TRUE ROMANCE, 29min., Canada
Directed by Katherine Costal
A lovesick teenager tries to rekindle her relationship with a past boyfriend by inviting him to a surprise party, only to discover the harsh truth behind their romance and the love lives of the guests.

https://www.instagram.com/kat_costal/

Get to know the filmmaker:

1. What motivated you to make this film?

I got the idea for it after watching other people's love lives, and seeing all the emotionally immature and unaffectionate behaviours they encountered. I noticed that a lot of people fall into these kinds of relationships but it happens most commonly to the younger crowd. I wanted to depict some of those dynamics from an outside perspective and show what observing the dating culture can look like. I think that when you're in your teens and early twenties, love and romance can be too serious of a thing for you to know how to navigate, so your early relationships will likely end badly. For that reason I think it can be difficult to find love in the world when you're a hopeless romantic. At the same time, there's societal pressure to begin dating at a young age, and that pressure's just not necessary when it's perfectly okay to be single and use that time to understand yourself. I wanted to tell people that they shouldn't be disheartened by the hurtful or incompatible behaviour they may experience, and that they should wait for the person that satisfies the idea of romance they have.

2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you

to make this film?

In total it was about fifteen months. I first had the idea to make a film like this in February 2023 but it was completely different at the time. I originally tried to write another story but I couldn't finish it and I was submitting it through a grant at the time. In May they got back to me and were like "Sorry but it's not for us" so I had to find a different approach to making it. I completely rewrote the script to what it is now over the summer of 2023 and we shot it through October and November of that year. Then after a lengthy post-production period with various people switching in and out of the process, we were able to finish it in May 2024.

3. How would you describe your film in two words!?

Melancholically Funny

4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Definitely the process of getting it made. I started out this project by myself just brainstorming and writing over the summer trying to perfect the comedy and the story I was trying to tell. I wasn't sure how I was going to produce it after losing the grant but thankfully I was able to fund it myself after I finished the script. Casting actors required a lot of coordination and patience because we sourced volunteers and some people's availability didn't line up so we had to keep pushing the filming dates back. There were some cast, crew, and locations that left the project or kept needing to reschedule because something came up or they were busy doing paid projects. It felt like when one role was filled up another would fall through and there was always something I had to scramble to patch up. And with the way things lined up we had limited time and resources to work with, so the entire indoor party sequence had to be shot in six hours for example. The same happened with post-production where the person helping me with all the post stuff kept backing out because they weren't able to complete the work and it felt like a long time before I found the people who were able to do it. Luckily it all worked out in the end and I'm so glad I went to all those lengths.

5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking

about your film in the feedback video?

I enjoyed hearing the audience's thoughts and what they each took away from the film. I especially appreciated how a lot of them identified the types of relationships I was depicting and I hope that they understood the satirical nature of this film. It was fun to see them react to the conflicts and listen to how they perceived the surrealistic way the characters talked and behaved. I had speculated before what viewers would think of the semi-surrealism that I put into it so the feedback video is very helpful to me in gauging that. I really liked how each of them seemed to have their own favourite thing about the film and it's nice to hear their opinions.

6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?

When I was about nine I started recording little movies and music videos with my toys that I had seen other people do. I fell in love with the way people would design their own miniature sets and bring their scripts to life on the camera. I had known before that I wanted to be a writer and it felt like what I wrote branched out into these colourful, modern story ideas that you have to film and watch. Then when I got older I began thinking of making those with real people but hadn't fully thought of it as making films yet. I always loved comedy and was fascinated with photography as well as drawings which inspired a specific style I felt like I wanted to create. By the time I was seventeen I decided to officially merge the two and make comedy films that told important stories to me and also gave me the thrill that I had gotten so many times from watching exciting media.

7. What film have you seen the most in your life?

I don't remember this super clearly but I believe it was Barbie: Mermaidia when I was five or six years old. My family had DVDs of a few children's movies so I would rewatch those continuously. When I was little I loved the Barbie animated movies and we had the Mermaidia one on DVD so I remember asking my parents to play that for me almost everyday for a while.

8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other

festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking

career?

I would say maybe referrals to theatres that allow independent live screenings. I know quite a few indie cinemas that host screenings but it can be difficult to attract a crowd when you're not a big name yet. I think it would be nice for those festivals to connect their network and audience with independent screenings that are happening on their own time, but have been watched by the festival. That way filmmakers can get a chance to have their film viewed by other passionate filmgoers and important people in the business even if they are not being directly hosted by the festival.

9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your

experiences been working on the festival platform site?

I think it's a bit of a mixed bag. The submission process is quite smooth and easy, so I very much like that. Some festivals set their notification date very far ahead from their submission deadline so it can be months before you hear back. Some festivals also require premiere status so it's a bit tricky to decide which festivals to submit to. If your first choice is months later than the one you feel your film doesn't have as much of a chance at, but the notification date of your second choice closes way before the first one, you may feel compelled to submit to both anyway because if you don't make it into the top festival, at least you'll have a backup. But they both might end up rejecting you in the end especially due to the competitive number of acceptances so it's a bit of a gamble choosing where to spend your money submitting.

10. What is your favorite meal?

It would have to be a sushi platter, with an assortment of sashimi.

11. What is next for you? A new film?

I have my second film planned. I'm currently in the process of writing it and just doing a lot of brainstorming, so it's still in the early stages. It's going to be another melancholic comedy so if you liked True Romance, this one's definitely for you. I can't say too much about it yet, but I'm hoping to be able to put it out soon.