Full length interview:
When meeting a mysterious redhead in a seductive virtual reality game world, it soon becomes impossible for Aven to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Natalie MacMahon
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
I made “The Redhead” because I wanted to tell a story where technology plays with somebody’s mind in such a way that it becomes hard to see the boundaries and to know what’s reality and what is just a game.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
You should watch my film if you enjoy unpredictable films and a good mix of genres. “The Redhead” will take you into a different world, where other rules apply and at the end an important moral question is being asked. Apart from that, the film deals with serious themes like abuse, violence and negative effects of technology in a very alternative, almost playful way. It’s a short film that could inspire the audience to discuss these themes after watching it and there is a lot of potential to imagine more aspects of this world.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
A personal theme in this film is technology and different aspects of technology. I’m very interested in the opportunities technology has to offer, but I also often wonder and try to imagine how it affects our lives, not only in a positive way. How does it affect the way we think, what we feel and how we deal with each other?
A more universal theme is the violence that is being used, without showing or experiencing it as such. In a world where boundaries are broken all the time up to the point where they are almost non-existent, people also forget how to interact with each other properly and how to be respectful to one another.
The Redhead
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
For this film I first had the title and the image of the red-haired woman in a very mysterious and seductive looking garden in my head. I knew what that world looks like right at the beginning, which is now the virtual reality game world in the film. And I was interested in bringing these worlds together, up to the point where the main character doesn’t know anymore what really happened in his world and what are the parts that he only imagined.
Once I thought about using the virtual reality world parallel to the real world of an office, I decided that the office, where the protagonist works has to be a call-center, which helps people to get home safely in this version of the future, where it has become very dangerous to walk around on the streets on your own. This call-center is called “Safetrip” and it became like a symbol in the film for a modern society that destroys itself, while pretending to help each other.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
We only started our festival tour very recently, but the feedback has been extremely positive and we even already won two awards for best “narrative film” and “best cast”.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I’m relieved that people seem to understand the story and meaning of it all. Although it deals with quite serious themes, the film is very playful and ironic. People seem to appreciate that combination.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I would like people to watch the film at festivals and I’m also planning on releasing some extra material to invite the audience to get to know these two different worlds in the film, the “Safetrip” call-center world and the virtual reality game world, even better. Many people were intrigued by the idea, but as it is a short film, we can’t get too much into detail. These two worlds offer many possibilities and over the course of the next couple of weeks, I will release more insights into these world on the official Facebook site of the film.
The Redhead
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
I would like to get some more film festivals interested in showing the film, so we can increase our audience. The film also doesn’t have a distributor yet and I’m happy for journalists to contact me to write about the film as it is quite a unique project that I would like to share with as many people as possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I would like people to discuss the ending of the film and how it could have happened, how to prevent what happened (without giving away too much of the story). Although this is a fictional story set in the future, it is inspired by different elements of our world and whatever is being shown is not too far fetched.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Who decides what is morally acceptable and what not?
Would you like to add anything else?
I would like to thank everyone who already contacted me about the film. I try my best to answer all questions and give you some more insights into the world of “The Redhead”. I also like to thank our fantastic cast and crew for their efforts and the festivals that already showed the film. It’s always amazing to see the little story you made up in your head on a big screen and to be able to share it with international audiences is amazing.
Because I would love as many different countries as possible to see my film, “The Redhead” is available with subtitles in many different languages. So just get in touch and I’m happy to provide you with the version that suits your festival best.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I’m working on a new mini web series called “Malsano Nomata Amo” in Esperanto, which I’m developing in response to the big success of my melancholic Esperanto short “A Universal Love Story”. I also just shot a new short film called “The Funeral Dancer”, which will have its premiere at a big festival next year and I’m working on an idea for my first feature film.
All actors and crew are very busy working on film and live performance projects and with some of them I have worked again on other projects since shooting “The Redhead”.
Interview: July 2018
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
The Redhead
When meeting a mysterious redhead in a seductive virtual reality game world, it soon becomes impossible for Aven to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
Length: 9:56 min
Who is being interviewed for this article?
Director/Writer/Producer: Natalie MacMahon
About the writer, director and producer:
Natalie has worked in front of and behind the camera since her early childhood as an actress, director and screenwriter. She has written, directed and produced several short films and web series in the last couple of years, which were all shown at numerous international film festivals. Her new film “The Redhead” has just started its festival tour and currently Natalie is in pre-production for a new web series in Esperanto called “Malsano Nomata Amo”.
Key cast:
Joey Jordan
Autumn Bartholetti
Myra Eetgerink
Nicole A. Zalewska
Inken Paland
Christian Müller
Recardo Koppe
Natalie MacMahon
Anna Maria Hadorn
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
I’m looking for distributors, sales agents and buyers for the film. Of course I’m also interested in getting in touch with more festivals that would like to show the film and journalists who would like to do an interview or write about “The Redhead” are always welcome to get in touch too.
Social media handles:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theredheadfilm/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nataliemacmahon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nataliemacmahon/
Other: https://theredhead.space/
Hashtags you use: #theredhead #nataliemacmahon
Where was this filmed? Berlin, Germany #Berlin #filmberlin
Funders: produced by Natalie MacMahon (MacMahon Films)
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Figueira Film Art Festival (August 2018, Portugal)
Silver State Film Festival (September 2018, Las Vegas, USA)
More to be announced soon on Facebook and on our official website!
#theredhead #indiefilm #supportindiefilm#femaledirectors #womeninfilm #femalefilmmakers#shortfilm #germanfilm #germanfilmsquarterly #scifi#virtualreality #kurzfilm #filmberlin #acting#directing
