Your new movie Too Rough
- in a few words, what is it about?
Feeling unlovable.
What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Too
Rough, and is any of it based on personal experience? Pretty
much everything is based on true events from my life. I even had a social
worker who looked to Jesus for orders on how to fix our family. Of
Too Rough's lead
characters Nick and Charlie, which one can you actually identify with
more, and why? Definitely
Nick, because I’m always trying to hide some part of me from partners
and rebuff them, while also desperately anxious to lose them. He’s very
tough, but very sensitive at the same time. What can you tell us about your
directorial approach to your story at hand? I
was hyper-alert in distinguishing what felt real and what didn’t, while
from the outside trying to appear calm and create a space where my cast
could be vulnerable and tender. Do talk
about Too Rough's
cast, and why exactly these people?
Ruaridh Mollica
immediately had the eyes. It turned out he also had the heart and soul.
Joshua Griffin has an incredible mind and infuriatingly beat me at chess twice on
set, which was definitely my least favourite thing to happen in this
production. You also have to
talk about the flat the movie was shot it, and what was it like filming
there? It
was a real Glasgow flat, with the smell, the soul, the size of a real
Glasgow flat. It was tight. Plus we all had to wear masks. So it was a
little like a coal mine, without the coal. A few words about the shoot as such, and the
on-set atmosphere? As
always with filmmaking, time was marching terrifyingly against us, so it
was a race to pour our passion out with control but with speed. And of
course, recreating some scenes from my childhood was a singular experience
in which I suddenly had control of certain dark memories. I don’t know
if I can say it was therapeutic, as I’m not sure I’m any more sane now
than when I made it - but it made me feel something painful and beautiful. The $64-question of course, where can
Too Rough be seen?
Too Rough
is on YouTube right now for 48 hours, until Friday at 5am ET,
2 am PT. And it's now distributed by Canal Plus in various European
countries. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Too
Rough? No
matter where I’ve seen the film in the world, people seem to feel some
kind of brutal tension from the film, as well as the pain in it. Only
really in the UK do people howl with laughter - I think we’re more used
to using humour to survive the darkness. The critical reception has blown
me away, and maybe my little fantasy of having a Guardian review is a
little closer. Any future projects you'd like to share?
I’m
currently developing my first feature with my producers Alfredo Covelli [Alfredo
Covelli interview - click here] and Ross McKenzie [Ross
McKenzie interview - click here]. It’s a horror movie about a gay couple who evoke a
supernatural entity, fuelled by their love.
What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I
have no idea the moment I became obsessed with filmmaking, I just remember
needing to know how it was all done. It was the mystery, the parts I
didn’t understand that drew me in. I had to figure out how to do it. I
dropped out of film school because it was quite frankly a soulless tundra. I've read that you also have a
background in poetry and music - so how does this play into your work as a
filmmaker? I
think these different mediums help me practise my ‘imagery’ muscle
because strong imagery is essential to me for all of them. Poetry also has
rhythm and requires thorough editing, and the process is actually very
similar to film editing. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Too Rough?
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A
lot of it was for digital platforms and therefore had to be fast, and very
demanding of the viewer’s attention. But I produced it all myself with
friends, and we worked so very hard to make those projects happen. Time
for Love for
instance is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, as we had no
budget and I’d never performed on camera before. How
would you describe yourself as a director? A
very empathic dictator with no rules and an aching heart (and occasionally
an aching bum if I’m lucky). Filmmakers
who inspire you? Lynne
Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, Pedro Almadovar, Darren Aronofsky. Your favourite movies?
Rosemary’s
Baby, Jules et Jim, Bonnie and Clyde, Black
Swan, Woman on the Verge of a
Nervous Breakdown. ...
and of course, films you really deplore? A
load of shite that is so forgettable I can’t remember it. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
seanlionadh.com/film
instagram.com/lion.adh
facebook.com/seanlionadh
Thanks
for the interview!
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