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 Sonya Chwyl and Anik Desmarais-Spencer, directors of BABY TEETH.
Based out of Victoria, BC, Anik Desmarais-Spencer and Sonya Chwyl have been writing together since 2018. They have worked on numerous film sets as ADs, ACs, PAs, MUAs, and DITs, often as a creative team. Baby Teeth is their first film.
Congratulations on your 2020 BFF film selection! Can you tell us a bit about your film?
Sonya Chwyl: Thank you! We’re really honoured to be part of the festival this year. Baby Teeth follows a woman as she tries to fulfill her mother’s wishes after she passes away.
Anik Desmarais-Spencer: The film is about relationships, specifically navigating complex emotions in familial bonds.
What inspired you to tell this story?
ADS: It stemmed from a conversation I had with a friend about what to do with a body after death. I thought it could be an idea for a film, and I told Sonya about it. She was onboard to make something together.
SC: We started writing because we both found that idea really interesting - like, what would it look like if someone asked you to carry out their wishes after death yourself, especially if those wishes were unorthodox? And what headspace would you be in during that process?
Still from Baby Teeth
BABY TEETH addresses grief in its many forms - can you tell us more about what you wanted to explore with grief?
ADS: I’d just lost somebody when we started writing the script, so I was really into exploring the idea of reconciling who you knew, and your experiences with them versus who everyone else knew and their final wishes. I remember being very irritated with the arrangements that our family was making for the funeral because it felt really pointless since they were dead, and I realized later on that honouring that person’s wishes brought me a sense of peace. So I liked exploring that in an absurd way.
SC: I think the story was also a way to explore the sense of grief that comes with growing up and leaving parts of yourself behind, whether intentionally or not. And struggling to figure out how much to cut yourself off from the people and places that made you who you are if they don’t fit in to that new identity.
What’s the core message that you wanted to convey to your audience through this film?
ADS: Well funnily enough, when we wrote this we thought it would be a dark comedy. We kept laughing and thinking that these scenes would be hilarious, and when we shot them we realized that they were actually pretty somber. So I think as that shifted, we decided to lean into that, and focus on that feeling of resolving the complex emotions our characters were holding.
SC: That shift was also a testament to our leads, and how seriously they took these characters and their relationships. They did a really great job making it feel real, and because of that the situation has more weight than it did when we thought about it in an abstract way.
As far as the message, I would second Anik’s answer. Finding peace and being okay with yourself is not a black and white thing. When relationships end or change you don’t always get the resolution you want, but that’s not a bad thing.
Still from Baby Teeth
What’s next for you?
SC: We’ve been mainly been writing right now, since we can’t film because of the pandemic. We were working on a short that was supposed to go to production in late March… but that obviously didn’t happen. We’re hoping to pick that back up as soon as we can!
What advice would you give to an emerging filmmaker just starting out?
ADS: Volunteer! You learn by doing, and the film community here is so supportive. I also think having a partner really helps, as I know I can be quite lazy when it comes to pushing myself to meet deadlines, and by working with Sonya, I’m held accountable to meet those goals, since our team can’t move forward if I’m dragging my feet.
SC: Yes! Put yourself outside of your comfort zone and try to get to know people. There are lots of talented people out there who want to make things, and if you find folks you can vibe with you’ll be set. Focus on small goals, and learn what you don’t know by doing it. Try to channel the blind self-confidence of a straight white cis man.
Care to share any films you’re inspired by, that our community should check out during this quarantine?
SC: Honestly I have been watching shorter stuff in quarantine… I binged all of BoJack Horseman the other week, and that surprised me by how good it was in terms of storytelling and characterization. I generally like smaller films that explore relationships between one or two people - Swiss Army Man is one of my favourites because of that, and also just how batshit crazy the premise is. I recently watched Honey Boy, which blew me away. And we’ve been working on a sci-fi script and I keep referencing High Life, so I’d have to add that too. Claire Denis and Robert Pattinson are both wild.
ADS: I’ve also been binging a lot of shorts from festivals while in quarantine. I recently saw The Peanut Butter Falcon and loved everything about it, especially the cinematography. The Fall by director Tarsem Singh is also one of my all time favourites. It’s such a beautiful, well told story, and the graphics are gorgeous. Weirdly enough, The Making of ‘The Labyrinth’ on Youtube always brings me to tears, because it’s such a testament to human creativity.
Catch BABY TEETH as part of BFF’s 2020 Online Festival, with a special live-streamed Q&A with Sonya and Anik on Sunday June 28th. Join us June 25 - 28 for screenings, virtual Q&As, panel discussions and more! Get Tickets Today.