Give Me an A is a a horror, sci-fi, dark comedy response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and will be screening Sunday April 2nd at 3:30 at the Overlook Film Festival. Ahead of the fest, I caught up with Natasha Halevi, who talked about the origins of this film, the quick turnaround on the project, tackling this important subject, and more:
Give Me an A was created as a response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. How did the idea of this project first come about?
On June 24th, 2022 Roe v. Wade was overturned. Like a lot women (and anyone of any gender affected) I crumpled to the ground sobbing. I felt powerless and totally out of control. I knew in many states people would be affected immediately. I heard the Clarance Thomas statement that contraception and same sex marriage would be next so I knew this meant a lot of bad things for a lot of people.
I studied Augusto Boal years ago, like 20 years ago - he created “Theater of the Oppressed” for political activism in Brazil - it just always stuck with me. Art, theater, film - it’s always been political. Horror probably takes the lead on that! Night of The Living Dead, They Live!, Get Out, The Hunt, Candyman.
I had to do something, I knew a lot of other women and people who felt like they needed to do something. Those people in my circle are filmmakers, so, I got them all together one week after Roe v. Wade was overturned, we talked about how we felt, I pitched them the idea of “Give Me An A”, and that was that - we were gonna go make some sassy art!
There was an incredibly quick turnaround from the time this project started until its Fantastic Fest screening. What kind of work went on behind the scenes to coordinate all of the different filmmakers and get this ready for audiences?
It was so fast. So so so fast. We wanted the film to be a reaction and not a delayed response. We wanted it to be immediate, raw, the real deal. We wanted to get the film seen before midterm elections so we could start conversations with audiences. Whatever time/space reality exists, we bent the hell out of it because we had to make this film.
We operated like some hybrid between a feature film and a TV show, but like one where you only shoot one episode a day. We had one camera package (well 3 actually, but all the same), we filmed consecutive days (3 sets a day on some days - in LA and Atlanta), we had chaotic but good communication. Everything moved too fast to be precious about everything (or anything really) so we also were very flexible and very forgiving.
Despite the chaos, our sets ran super smooth. The deal was simple - show up, everyone be safe, be nice, throw everything you know about any hierarchy on set out the window, but do you job. People did really get along on set, people walked away with new best friends, there is even an engagement from two people who met on the last day of filming!
Important to say - we had a lot of help, that’s where the speed came from - Keslow got on board first, without them we probably would have given up. Panavision helped a few days also. Friends donated essential funds, and really important, friends donated essential skills. People who came in, particularly in post, saved us over and over again. So many individuals came through in post - they’re the real heroes of this film.
We also brought on three awesome Mentor Producers - Falguni Lakhani Adams, Sarah Smith and Judy Greer! They got on board the first week and read hours and hours worth of scripts and gave notes, like real notes so we’d have a good foundation. A month and a half later they watched the first cut of films and gave notes, real notes! This was an invaluable part of our process! It’s hard to get great scripts in a few days, you need good people who got your back and they did!
On top of being the project's creative producer, you also wrote and directed the wraparound segment as well. Can you give our readers a little tease of what they can expect from the film?
The wraparound is “The Cheerleaders” and they’re the heart and soul of “Give Me An A”. I wanted to flip the concept of a wraparound from being “the big story” like it is in a lot of anthologies and I wanted it to point to the short segments. I wanted to most important thing to be the shorts and the wraparound to just be the container for those stories. The wraparound isn’t so much for story, it’s for feels.
Cheerleaders are such a freaking amazing part of our all-American culture and we had to reclaim it from something that was created to support and raise up men to something that is empowering for women (also anyone identifying as a woman, non-binary, oh and cheerleading comes with men now too!) The cheerleaders are hurt by each segment, they’re pushed harder and harder until finally, they break. (But breaking isn’t always bad!) It’s mimicking what’s happening now. We are the cheerleaders! ***Spoiler*** The cheerleaders take down the patriarchy in the end, so, if we are the cheerleaders, I guess that means. . .
Tackling such an important topic as reproductive rights through the genre lens, what has your experience been like with those that have seen the film at festivals?
No one gets something like this more than the genre audience. All of us who love horror and sci-fi and weird stuff, we’ve always been watching films that have something to say. Genre films are the perfect place to discuss difficult topics - you don’t have to say it exact, you don’t have to get all the facts, you can just turn the yucky thing, whatever it is, into a monster and talk about it that way.
For those that may not be able to attend the festival screenings, what are the release plans for Give Me an A?
We’ll have a limited release and be available on streaming platforms in June! We’ll be making an announcement with all the details very very soon! We’ll keep everyone posted on instagram at @givemenanafilm
Where can our readers keep up with your work and the latest on Give Me an A?
Instagram @givemeanafilm
OUR SCREENING AT OVERLOOK IS FREE!!!
Sun, Apr 2nd | 3:30 PM | Canal Place Theater
https://overlook2023.eventive.
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