Girls Will Be Girls
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“An Unusually High Concentration of Boarding Schools” | Shuchi Talati, Girls Will Be Girls
Films are made of and from places: the locations they are filmed in, the settings they are meant to evoke, the geographies where they are imagined and worked on. What place tells its own story about your film, whether a particularly challenging location that required ingenuity, or a map reference that inspired you personally, politically, or creatively? Our film Girls Will Be Girls (World Cinema Dramatic Competition) is a sexual awakening story set in the Indian Himalayan foothills, in an area which is known for its stunning views and an unusually high concentration of boarding schools. As a young girl, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“It’s Super Important to Me to Light Scenes, Not Shots”: DP Jih-E Peng on Girls Will Be Girls
While attending a boarding school nestled in the Himalayan mountains, Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) finds herself confronted with newfound desires that she desperately wants to explore, a notion that horrifies her mother (Kani Kusruti), whose dedication to old-fashioned standards are likely a result of her own stunted coming-of-age. Cinematographer Jih-E Peng, who previously collaborated with first-time feature filmmaker Shuchi Talati on her short film A Period Piece, discusses his approach to tackling this project, which included browsing the New York Public Library’s Picture Collection. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“The Post-Pandemic Climate Has Been Especially Difficult”: Producers Richa Chadha and Claire Chassagne on Girls Will Be Girls
Attending boarding school in the Himalayas, 16-year-old Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) begins to embrace her emerging sexuality in Girls Will Be Girls, the feature debut from Indian writer-director Shuchi Talati. Mira’s exploration of desire is stunted by the middling presence of her mother (Kani Kusruti), whose disapproval likely stems from an inadequate coming-of-age process during her own youth. First-time producers Richa Chadha and Claire Chassagne—based, respectively, in India and France—share the challenges and rewards that came with working on Talati’s film. See all responses to our questionnaire for first-time Sundance producers here. Filmmaker: Tell us about the professional path that led you […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024 -
“In Some Mysterious Way, the Material Itself Begins To Speak to You”: Editor Amrita David on Girls Will Be Girls
Girls Will Be Girls, the feature debut from writer-director Shuchi Talati, follows a teenage girl named Mira (Preeti Panigrahi) as she navigates her sexual awakening while attending boarding school in the Himalayan mountains. Her domineering mother (Kani Kusruti), however, wishes to put a stop to Mira’s exploration of her autonomous desires. Editor Amrita David, who also cut Alice Diop’s excellent 2022 film Saint Omer, discusses how her Indian heritage and editing intuition proved to be enormous boons to the film’s final form. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 20, 2024
