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Your new movie Bearkittens
- in a few words, what is it about?
LARS: Bearkittens
follows a group of young girls who have to do social
services for their misdeeds. Idealistic social worker Petra takes them
into the forest to collect garbage. Something isn’t right in this
forest and not all of our protagonists will leave it alive …
How
did the project fall together in the first place, and how did you two
get attached to it?
LARS: Bearkittens
grew out of improv exercises in an acting class I taught at
the Bühnenstudio Hamburg. The acting students there came up with their
characters, we improvised situations in which those characters could
meet each other, I wrote down some of the jokes and defined the
characters a bit more and then went off to write the script.
Nisan
originally wanted nothing to do with the project. We had just produced
another no budget feature film together, which was very successful on
international film festivals (Leon
Must Die), but we were sort of fed up
with producing stuff for no money. Then she read the script, because I
need her feedback on everything I do, and then she immediately got
involved.
Lars,
what were your sources of inspiration when writing Bearkittens?
LARS:
First of all - The cast. I wrote the movie for them and they were my
main source of inspiration. Then, of course, several movies. Nisan
coined the term “90’s bitch films” for this special little genre
of films like Jawbreaker, Cruel Intentions, Heathers
or Mean Girls (not all from the 90’s, mind you, but you get the
gist). We had this conversation about how these movies were made for a
young female audience, and while equally silly films for a male
audiences get lauded by grown-up male nerds out of nostalgia, and
knowing them, loving them and talking about them is accepted and almost
seen as a sign of intellectuality, their female equivalents are still
kind of looked down upon. So, being faced with the challenge of writing
a film for an almost entirely female cast, I wanted to make a movie that
paid homage to this genre.
Plus,
at that time, I was just beginning to be fascinated by the re-emerging
genre of folk horror. The Witch started that love affair for me, I
think. You’ll see a lot of influences from that corner in the movie.
Also,
Nisan and I had just seen and were still passionately discussing The
Neon Demon, which went right into Bearkittens
as well.
I
have also grown up in a village surrounded by a forest with all kinds of
dark stories attached to it. Some of these true stories get told in the
movie. So, that aspect, that atmosphere, really shaped Bearkittens, too.
Lastly,
if you’re a fan of Lost and you stick around for the after credit
scene (which you should, anyway), you might be reminded of a very
special episode concerning two very annoying side characters in season
two. What
can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand?
LARS:
In that regard I was, obviously, driven by the actresses. They were my
main focus when writing and later directing Bearkittens. I love tonal
shifts in movies, from funny to dark to tragic, so I’m doing that a
lot.
Visually,
I wanted the film to be colorful and fun like those “90’s bitch
movies” are. Nisan made glorious orange costumes, which work really
well in front of the greens of the forest, that was amazing. This way,
every shot in the forest looked interesting.
Nisan
also did the set design of the flashbacks, in which every set has a
predominant color according to the character whose flashback it is.
Ideally, Bearkittens
is supposed to work like a colorful, fun collage - nice to
look at, full of funny and serious bits, that makes you laugh and think
and never bores you on any level.
What
were they main challenges of bringing Bearkittens
to the screen from a producer's point of view?
NISAN:
I’ve joined the project very spontaneously. Bearkittens
was planned as a school project. All the students were
trying to get involved in the production. Organizing the crew, costumes,
props, locations etc. Some of the students had some shooting experience,
but I think for everyone it was the first time playing a leading role in
a feature film, which is a big enough responsibility. For
me it was the second time - producing a no-budget project, even
though Leon
Must Die didn’t have half the production value Bearkittens
needed.
In
the end lots of chaos happened. The costumes a student wanted to
organize weren’t available, the DoP the students organized wasn’t
available for the whole shoot. So I had to take care of the chaos. Back
then I was stressed with all these last minute tasks, now I learned from
it and see it as my responsibility.
Later
we made the movie Performaniax with the same acting school and planned
everything ourselves from the beginning and didn’t give the students
any of the responsibilities productionwise. Do talk
about Bearkittens'
key cast, and why exactly these people?
LARS: Bearkittens
is written specifically for its actors. It was the first
time we tried this approach and it worked gloriously! The cast even won
an award for Best Acting Ensemble at the Sanford International
Film Festival!
We
did this way of developing a movie again, at that same drama school,
which resulted in our upcoming movie Performaniax (which we will release
an Amazon Prime as soon as Bearkittens
has 50 reviews worldwide - so
head over to Amazon, watch it & write a review).
Now,
we’ve decided to open up this workshop to actors and acting students
who do not study at the Bühnenstudio, as well. The program is called Hamburg Film Lab,
and we are open for applications right now. The
Corona crisis will end one day, and once it does, we want to get right
back to making movies! If you want to join us, please visit
www.hamburgfilmlab.de
and write us an email about yourself! There’s only 10 spots available for
each workshop, so better do it now! :P
Bearkittens
is mostly an outdoors-movie - so where was it filmed, and what were the
advantages and challenges filming there?
