In advance of BFF’s 2020 Online Festival, we will be sharing exclusive interviews with this year’s filmmakers. Get to know their films, their inspirations, and their advice to fellow emerging filmmakers. Check out our interview with Emily Gagne and Josh Korngut, directors of BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.
Emily Gagne and Joshua Korngut are filmmakers and the co-founders of Spooky B Films, a Toronto-based production company which aims to tells horror stories through a fun, feminist lens.
Congratulations on your 2020 BFF film selection! Can you tell us a bit about your film?
We are thrilled to have our BFF be part of BFF this year!
Best Friends Forever is a short about the horrors of social exclusion filtered through a hot pink lens. Set at a slumber party in 1996, the film tells the urban legend of Nancy, a girl who suffered the deadly consequences of bullying and is doomed to keep knocking on doors until she finds a suitable, well, best friend to join her hell.
What inspired you to tell this story?
Emily Gagne: I experienced a lot of girl-on-girl hate in my younger years and I have seen the long-term effect it can have on both the bully and bullied. And while I do think we need more positive portrayals of friendships between women on film (and more portrayals of women on film in general, to be honest), I think it’s neglectful to not talk about some of the issues that can arise between us as well.
Also, there just aren’t enough all-girl horror stories out there! We made the film we wanted to see, one where girls are the heroes, victims and villains.
Josh Korngut: I think there’s something really personal about urban legends in particular. At their best, they’re intimate stories that could easily be set in your childhood bedroom. At their scariest, they’re stories that really were.
Still from Best Friends Forever
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER gives us major 90s nostalgia vibes. Can you tell us why you decided to set the film in the past?
JK: Emily and grew up together in the Toronto suburbs in the mid-90s. It’s a part of our shared unconscious now. We know that place inside and out.
EG: A lot of our inspiration comes from the slasher films we saw in my basement back then - Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend. Fun horror films that also, sometimes subtly, also had something to say.
Still from Best Friends Forever
What’s the core message that you wanted to convey to your audience through this film?
EG: I think girls and women are often told there are “limited spaces” for them (and even less for women of colour). This can, unfortunately, create a subconscious urge to compete and assert power over one another through words and actions. We hope that our film shines a light on how toxic this dynamic can be.
What’s next for you?
JK: Emily and I are on the second draft of a horror screenplay that’s starting to look real cute. I’m really excited about it.
EG: Josh is working on a very cool solo horror concept that I am excited about as well, one that I think will bring the nuance I was missing from Hereditary. And I am developing a script loosely based on my relationship with my mom.
What advice would you give to an emerging filmmaker just starting out?
JK: If you’re a writer, then write about what excites you the most. Everything else is just background noise.
EG: At 30, I am still an emerging filmmaker. I wasted a lot of years thinking that I wasn’t good enough, creative enough, or experienced enough to make films as a writer or director. Surely, a lot of this stemmed from the lack of support for women and other marginalized creators in mainstream film spaces. So if you feel the urge to create, please give into it. We need new stories and storytellers!
Care to share any films you’re inspired by, that our community should check out during this quarantine?
JK: I recently watched To Die For with Nicole Kidman, and honestly, it’s a perfect film. Emily wrote an article about the film’s fashion for A Nightmare On Film Street that’s a real must-read.
EG: When BFF screened at the Indie Memphis Film Festival last year, I got to see Numa Perrier’s Jezebel and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Currently on Netflix Canada, it is one of the most unique takes on sex work I have encountered. It confronts the intersection of racism and sexism within the industry, while also showcasing ways women also can find power (not to mention capital) from their work in it.
Catch BEST FRIENDS FOREVER as part of BFF’s 2020 Online Festival, with a special live-streamed Q&A with Emily and Josh on Saturday June 27th. Join us June 25 - 28 for screenings, virtual Q&As, panel discussions and more! Get Tickets Today.