5 Questions with Daiva Žalnieriunas
The beautiful and unsettling coming-of-age film, “Farewell Winona,” follows a young girl on her last day before entering high school. We asked director Daiva Žalnieriunas how the project started, what the biggest challenge was, and a recent film she’s loved…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I studied theatre in university because I wanted to be a stage actor performing the classics. After I graduated, I fell in love with a filmmaker, Graham Foy (Fantavious Fritz). He took me to Oregon to shoot a film and that’s where I first stepped in front of a camera and onto a DIY film set. I loved it—the way we worked was very collaborative and creative—I felt like I was part of a team.
Back in Toronto, I embarked on my acting career working mainly in TV procedurals where I quickly realized that not all filmmaking was quite as magical as my first experience. Occasionally, I found solace acting in Graham’s short film projects whenever a role was available for me. When there wasn’t an acting role I found myself pitching in: doing street casting, story editing, assistant directing, and producing.
Regularly, I told Graham about my story ideas for a film. He consistently encouraged me to direct one. “I’ll be your camera guy!” he’d offer.
The idea scared me, but took hold. I wrote a story that was deeply imprinted in me, and it poured out in a day. I then waited for months before I had enough validation from friends and family that it was worth making. I rationalized that as an actor I could be one of those directors-who-know-how-to-talk-with-actors kind of director. Still scared that I knew nothing about images, I binged on a lot of Lynn Ramsay’s movies wondering why I liked a particular shot and how she achieved it. This new way of thinking was pretty exhilarating (and has now ruined how I watch films). I asked all my way-too-talented friends to come on board for free, and then, suddenly we were on set, and then in post, and—voilà—I’m a director.
2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?
Start with what you know, right? I’m obsessed with this time in my life—that coming-of-age moment from fun-loving, relative innocence into a maturing body that looks like it can handle new freedoms and responsibilities. Probably because it felt so gross.
I grew up on a farm in Prince Edward County, a beautiful rural area about two hours east of Toronto. Back then, PEC was not the wine region and tourist destination it is now. In the 2000s it felt time capsuled—there was not much to do besides go swimming, see a movie at the Mustang Drive-in, play hockey or work on your parents’ farm.
Kids grew up fast anyway. I remember playing make-believe games with my kid sister and later at a party turning an 11-year-old kid over so they didn’t choke on their drunk vomit. Girls gave hand jobs in Grade 7 and every year someone died in a car crash. There is such a fine balance of wanting to be an adult and not wanting to grow up. And that moment is full of drama.
In the film, the incident in the trailer and the story told really happened, except, I didn’t leave. I stayed, feeling very uncomfortable not only with the dangerous overtones but my embarrassment of possibly overreacting. So I waited for the guy to finish his last beer before driving me home.
In this story I gave myself the ending I wanted—a female protagonist with power and agency. After screening the film I had several people approach me to recount their “trailer” stories and how they had felt similarly stuck. I see the film as a universal story for anyone who wishes they had a lake to swim across.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the best, and the least?
Casting was incredibly hard. My producer, Emily Harris, and I held auditions for four months. We hadn’t been able to cast the characters Winona and Brad. Everyone who auditioned for Brad played him like a cartoon villain—and all the Winona actors were either too mature or too naive. We pushed the shoot by a month, but we still didn’t have our leads. The week before the shoot, I thought we’d have to pull the project all together—we couldn’t push any longer, as it was now late September in Canada and the waters were already cold.
On a whim, Emily invited a screenwriter friend to audition. Seth Duffy had never acted, but as a writer he understood what intention was—and more importantly, was able to play this “piece of shit” character with an intelligence and respect, which ultimately made his performance all the more uncomfortable and powerful. A major feminist and total sweetheart, I can’t imagine finding another actor who would have been as perfect.
Natali Ioffe auditioned the next day. A young 14-year old, she had a sense of innocence that was perfect for the first part of the film—and although she was missing some life experience, she was great at staying in the moment. This ability to “live in the moment” paired with Duffy’s terrifically creepy performance made for one helluva uncomfortable scene. The search was worth it, but exhausting.
When I work on Graham’s sets, the actual filming is always my favorite part. As for directing, I think I like all the pre-production moments— especially the research and meet ups with the creative team trying to figure out how we’re going to pull off the vision. At that point, anything seems possible.
Editing the first cut is my least favorite part of the creative process. Oh, god, it’s brutal. But I really like all the problem solving that comes afterwards.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Beanpole by Kantemir Balagov. A beautiful film about people trying to find hope and humanity in a world full of oppression and sadness. I love it because it’s realistic, yet poetic—and stock full of unpredictable characters. Oooo also the color. I love the color.
5) What’s next for you?
Submitting my new short Coucou to festivals and trying to not think about rejection. Also co-producing Graham Foy’s new short film, August 22nd, and first feature film, The Maiden.
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Instagram: @daivajz