Interview With Camille Hollett-French, Star, Writer & Director Of HER STORY (IN THREE PARTS)

Camille Hollett-French is an actress, writer and director whose recent undertaking Her Story (in three parts) delivers an intimate take on some of the hard decisions women have to make and endure, and a powerful look at sexuality and expression. As the star, she’s equally impressive in front of the camera as behind, and it’s a trio that is ultimately moving and important. I was able to speak with her about the creation of these short films, her background and the inspirations that drive her.

Kristy Strouse for Film Inquiry: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. I was able to watch Her Story (in three parts) and I loved it. I thought the stories were very incredible, difficult at times, but very moving. You starred in, wrote and directed the films. Can you tell us about how you came up with these stories?

Camille Hollett-French: I suppose the impetus was an idea for another short film, one that I didn’t even write and that I’m not even interested in at this point! But it was important for the process, and for me, to have gone through the motions of that first idea that wouldn’t work to get to that idea that would. Then three separate stories started to develop until they started to form around each other in a very quiet, subtle way.

Of the three though, it was No. 2: Hush Little Baby that came first. And it was a simple moment in the middle of the night. I couldn’t sleep, and I was thinking, thinking, thinking, as it happens when I can’t shut my brain off at the end of the day, then boom! I saw this man wearing an orange jumpsuit and a younger woman sitting across from him and there was a glass between then and they were both holding receivers to their ears—and they weren’t saying anything, but there was such sadness and hope and betrayal—the full gamut of human emotion—in their eyes and most importantly, in their silence. And I felt so much in just one instant. And I thought, “Whoa. This is the story.”

Can you take us through the process/journey with Her Story, from fruition to showing these in festivals?

Camille Hollett-French: I met a guest to came into a restaurant I was working at. He seemed nuts, in a harmless, mostly entertaining way. Then I started to wonder if he were so nuts that he was actually the only one in the room who truly knew what was going on. A story developed from that, I ditched it, then somehow the three stories sprung up from that and started to meld together. (It seems unrelated I know, but if I explained how it was related we’d be here a long time!)

I started telling my partner about the three. One day he said, “Ok, you have the next three days off, you’re sitting on the couch and not moving and you’re putting down the first draft.” I did, then I started chasing deadlines for grants, funding, script competitions, and so on, and as each submission went out, the scripts went through new drafts. They got better and stronger. Then in the Spring of 2017, something hit and I was accepted into the YEAA Shorts program in Toronto. After we produced that we said ok we have to keep moving. If the bank gives us money, we’re going to make No. 3 on Montreal. When I was back in Vancouver visiting Paul we went into our bank and by some miracle they gave us a loan, so we thought, “Ok, I guess we’re making the next one.”

After we shot thought I moved back to Vancouver to finally be home for a long stretch with Paul and we said, “Ok, now or never, we gotta’ keep going with No. 1.” So we sold our condo in Toronto to fund No. 1. We knew momentum would have a lot to do with it. We put our heads down and worked and didn’t come back up until we were in the clear. We gave it every ounce.

You’re tremendous in these shorts, very raw and emotional. Each character has their own voice and heartache, and you capture those very well. Were these roles challenging at all, given the subject matter?

Camille Hollett-French: They were and they weren’t. As an actor, these types of roles were always what I craved. so from the technical acting standpoint, it wasn’t “hard,” especially because I had been with each character since conception, so I was granted that time to be with them just by the nature of my involvement as a writer. But for No. 3 especially. It was difficult emotionally afterward. I was in a city I hadn’t live in, in a long time, and when production was over and my cast and crew from out of town went home, all of a sudden, I was alone.

I had been such an open, raw nerve for the shoot and had really pushed my own boundaries emotionally, so it took some time to come down from that. It was lonely and painful but then you do your best to take care of yourself and remember the reasons you walked into it in the first place and eventually you heal.

Did you always want to make/act in films?

Camille Hollett-French: Oh yeah. I’ve loved movies from the time I was very young so they’ve always been a part of me. And art was always a part of me. I always wanted to be an actor. I didn’t realize I was a directly until recently though, when I realized that when I thought back, I saw all my memories through a lens—I look at the world through a lens.

What was your training like?

