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Interview with The Sleepwalker Director/writer Mona Fastvold
Filmmaker: Why this movie? Why did you decide to do it?
Fastvold: I’ve always been compelled tell a story about the complex relationship between sisters (I’m one of five). It’s a unique and naturally beautiful bond; the strange way siblings so easily regress into childhood patterns and the intense love and jealousy between them… All that instinctual competitiveness and care.
Filmmaker: How much of your crew was female? Was hiring women a consideration for you?
Fastvold: In fact, the crew was female by majority but that was just by chance!
Filmmaker: How did you go about raising funding for it?
Fastvold: I had made a short film to accompany the package before it went out, which proved to be very helpful. The final budget was made up from a combination of private equity and Norwegian government subsidies and it all came together fairly quickly actually. I had prepared myself for a much longer process and I felt quite fortunate.
Filmmaker: Do you think a male director might have handled the making of this film differently?
Fastvold: I’m not sure how would I ever know : /
Filmmaker: How did being a female filmmaker effect how this film got made do you think?
Fastvold: I’m not really not sure how different it was. I would imagine that most of the other female filmmakers that are participating in this article would have a tricky time answering, as well… unless they happened to come upon some real bulldog misogynist asshole. All the men I worked with on this project were very gentle indeed.
Filmmaker: In what ways do you think being a female filmmaker has helped or impeded your trajectory in the film industry?
Fastvold: Sometimes people were attracted to me and that was helpful!
Filmmaker: Of the big blockbuster movies out there, which do you wish you had directed?
Fastvold: I recently watched White House Down and I really liked it. I don’t think that I wish I had made it but I liked it very much.
Filmmaker: What’s next?
Fastvold: I’ve recently moved to Paris to work in collaboration with my writing partner, Brady Corbet, on his next film which we wrote together… We are also in revisions on the screenplay for my next film.
Filmmaker: Considering this will be released at Sundance: A) What do you hope to gain from being at the festival? and B) Who would be your dream person to meet while there?
Fastvold: A) We really hope to find a great distributor in the US. B) There’s a documentary this year called Mr. leos CaraX in the doc competition and I would be wildly excited to meet the filmmaker that that film is about. Really can’t wait to see that film.
Filmmaker: What is a question I should have asked but didn’t that you think is relevant to this film?
Fastvold: That’s such a nice question. Well, I guess I would have loved a question about my film’s ending but I suppose I wouldn’t have divulged all that anyway.
Have a great night.
