5 Questions with Jasmine De Silva & Samantha Shirazi ("Birthday Smash")
Jasmine De Silva (left), Samantha Shirazi (right)
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
Samantha Shirazi: Within the last two years I have stumbled into filmmaking. I am certainly not a movie buff and as a child my family rarely went to the movie theater, but I have always wanted to be a part of the creative industry. After my undergraduate degree, I worked in corporate fashion and felt that something was missing, so I decided to get my Masters at London College of Fashion with the intent to make something! I had no idea what that something was but early on I tested out making a short film and loved the process.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
SS: The initial idea came from the internal dread I feel about getting older due to how middle-aged women are portrayed and spoken about in the fashion and media industries. I started to have this concept that aging, a completely normal and beautiful process, is a problem that needs to be fixed. I also noticed that the middle-aged women in my life are completely different to how their demographic is portrayed on screen. I wrote Birthday Smash to show how ridiculous some of the stereotypes about aging are and to show middle-age women in a celebratory light.
I teamed up with my Director, Jasmine De Silva, and together we selected the gifts which represented the stereotypes and honed in on the character traits which I believe added a lot of dimension to the final film.
Jasmine De Silva: An ongoing theme that I centre all of my work around is the human pursuit of an unnecessary and unrealistic view of perfection and the pressure we place upon ourselves to achieve this. When Samantha approached me with the idea of Birthday Smash, I knew instantly that the concept was something I would love directing as it aligns so well with these themes, allowing me to explore perfection within the realm of age which is a new challenge and extension of the key themes within my practice.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
SS: The biggest challenge of making Birthday Smash was writing about a topic I had not yet experienced. I am twenty-three years old and have no idea what it is like to be in my 40’s, 50’s, 60’s. I did a lot of research online along with conducting interviews with women in the key demographic. I also consulted the three lovely actors to make sure that I did the film justice.
The easiest part was collaborating with my team members. Particularly my Director, DOP, and Set Designer. We spent a lot of time together and over Zoom planning Birthday Smash. It was very rewarding as the Producer to feel confident and inspired by the people I worked with. Birthday Smash is my baby! Everyone added so much to this film and the end result is so much better than I could have imagined.
JDS: would agree with Samantha here that the biggest challenge we could face was the fact that neither of us have experienced 30s and up. I am turning 30 this year and as much as I don’t want to succumb to the pressure of suddenly feeling fear of age, I can’t help but feel it a little! In making Birthday Smash we really wanted to make sure we did the theme justice, without pretending that we know what it feels like to walk in the shoes of a woman in their 40s/50s/60s and up. We were really grateful to the actors for trusting us to bring this story to light.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
SS: Dead Poets Society written by Tom Schulman and Directed by Peter Weir. Normally I avoid movies with a sad ending; however, Dead Poets Society has a way of filling me up with hope. Death hangs over the film but what I take away is that everyone’s story ends the same, so take control of the journey.
5) What’s next for you?
SS: I just finished my Master’s degree at London College of Fashion. I am planning on moving out to Los Angeles in the next couple of months and start the freelance life as a Production Assistant. I hope to one day be a producer for a tv show!
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https://www.jasminedesilva.com/ |G: @jasmine_desilva
IG: @samanthashirazi