Aimée-Lee Xu Hsien Curran

What were your main inspirations?

Lâle: "I recently had the chance to work with a good friend of mine, Matilda Brown and her dad Bryan Brown on a series Matilda wrote called ‘Lessons From The Grave’. She cast Bryan in the role as her Dad and it was so beautiful to watch them acting off one another as father and daughter both in real life and as fictional characters. I wanted to have that experience myself with my own mother, who is also a wonderful actress."

Is the story autobiographical in any way?

Lâle: "Yes it is. I believe the best stories you have to tell come from within yourself, because they are unique and truthful."

What makes the story special?

Aimée-Lee: "Well not only is the script based on real events, but the mother and daughter characters are being played by the real people. It will be very magical to see how the reality of their situation and their memories of it entangle with fiction and storytelling."

Aimée-Lee, what most drew you to the opportunity to direct?

Aimée-Lee: "Initially just the fact that Lâle had written it was enough to draw me to the project. After reading the script I was struck by just how different the style was to anything I would write myself. My films are quite dialogue driven, whereas these characters tend to speak without saying anything. I’ve never directed anything I didn’t write, so the learning experience alone was something I didn’t want to pass up. More importantly, this is a very special and personal story to Lâle, and I was honoured she trusted me enough to ask me to direct it."  

So how exactly does it feel preparing to direct a film written by another?

Aimée-Lee: "I am often very disappointed that Australian film and television is so 'white', and yet we live in an enormous melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities! If there are non-white faces on screen they are usually playing drug dealers, immigrants or some kind of 'spiritual' character. I try to cast people from different racial backgrounds in all of my films, without exploiting it as some kind of unique character trait. I was lucky enough to work with Hunter on a feature film called 'Around the Block', also starring Christina Ricci and one of my favourite Australian actors, Jack Thompson.Hunter is a joy to work with and a rising talent so I was naturally drawn to him."