong female characters. The more
rounded the character is the more sides there are to explore in the
character. In some cases when the character seems shallow, I find it very
helpful to go and invent a backstory to them. To find and invent the sides
of them that the script didn't go into, those parts are not necessarily
relevant to the actual plot but they are so relevant to the character's
story and that helps me find where they are coming from and what brought
them to where they are now. Actresses
(and indeed actors) who inspire you? The very common but so
true answer is Meryl Streep, I love the way she disappears into her
characters always finding something so different about them. A recent one
who inspires me very much is Reese Witherspoon. I love the way she decided
to not wait for great roles to get to her and just started to produce
great work that she cares about and I think she's proven to a lot of
doubters that she's more than meets the eye. Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else?
https://weinerrotem.wixsite.com/mysite
Thanks
for the interview!
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