In Conversation with... Sarah Watts
In Conversation with... Sarah Watts
"Making a movie was the biggest team effort I've even been involved in"
In a director’s statement about You Can Live Forever, Sarah Watts is quoted as saying, “I grew up gay in a Jehovah’s Witness community in a small northern town. As a teenager, I was eager to see a story with a character who even remotely resembled me on the movie screen. But I was always disappointed…You Can Live Forever is the movie I always wanted to see as a teenager.”
In You Can Live Forever, co-directors Sarah Watts and Mark Slutky have crafted a sensitive and affecting coming-of-age drama, as lesbian teenager Jaime is sent to live with her devout Jehovah’s Witness relatives after the death of her father. There, she makes an instant and unexpected connection with Marike, the daughter of a prominent Witness Elder, and the two begin a secret, unspoken romance.
You can read my review of the film here, but I was also fortunate enough to interview Sarah to discuss this brilliant feature film and her experience as a first-time filmmaker.
Clare - Miss En Scene: Congratulations on your stunning debut feature! During the writing and directing process for You Can Live Forever, what was driving you to get the film made?
Sarah Watts: Thank you! Mark [Slutsky, co-director] and I, who are very good friends, started this project ten years ago, and it was a real passion project for both of us. We spent years writing and re-writing the script, which we had a lot of confidence in. Then we spent several years with our producer, Rob Vroom, trying to get the money to get it made. Quebec has quite good funding programs, but it takes time and patience to go through the process. We were also partially funded by Telefilm, which is Canada's federal film and television funding program.
Clare: In terms of directing, how did you and co-director Mark Slutsky split the role?
Sarah: Because we spent so long writing the story together, it made co-directing that much easier, since we were very much on the same page in terms of our vision for the film. Directing a movie essentially requires being available to answer questions all day from all the different artists you're making the film with. Having two directors really did take the pressure off our team, and that led to a lot more collaboration across the board. We quickly found what worked for this project as we started filming, for example, Mark worked very closely with our cinematographer Gayle Ye, which freed up more time for me to work with our two lead actors. It was an experience that I can't wait to do again.
Clare: The two leads, Anwen O’ Driscoll, who plays Jaime, and June Laporte who plays Marike, deliver amazing performances in the film. What were you looking for when casting actors in these roles?
Sarah: We knew from the very beginning that our film would completely hinge on our two leads. We had to get it right. We worked with an excellent casting director, Jesse Griffiths, who really believed in our project and who did a great job with the casting process. I had actually seen Anwen in a TV show while we were in the funding stage, and had an immediate feeling about her. When it came time to cast Jaime, I asked Jesse to reach out to her to see if she'd be interested in auditioning. Thankfully, she was. For Marike, we knew she'd probably be the more difficult character to cast, as she's such a strange and complicated person. June stood out in their first audition tape, and brought something really special to their interpretation of Marike. The big question was, would they have chemistry? I just trusted my gay gut instinct about them, and it clicked. All of the auditions were done during COVID, over Zoom, so they weren't even in the same room together until a week before filming, long after they were cast.
Clare: The film is set in the 90s. What elements were particularly important for you to focus on to place the audience in this time period?
Sarah: Mark and I both grew up in the 90s, which made setting the story of two teenagers during that time feel much more authentic to write. Neither of us grew up with the internet, social media, or cell phones, and we had no wish to try and imagine what it feels like to be a young person in the 2020s, just to be able to set it in the current era.
Clare: On a related note, main character Jaime clearly has her own views on religion, but is sympathetic to the Jehovah’s Witness community and is open to trying to understand it with first-hand involvement. Do you think any progress has been made since the 90s with regards to attitudes towards other people who are ‘different’ - both those within Jehovah’s Witness communities and those in the LGBT+ community?
Sarah: I have not been associated with anyone in that religion for a long time, but since making the film have connected with quite a few members of the queer Ex-Jehovah's Witness community. It's my understanding that it's still not cool to be queer in that religion and is punishable by being disfellowshipped and shunned by your friends and family.
Clare: Having lived in a Jehovah’s Witness Community yourself can you recommend any other films that accurately portray the people, their beliefs and their lifestyle well?
Sarah: There are very few films that explore the Jehovah's Witnesses, but I can recommend Daniel Kokotajlo's Apostasy, which offers a heartbreaking look into how damaging indoctrination can be.
Clare: Since making You Can Live Forever, have you thought about any other periods of time or experiences that you could use as the basis for a film? Or is anything else already in the works?
Sarah: I have a couple of projects I'm working on now, including my next one with Mark, which will be a far cry from the overall vibe of YCLF. Without giving away too much, it'll be a story set in the early video game development era of the 1980s, and will once again be decidedly queer. We have received development funding already and are in the midst of writing the screenplay now.
Clare: What did you learn from producing You Can Live Forever that you will use when writing and/or directing your next project?
Sarah: Since YCLF was my first feature film, pretty much everything was a learning experience. I think what we'll bring to our next film from that experience was the very collaborative atmosphere we created. We really wanted to move away from the usual hierarchy one expects on a film set, and we started that process when we began hiring department heads. We prioritised women and queer people from the start, and it was a great decision, not just because of the subject of the film, but because of the energy that was brought to the set every day by our amazing team.
Clare: As a female filmmaker, what has your experience been like in the industry so far?
Sarah: Again, as a first time filmmaker, I feel very fortunate to live in a country that not only has federal and provincial funding for independent film, but in one that has also made it mandatory that at least 50% of that funding goes to women filmmakers.
Clare: And finally, for anyone - particularly women and girls - wanting to get into filmmaking, what advice would you give them?
Sarah: I've always been passionate about film, and got my first job in a video store when I was thirteen. I watched EVERYTHING. I recommend to anyone who wants to make films, to watch as many as you can, from all the different eras, and from all the different genres. I also highly, highly recommend reading screenplays. I've learned so much about film structure and storytelling from reading the work of other screenwriters. Specifically for women and girls, I suggest finding each other and making connections based on your passion for the artform, because as you work your way into the business - once you start actually creating, you'll need your people. Making a movie was the biggest team effort I've even been involved in.
You Can Live Forever will screen at FilmBath Festival on Saturday 28 October. Get your tickets here!
Watch the trailer for You Can Live Forever below: