5 Questions with Athina Wilson
1. Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
Having a deep appreciation for various mediums, I wanted to find a way to explore and each craft under one umbrella. Film seemed, at the time, to be the answer to this question. I’m a very empathetic individual, and love to examine human behaviour; all of our strange, universal and wonderful idiosyncrasies.
This journey started in 2016- I still have a long way to go but have not yet fallen out of love with the craft!
2. What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
This idea came into fruition over a drink with my close friend Ronlee - we were talking about content moderation as an occupation and how it could potentially become very harmful for employees. Having to constantly view extremely graphic content, not having adequate counseling facilities, sitting behind a screen all day….
After doing some research I found out that it is in fact very harmful, and many employees don’t have healthy working conditions because of their employers.
I love both social realism and highly stylised pieces of work and hoped to combine the two. To do so, I tried to project my imagination into a near-future timeframe, allowing me to do some fun world building. The romance narrative was applied as a vehicle to explore universal human feeling within this heightened level of stylisation.
3. What was the biggest challenge in this film? And the easiest part?!
Probably writing the script! I would definitely still like to work on my skills in narrative filmmaking- from the story to the print. This was my graduate film, I’m currently 21, and still have a lot to experience and much more time for practice before writing a script that is both concise and interesting
(It was also my first time shooting on 16mm!)
I was super blessed to have such a dedicated and respectful crew. I love collaboration. The heads of department were so great to work with, as well as the main actors, and everyone who helped out on set bought life and dedication to their respective roles.
4. What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Probably The Watermelon Woman. It is a beautiful depiction of New Queer Cinema, and a black queer voice that hadn’t yet been depicted on cinema at the time. The director, Cheryl Dunye, taught me a lot and was so enigmatic while doing so.
There is this really beautiful, real sex scene in it and I was disappointed to hear that the National Endowment for the Arts, who gave them the grant back in 1996, changed their funding rules after its release because audience member reception was along the lines of ‘shocked and appalled’.
5. What’s next for you?
I would love to continue collaborating and building stories. Due to Covid, there have been some limitations to my creativity & income but I will try to not let that stop me while operating in Naarm/Birraranga (Melbourne, Australia)
I have just commenced a mentorship program & I am working to complete a small business certificate where I will be working to focus on freelancing, community arts, creative direction.
Having recently discovered a passion for photography, I would love to bring a creative team together where we can work with creative clients through photo and video work.
I co-run an online publication called vervezine.com, which publishes the works of young budding creatives. This project has bought me a lot of joy throughout the years, so I would love to come up with innovative ways to keep it afloat.
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http://athinawilson.com
IG: @athinawilson