I love this film! Thank you so much for this inspiring message. I try to remind myself of this with every Campfire Story of Resistance & Resilience I write! It is probably why each one I have written, so far, has taken and required and demanded so much out of me, and more, each time. Even though I initially suffered the delusion that researching, drafting, composing, telling, and editing them, would be easy, and would get easier, along the way. They haven’t—but in the end, after hours and hours of obsessive, feverish writing, rewriting, and editing my work—I have in the end been happy enough in terms of feeling I’ve achieved my vision, and been true enough to the increasingly difficult and challenging subject matter, and the legacy of those I’m writing about. I certainly hope that is the way Sarah Polley felt about her film, a deep and powerful and touching film about deeply disturbing, and important, human and female experiences that resonate across communities, countries, and lifetimes.
I don't know if I've ever written something that was as easy as I thought it would be, though some aspects of a project do get easier with time. My point is, you're not alone there. Stories tend to demand more of us than we expected they would. Thanks for reading, Lois - I'm glad the piece spoke to you in any way!
Thanks! The film did, too. I saw it when I lived in Baltimore—not so far from where I live now, though in some sense, worlds away. It was at an event sponsored by the art theater (movie club) and we had a discussion afterward. It’s a film that struck a chord deeply with everyone who attended and watched; we were all pretty moved. I read some about the events and real-life case that inspired it, before and afterwards, as well as about the book the movie was based on. All piercing, heartbreaking stuff; and certainly a deeply personal and deeply moving film to make.
Yes 🙌🏽 Thank you. Note to self trust audience to pick up a story (if you’ve made us care). A fellow speculative writer friend loves to drop kick her readers directly into the middle of the fray, which led our Clarion West classmates to ask, “Are we naked mole rats or what?”
Sarah Polley rules. “Women Talking” is one of the best titles - and films - ever made to show us what emotional intelligence, and democracy, looks like.
I love this film! Thank you so much for this inspiring message. I try to remind myself of this with every Campfire Story of Resistance & Resilience I write! It is probably why each one I have written, so far, has taken and required and demanded so much out of me, and more, each time. Even though I initially suffered the delusion that researching, drafting, composing, telling, and editing them, would be easy, and would get easier, along the way. They haven’t—but in the end, after hours and hours of obsessive, feverish writing, rewriting, and editing my work—I have in the end been happy enough in terms of feeling I’ve achieved my vision, and been true enough to the increasingly difficult and challenging subject matter, and the legacy of those I’m writing about. I certainly hope that is the way Sarah Polley felt about her film, a deep and powerful and touching film about deeply disturbing, and important, human and female experiences that resonate across communities, countries, and lifetimes.
I don't know if I've ever written something that was as easy as I thought it would be, though some aspects of a project do get easier with time. My point is, you're not alone there. Stories tend to demand more of us than we expected they would. Thanks for reading, Lois - I'm glad the piece spoke to you in any way!
Thanks! The film did, too. I saw it when I lived in Baltimore—not so far from where I live now, though in some sense, worlds away. It was at an event sponsored by the art theater (movie club) and we had a discussion afterward. It’s a film that struck a chord deeply with everyone who attended and watched; we were all pretty moved. I read some about the events and real-life case that inspired it, before and afterwards, as well as about the book the movie was based on. All piercing, heartbreaking stuff; and certainly a deeply personal and deeply moving film to make.
Yes 🙌🏽 Thank you. Note to self trust audience to pick up a story (if you’ve made us care). A fellow speculative writer friend loves to drop kick her readers directly into the middle of the fray, which led our Clarion West classmates to ask, “Are we naked mole rats or what?”
Sarah Polley rules. “Women Talking” is one of the best titles - and films - ever made to show us what emotional intelligence, and democracy, looks like.
It's a film I hope people pay more attention to in the years to come.
Ms Polley was inspiring in the filmmaker panel at Santa Barbara film festival 2023. The cast, too - such incredible performances!
SBFF was my first film festival. I actually talked about it in this article, not that you should read it. But it was a huge part of my first year in L.A. https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-young
Excellent point to bring out. Now, imagine your producers are in the West (where the finance is) and you’re writing an “Eastern” story
I can't imagine the absurdity of that experience.
I’m doing my PhD on it and the word “absurdity” would come up a lot if it weren’t for the rules of academic writing that proscribes such wordage ha ha
I remember listening to this podcast last year and it was one of my favorites! Women Talking was brilliant.
Yes, it was.