Real New Yorkers, Real Artists: Interview With Filmmakers Alessia Gatti & Martha Frances Williams

After the final block of short films of the Queens World Film Festival, I got to talk the writer and lead actor of Oatmeal, Martha Frances Williams, as well as the director Alessia Gatti. What started off a bit rocky (the movie played without sound! Ah, technical issues) turned into a fantastic night of short films by local New Yorkers.

Oatmeal is about a girl who decides to take a much-needed day off from work, but what do you do when you haven’t had a day off in a while? And what is success without having some time to yourself? Both Alessia and Martha Frances are actors, and both moved to New York (Alessia from Italy and Martha Frances from North Carolina) to pursue their filmmaking careers.

Did you like the film?

Yeah! It was so cute.  Again, it was interesting because at first, I thought maybe it was supposed to be silent.

Alessia Gatti: There was not much dialogue.

Yeah, yeah. So, it honestly – like you just said – it could have worked quietly.  So, you said that you toyed around with the idea of it being silent.  Why did you guys decide that it was better to add a little bit of dialogue?

Alessia Gatti: One big question mark was let’s put in music or not over it because you could also play a lot with the music from the beginning, but I told her no. I would like the quietness of an empty house when you’re home alone and everybody’s at work.  So, it’s like the morning is always quiet, and even lunchtime is always quiet in apartments in buildings where people go and go to work.  So I like that kind of quietness in a house where there’s nothing to do, what are you going to do?

Unless you play music yourself, that’s when she plays music at the end.  But apart from that, the sounds that you make are just sounds that you do on purpose.  And even when she was just playing with the puppet or when she was playing in front of the mirror, you don’t really talk.  It’s interesting when you’re alone, and you’re not exposed to TV or everything, maybe you can be in silent.

No, I completely agree, I think it adds a level of realness there.  Like, it was just honest.

Alessia Gatti: Personally, as a director, I like a lot when it’s raw and it’s real.  I always look for that when I’m making short films.  So, I didn’t wanna add any score. That’s why the music is just really when she plays it on the phone and towards the end, it’s the credits music, which was a nice touch.  And then silent, I think that’s more the writing.

Martha Frances Williams: Yeah, no I think it was something where, when I was writing it I was thinking about what is this experience?  And it’s not like I would talk to myself.  I mean it’s mostly how do you externalize what’s going on internally? What does that look like? What is that feeling of trying to get ahead?

Yeah! So, what brought on this story? Why did you write this? What inspired it?

Martha Frances Williams: It was a combination. So, to be fair, I was getting ready to get married and I was like I know I just wanna be celebrating my wedding and my honeymoon and I just wanna take a little break.  But I also didn’t wanna feel the pressures, personally, as a filmmaker that I don’t have anything active working on. So, I wanna make a project, and then I also was feeling conflicted as well.

What does it mean to be successful? How do you get ahead? How do you have balance? You know, how do you keep that spark and that fun and that play in what you’re doing? Especially when you’re supposedly doing something that you love so much.

Absolutely.

Martha Frances Williams: And that’s the thing, you know, she has this company and she’s doing these things that she loves, but you kind of, you burn out. You get to the point where you’re like wow, success is hard to achieve and um,

Yeah, definitely, I mean it starts with her still at the computer at what, three in the morning? And I’m like awe, she needs to go to sleep! So yeah, I completely understand.

Alessia Gatti: Yeah, and we all have those nights.

Yeah, I mean you two filmmakers have to be up at all hours of the night.  So, did you always see yourself in the role?

Martha Frances Williams: Yeah, I think for me, I wanted to write it as a piece for me. I think it was a thing where I was like I just wanna make something beforehand. Yeah, it was just things that I was struggling with and it just made sense for me to play that role.

Yeah. And what drew you to the project? What made you want to direct it?

Alessia Gatti: Well, first of all, I like to work with Martha Frances. We did another short film before and I know her from other projects as well previous to this one. And I just thought the script was very subtle, so there was a lot to play with visually and in telling this story because this story is like an open book so I can really play with objects. And I really love when I’m left with a lot of freedom in a script so that I can make my own film. The shooting was a very quick project to do, you know, we shot it in one day, everything went smooth, no problems at all. It was fun.

Martha Frances Williams: But I think that was part of it, too. That’s why I really like working with Alessia.  It’s that it’s something where I trust her so much to get that kind of raw – I mean also with acting as well – she’s really gonna be like “You’re lying. This is not honest. You need to go there, I know you can.” And so that’s what I really love about Alessia.  She’s able to look at me and have that kind of communication in a matter of seconds. And I trust her so much, her vision and what she’s doing, and it’s such a relief when I get to really hand over a project to somebody and have them film it and I don’t have to worry about it.

That’s awesome.  So, do you guys have projects for the future together that you’re working on?

Martha Frances Williams: I think that we’ll end up working together again soon. I also have a job at IFP, the Independent Filmmaker Project, and I’m working on my first feature film so that’s going to take time writing it. So, it’s messy and it’s complicated and it’s fun and I’m figuring all of that stuff out. But I think, I don’t know, I mean we work together on the Greenwich Village Film Festival, which Alessia founded.

Alessia Gatti: I’m a co-founder and president –

Martha Frances Williams: So, she has been kind to kind of bring me in and I help –

Alessia Gatti: Yeah, we’re gonna work on that for sure this year.

Martha Frances Williams: Yeah.

That was gonna be my next question.

Martha Frances Williams: Yeah, so we’re kind of, even if it’s not, you know, directing something that I’ve written, we’re working together.

Alessia Gatti: And I as well, I’m working on my feature. My goal is to have this thing locked by the end of this year, I’m very excited about that.

Is it in Italian?

Alessia Gatti: No, it’s an American movie in English. And it’s going to here in New York City very briefly and then in the jungle.

Oh, wow! That’s so cool. So, the Greenwich Film Festival is only a few years old, how did you end up starting that?

Alessia Gatti: The Greenwich Film Festival was an idea me and my friend and co-founder Antonio had. We love the village so much, we were there all the time and he lives there, and we were like “Why is there not a film festival here?” I mean, the village is so beautiful. They shoot here every day because everyone shoots in the village. And we were just like “let’s make a film festival!”

And that’s how it started, and we did make a film festival.  The first year, we were one night only at the Players Theater in Mcdougal. We got so much love. And I have big, big news that I can share from yesterday, this year we’re going to be at the IFC Center.

That’s fantastic!

Alessia Gatti: It’s a fantastic, major, major thing for us. So, that’s very exciting.

That’s amazing! So, when is the festival this year?

Alessia Gatti: The festival is every year in the last week of October, usually it’s in the week before Halloween.

And you guys have opened submissions now?

Alessia Gatti: Yes, we opened March 1^st. And we’re short films only.

Short films only, good to know. How many films did you get last year?

Alessia Gatti: Last year we screened probably 35. Last year was four nights, but we only screened 8-10 films per night. This year it will be three nights because we are at the IFC Center, so we have to compress. Last year we received over 100 films.

That’s fantastic. Well, congratulations, and I hope I see you guys again soon. I loved Oatmeal, it was really, really sweet. Thank you, guys, so much!

Alessia Gatti and Martha Frances Williams: Thank you!

Film Inquiry thanks Alessia Gatti and Martha Frances Williams for taking the time to talk with us!