Q&A with Stephanie Ellis

In the Australian Outback, two sisters find and dig up their mothers grave in this atmospheric drama with a supernatural bent. We asked “Min Min” director Stephanie Ellis how the project began, the films that inspired her, and her interest in unexplained phenomenon…

Can you talk a bit about your background, and how you first got interested in movies?

Hey! Sure. Short answer is I don’t really know. I had studied creative writing at uni in Australia, and then went to acting school in Sydney - and worked a little, before coming to NY and studying at Strasberg. I have wanted to direct for the longest time… but honestly was closeted. I didn’t have the confidence in my voice till a few years ago. 

What about this project? Where did it come from / how did you get it rolling?

This project  first came from a desire to work with Anna.  We had met in LA and pretty much fallen in love with each other… and knew we wanted to come up with something for me to direct and for us to be in.

I think MIN MIN was born from my need to explore my connection to the land in Australia. The pull of the outback on the female psyche. The almost umbilical like connection that myself and Anna feel to our homeland.

I wanted to just straight up tell a feminine tale in the Aussie outback. With some religious elements thrown in. I love Wake in Fright. But it doesn’t speak to the power of the land in Oz on a female level at all. 

In the first draft - the supernatural element wasn’t in full effect.. there was an unformed moment - where one sister sees something that the other doesn’t…. which was something else I wanted to explore….the notion that even when we come from a shared experience --  a sisterhood -- we may see the world, and the things that manifest within it, in incredibly different ways.  

There’s a phenomenon in the Australian outback which is now a part of Australian folklore - called the 'minmin'. These lights (often blue)  that appear and shoot across the landscape.. people chase them, hunt them, and there’s plenty of tales as to their meaning. Indigenous Australians consider these supernatural lights to be spirits and locals believe that if the Min Min lights ever catch up with you, you will disappear inside them forever.

We got it rolling by bringing on the same producers I had worked with on my last short, Baby Teeth, and tooth and nailing it to make it happen. Involving friends who were willing to break their backs (kinda literally) in the desert with us. We shot in wonder valley in the desert in cali (which is so similar to aussie landscape)  - it was a freakish hot season. 2 days of over 115 degrees - rattlesnake season - and we could only shoot certain angles to ensure the light looked like Australia. 

What was your preparation like, both with the visuals — storyboards, test shoots? — and also with your performance, and the dynamic between you and Anna. You guys are great together.

I took a deep dive preparing for the visuals for this one. It was a real learning curve for me. Especially with the supernatural element. 

With the land, the sisters, their relationship  - I had a strong idea instinctually with that.  I drew a ton of inspiration from Carlos Reygadas and Cate Shortland. With Shortland I just love how she is able to get under your skin so fast. My major reference films for this were Reygadas - Stellet Licht and Post Tenebras Lux. I love the opening to Post Tenebras so much.  Anyways…the landscape was very important to me when shot listing… its presence around and between the sisters. It’s effect on the girls. Together and separately. 

We went up to the location in advance and talked through some shots. Some of the tracking shots as we couldn’t use steady cam... so we wanted to be sure it would work with a vehicle. It was pretty lean in terms of what we planned and got with each scene.

The supernatural effect - took a lot of planning. I spoke with VFX people I trusted and directors that had dealt with these types of things before.

I wanted the blue light to interact with Anna. And to shoot practically and then replace with a CG light in post -  so that the actual interaction with the environment (light on the grave, light on  Anna’s face, light on the ground, lens flare) could make an effect that would feel completely bonafide and not CG at all. 

And as for Anna. And working with her.   She is such a beautiful subtle and effortless actress and the dynamic with her was very easeful and so thankfully I could just lean on that in front of the camera. 

You’ve touched on this already, but I’m curious to hear more wrt to the supernatural turn the film takes. Without being too explicit if you don’t want: what do you think it says about the film in general, or what we’ve seen up until that point? 

A big part of how the supernatural element crept in is that I wanted to explore how one sister was able to access something or experience something that the other sister was blind too. Be it in life. Be it with her mother.  Be it because they have mourned differently. 

I like it being open ended though as to what the light represents. 

Maybe the light is the actual mother. A representation of Libby’s mourning… In the end I think it’s a gateway or connection point (maybe her mothers soul, maybe Libby’s guide, or maybe it’s something greater than Libby)  but it’s something that Nina can’t possibly understand or join in on. To me the min min are —- a sudden opening to see things in a different way.

And what excited me most was having that (the supernatural) suddenly invade the raw grounded world of the story up until that point.

What else ya working on at the moment?

Finishing up the script for my first feature. I’m writing with Anna again. The plan is to focus on directing this time, though. It’s a contained portrait of women on a small desert air force base in California during ww2…. It’s an identity film. A sexual coming of age.  

Contact Info:

IG: @stephoellis