Camille Hollett-French: Theatre school, (getting kicked out of theatre school,) countless acting workshops, years of practice with different visual arts, musical training. I have a diploma in journalism. For most actors, it’s just a lifetime of constant training in all kinds of arts fields. Constantly looking and trying, constantly exploring.

How would you describe the three shorts for someone who hasn’t seen them?

Camille Hollett-French: It’s a film series of three shorts that share the theme of shame from elements of sexuality and the isolation felt from them. It’s an intimate look into the human experience. These three stories are very compelling, and each have their own stylistic choices. Were you going for a certain look/feel? Oh yeah for sure. This was an opportunity, my opportunity to explore as a filmmaker so I really did focus on being honest with myself and trying my best to push my own boundaries. I wasn’t looking to develop a style per say. I was looking to discover the possibilities. I knew that each story required a different aesthetic to tell it accurately, so I went in knowing each would be very different from the others.

Something else I loved were the musical choices in A Simple Act and In the Absence of Angels. Was it difficult to find the perfect songs, or did you have some in mind?

Camille Hollett-French:  Thank you! I love the music too! I sought out mostly independent artists. It was really important for me to to at least look as hard as I could for artists from each province, BC, Ontario and Quebec. I wanted the project to be an opportunity for other like-minded artists. I wanted it to be a collaboration in ways. I found Cindy Doire (“Spill Me Down the River” from A Simple Act and “Danse” and “Intro” from In the Absence of Angels) on Spotify. She’s from Timmins, Ontario but has lived in Montreal. I was just walking home from the gym one day and I heard “Danse” and thought, “Who is this! This song is insane!”

I found K8A (“Crush It” from In the Absence of Angels) on Instagram randomly. She’s from Montreal. The amazing Portishead was incredible and licensed us the famous Glory Box for the cover done by awesome Vancouver band Raincity Blue. And City James (“Fearrari”) is a good friend of Abanoub Andraous (Ricky in In the Absence of Angels) and he’s from LA. I was just super fortunate to luck out with a music.

Do you have any writers/directors who you admire?

Camille Hollett-French:  Oh man. Danny Boyle, Aaron Sorkin, Steven Soderbergh, Lars von Trier, Penny Marshall, Jim from the Office—I mean, John Krasinski. Definitely Mindy Kaling. Christopher Nolan. Two of my faves—the Duplass Brothers. The list goes on much longer.

Many of those are my favorites too. What are some of your favorite films? Any particular ones from 2018 that stood out to you?

Camille Hollett-French:  Oh man. The Matrix. Jurassic Park. La La Land. And Moonlight! Ah! 28 Days Later. Monsters. Signs. The Village. The Notebook. Shindler’s List. Hook. What Dreams May Come. In Dreams. Water World. Tank Girl. A League of Their Own. Arrival. Interstellar. Center Stage. Sex and the City. Gladiator. Nymphomaniac: Vol. I. Blue Is the Warmest Colour. Titanic. Hocus Pocus. Fight Club. Sideways. Barney’s Version. Blue Valentine. Wedding Crashers. Mean Girls. Vanilla Sky. El secreto de sus ojos. Train to Busan. Battle Royale. Kill Bill: Vol. I. — It’s a bit of an eclectic mix. My favourite film of 2018 may have been Can you Ever Forgive Me. Jury’s still out on that one.

All great choices! What is coming up next for you?

Camille Hollett-French:  I’ve got a couple cool acting gigs for TV shows airing this year later this year. I’m working on shooting two shorts: one called Les Belles Couleurs about four little girls in suburban Quebec and the damage done by society’s sexualization of young people. The other is called Another Tuesday and it’s about a mother’s grief after having lost her son.

I’d like to make those while I work on the script for my first my feature. It’s a psychological thriller about a black man who grew up in rural Canada in the 50s. He’s been diagnosed with both schizophrenia and multiple personality disorder, which is extremely rare but definitely possible, and we follow his story with three distinct times in his life— his early childhood as he’s raised by his white single mother, during a camping trip in his early-20s when his conditions starts to surface and in his 30s after he’s been committed to a psychiatric hospital. It’s an honest take on what we consider mental illness and the horrors of it told from the perspective of a person actually living through it, rather than from an outsider’s point of view, where it’s much easier for us to demonize and demean. I like that one. I hope it works out sooner rather than later.

Keep writing. Keep making movies.

We want to thank Camille Hollett-French for sharing with us.