Brooklyn Filmmaker Julia Cavagna Talks Her Direction, Writing and Production of Malala

Hello, I am Julia Cavagna and I am Las Pibas Theatre Company’s founder. I chose a living room as THE space to intertwine the concepts of waiting, hope, loneliness, anxiety and indecision and created a bittersweet narrative about time and its lineal and unstoppable force through an experimental drama/physical Theatre piece called MALALA.

Because this is a low-budget indie story I used many “hats’ ‘ and one of them was the actress one, so I played the three characters.  I shared what I rehearsed and the storyline with Komiko Paul who was the co-writer and Hugo Perez who was behind the camera and in charge of editing.  And the three of us co-directed the project. For the original score I choose, once again, Estelle Banjou’s sensitivity. The design was done by Lucia Cavagna and Agustín Grasso helped as crew members.

indieactivity: What is your experience working on the story, the screenplay, the production, premiere and the marketing?
Julia Cavagna (FL): This was a very interesting roller-coaster. I am a theatre maker so when I worked in the story that was “same old same old” but not in a boring way. I know how to do that and I love it. Then for the screenplay Komiko was a key part of it and being able to share my thoughts and images I developed with another artist was super helpful.

Watch the trailer for MALALA co-directed, co-written and co-producer by Julia Cavagna

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We get along very well so the process was easy and the cherry over the cake was Hugo who listened to us and what we wanted and played around to make it possible. I produced O.Y.A. and Prácticas Materiales before so, because it’s the third time, it’s getting easier. The premiere and marketing it’s completely different from film to theatre and I am happily playing by ear and giving advice. Hugo was very supportive and, because it is a World Premiere in a festival also, I learn from the other filmmakers who have more experience.

How did you put the crew and cast together? Did you start writing with a known cast?
Julia Cavagna (FL): That was, ok…because of this “wonderful” pandemic that we are all going through I needed to sharpen my pencil and my brain. Who is in the city? Who, as me, is in need to do something collectively? Even if is from far away. I made a first list of people and then without gilt I took my final decision. In another moment I would do, with the same space, theme and objects, something completely different but here we were.

I´ve been collaborating with Hugo for almost a year, Komiko used to be my very dear co-worker (we lost that one because of COVID-19), I worked with Estelle in another project and my sister, who is the graphic designer, does it in every one of my projects. To be honest I don’t write, I work with movement and as I knew I couldn’t call another performer I created the piece thinking in my range as a performer. The cast was just me playing three different characters, which was a very challenging and rewarding experience as an actress.

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What and how long did it take to complete the script?
Julia Cavagna (FL): From the moment that I started recording myself, taking notes and rehearsing each character until my first meeting with Komiko it took two months. Initially it was a lot of solo work but as soon as I reached out to Komiko it was 100% team effort.

When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
Julia Cavagna (FL): Las Pibas Theatre Company was born in 2018 and I think the reason for its birth has different aspects. I am a visa holder and I used to be part of the theatre scene as a doer but at some point, it wasn´t enough for me. I worked in many productions in a collaborative way, giving out ideas and concepts and I needed to try them out by myself, as a director. Pato Masera, an actress and theatre maker from Paraguay, reached out to me with an idea that she had in mind and I took the chance and we created the first Las Pibas Theatre Company’s project O.Y.A. (Obligation You Are) a site-specific play that we performed in different houses and at El Bastión in Puerto Rico.

During the film production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot? And why?
Julia Cavagna (FL): When the main character slides into the bookshelf and the whole Intro. The choreographies of both scenes weren’t easy to capture because they are very theatrical and I wasn’t interested in using film effects.  I had the determination of doing everything with our bodies and making them both attractive to the camera and effective from a theatre perspective was very challenging. For example, at the beginning you can see a table upside down floating into space, I am under the table lifting it up and making it move. Even when it is a film, I come from Physical Theatre and I like that kind of magic that we can do, I took a lot of care of those moments in the film.

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What worked better in this latest production that mightn’t have worked so well in the last one you did?
Julia Cavagna (FL): After seeing the first cut I realized that the shadows were very beautiful, almost hypnotic so I changed a whole scene to add more of that quality into the film.

You must have donned several hats on this film, the measure of your input required intellect, effort, tenacity, skill (…you know better). What did it take you to put out all these qualities to get the film done?
Julia Cavagna (FL): It took me a lot of mental, physical and emotional energy. I lost weight during the process, I found myself completely focused for 25 days. Also, emotionally it was a lot. I miss my playfield and all the people I used to collaborate with but, after a year, I needed to do something again. Giving up for a minute and accepting that for now I can do film, not theatre. Initially the camera was a threat now it is an ally until theatres reopen.

Where do you think your strengths lie as a producer?
Julia Cavagna (FL): I can doubt for years about something but when I know what I need I am like an arrow. I became very good at managing wills; we all came from different fields but this was our project so let’s do it great and in good spirits.

Let’s talk about finance. How did you finance the film?
FL: From my beautiful pocket. I found the bookshelf on the street; I cleaned it up and moved it into my living room. The rest of the props are part of the house and I’m very fond of using everyday elements in creative ways.  It makes you exercise your imagination.

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How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?
FL: Not even a penny. I couldn’t afford that luxury.

How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make a dent without it nowadays?
FL: Marketing it’s very important, of course. Millions of artists are doing things all the time. I have a critical opinion about marketing and social media. I try to check on myself all the time if what I am posting is just ego driven or helps to promote the work. For instance, I decided to introduced every member of the project posting about them because I realized that they were investing so much but no one could see them. Word of mouth has definitely served us very well so far too.

What do you hope audiences will get from the presentation of your film?
FL: What I hope the most is for them getting into their own journey. I don´t care much about them understanding exactly what I wanted to say more than them feeling inside of an open dialogue where their senses get engaged. And after watching it some of the images and sensations keep bouncing inside of them for a while.

What else have you got in the works?
FL: I am revisiting a short piece that I did for an opera singer, aluminium foil and drums. I applied for a residency to keep developing the piece at JACK before the summer…let’s hope the best!

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