LARS:
We filmed Bearkittens
at the Niendorfer Gehege in Hamburg. It’s very
easy to reach with public transportation (which is good if you don’t
have budget), but it’s very highly frequented by dog people who are
equally territorial as their pets and it’s far too close to the
airport. Very annoying, all in all, but it looks nice. A few words
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
LARS:
Stressful, fun, energetic, loud. Nisan,
could you take us through the process of editing Bearkittens?
NISAN:
We were very convinced of this project and wanted to try our shot at big
film festivals. We were done shooting in August and all the big film festivals had
entry deadlines around September/October.
So
I edited day and night right after the shoot to make the deadlines, and
the movie was done after 1-2 months.
Of
course we didn’t have a chance at Sundance. So after the movie was
done and rejected by some of those festivals, I
took all the notes from smart people who „proof-watched“ the movie
and re-edited it with more time. We even re-shot a scene, because
everyone involved in the scene was unhappy with it. The
second (and obviously better) version was accepted to some prestigeous independent
film festivals (like Homochrom, SIFF or Paracinema
Weekend)
and even won awards! Bearkittens
found distribution by RealEyz, Indie
Rights Movies (VOD) and SRS Cinema (physical media).
From
the post-production I learned the same as from the principal-photography
and pre-production: Taking
time and planning everything from the beginning is a must to accomplish
what you want. I am very happy with and proud of the result now.
What
was the collaboration between the two of you on Bearkittens
actually like, and how did you first meet even?
LARS:
We met way back in drama school, when we both started to study acting.
Then, Nisan got a job as an actor and quit drama school, while I
finished and started to work three years later than her. We started
hanging out again years later, after I had approached her about playing
a role in my movie Zeckenkommando vs. Cthulhu (to which she said
no). We later made the film Leon
Must Die together, which I had
written inspired by conversations we’ve had. Nisan not only played the
lead role, she also made the costumes, did the set designs, drew the
original poster and finished the editing on the movie. From then on, we
were an inseparable team and have made every coming project together.
Nisan edits and produces, sometimes even acts, I write (with Nisan’s
input or, in case of Performaniax, based on her outline) and direct.
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NISAN:
First of all I didn’t say no to Zeckenkommando vs. Cthulhu. I
wasn’t in Germany during the shoot and I would have loved to play the
part. Even though I think the actress did a great job and I’m not sure
if I could rap as swaggy as her. So maybe it was good for the film, that
I COULDN’T be part of it.
I
always wanted to be an actress. That was the goal from the very
beginning. Since I was eight or something. I loved movies and theater.
But as a child I didn’t know of all the other stuff you have to
handle, once you become an actress. Waiting, lots of waiting, dealing
with rejection all the time, playing the same roles over and over again
based on how you look. So yes, I love my job and I accomplished my
childhood dream of becoming an actress. But it would be a lie if I said
I’m not frustrated sometimes. Starting to work with Lars, making our
own projects on a DIY basis (and getting better and better at it) cured
my frustration regarding the parts of my job that I have no control
over. I also learned about myself, that I love being creative, I love
making movies, bringing ideas to life, editing, organizing etc. By now I
see these movies as my babies to the extent that I see my acting jobs as
a great way to pay my rent, but when I get frustrated, nowadays that’s
usually because stuff doesn’t work with our movies as we planned.
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
Bearkittens?
LARS:
It has been really good, so far. It’s a riot to watch Bearkittens
with
an audience, and the online feedback is incredibly kind. Some people seem
to be irritated by seeing so many women on screen, but fuck those guys.
NISAN:
Fuck those guys who also completely ignore my part in this movie. The
movie and the trailer starts with the title a movie made by Lars Henriks
and Nisan Arikan. When I read reviews which basically say stuff like
Lars is a horny director who made a movie with a bunch of girls, I think
no you are a horny audience member who sexualize characters once they
are female and you are the sexist who completely ignores that this movie
was made in equal parts by a woman and by a man, assholes!
Any
future projects you'd like to share?
LARS:
We’re tirelessly working on F60 Kamikaze, our biggest project yet.
It’s all shot, but Nisan is only just starting to edit it, because we
needed to buy a capable computer first. Our MacBooks can’t deal with
the high quality footage we shot with our new cinema camera.
NISAN:
We also made the movie Performaniax with the same drama school. Right
after we made Bearkittens
and right before we made F60 Kamikaze.
Performaniax tells the story of an ambitious young actress who joins a
crazy cult which lives by the slogan „Everything is allowed in art“
- even murder. It’s a horror comedy and we had a very successful
premiere in January. Once we accomplish our goals with Bearkittens, we
will release Performaniax.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
NISAN:
You can follow Bearkittens
on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bearkittensmovie/
You
can stream Bearkittens
on Amazon Prime, RealEyz, Tubi TV & Google
Play.
Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
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NISAN:
For the algorithm on Amazon Prime, it would be great if you would leave
a review once you watched Bearkittens! Also
Bearkittens
was discovered by SRS Cinema during it’s screening in
Paracinema Weekend in Derby/UK. It’s going to be released in a limited
BluRay edition. Check it out! We love the poster SRS Cinema designed for
the BluRay edition! Thanks
for the interview!
No,
thank YOU!
Until
next time :)
Bye!
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