Directed by Tony Hipwell
Produced by Tony Hipwell & Max Gee
Screenplay adapted by Max Gee
Based on the short story by Yasutaka Tsutsui
Standing Woman is a dystopian drama with flourishes of body horror that depicts a near future where an authoritarian government turns those it deems to be criminals into trees as part of an insidious environmental campaign. Under this green dictatorship, a propaganda filmmaker wrestling with the recent ‘planting’ of his wife for making seditious comments, embarks on an emotional journey to say a final goodbye. Featuring incredible depictions of a populace being slowly vegetised by a production team who have worked on the likes of Censor, Doctor Who, and Peaky Blinders, the vision presented in Standing Woman is of a world that has edged into eco-fascism.
ABOUT THE FILM
Standing Woman is based on a short story from internationally acclaimed author Yasutaka Tsutsui. The short film screened in competition at Leeds International Film Festival 2021 as well as playing at Frightfest, Fantasia, Filmquest, and Hollyshorts just to name a few. It was released online on ALTER.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Tony Hipwell is a multi-award-winning filmmaker whose work has screened at Academy Award, Canadian Screen Award, BAFTA and BIFA qualifying festivals such as HollyShorts, Fantasia and the sadly departed Edinburgh Film Festival.
Their debut feature, Whoops! premiered at Raindance and made the Top Ten picks of 2013. It was also the only British film selected for the nationwide Raindance Tour the following year. Since then, Tony has developed projects with the BBC and Searchlight Pictures, worked as the Video Producer for Young Thugs Records in association with EMI and been selected for the inaugural Future of Film Incubator.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH TONY
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
I’m a writer/director based in Yorkshire and have been making films for nearly 20 years, usually in the horror genre. I always wanted to be a filmmaker but got heavily pushed away from that career path as a kid and found myself miserable in a law degree as a result. Eventually I thought screw it and decided to follow my dreams and moved to York to go to film school. I’ve not looked back since. I’ve made a little bit of everything including two features. I love the indomitable spirt of indie filmmaking; the can-do attitude, the sense of community and the sheer fun of making something happen at a grass roots level.
Tell us about the genesis of Standing Woman and the genesis of the project?
A friend of mine, Max Gee, came across the original short story and adapted it as a short screenplay for fun and shared it with me. I was immediately transfixed by the dystopian world it presented that was both incredibly benign and spectacularly cruel. I was convinced we could translate the script to screen and thankfully, Max agreed with my ambition.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Standing Woman and how did you overcome them?
There were many obstacles for making the film. The first one was just getting the rights. The author of the short story, Yasutaka Tsutsui is incredibly well regarded and there was really no reason for him to trust his story with us, but Max moved oceans to make contact. We had a copy of the screenplay meticulously translated to Japanese for him to approve. Amazingly he approved the script, and we were given a window of time to produce it which we JUST made.
The next trick was getting the tree effects to work and that took a long time to develop and even led to us delaying the shoot by a year as we didn’t want to rush them. I also really wanted to have a very autumnal look for the film so had to wait out the seasons.
Casting was hard. We had a casting director at first, but they just couldn’t find what we were looking for. Max and I were adamant that one of the leads be played by someone Japanese so we weren’t white washing the source material, but we were repeatedly told there just weren’t any to cast in the UK or it would be too difficult. In the end I cast the film myself and found Yuriri who was phenomenal in the film.
Raising money was incredibly difficult as well. We went through the usual routes but got rejection after rejection. At one point we had to ask ourselves whether we should retire the project. But we had the rights and couldn’t let this world go so I got a loan to cover the costs. I don’t advise this, but sometimes you just have to see an idea through.
Can you chat about the process of creating the makeup and production design for the tree people?
The design phase was an exciting time. It was a collaboration between myself, the production designer Bethan King and make up designer Rachel Red. At first, we had designs which were a little too ‘magical’ for lack of a better description. They were beautiful but looked too much like something you might find in a Guillermo Del Toro film. This would seem a good idea, but we needed something more grounded. Bethan really pushed to go as real as possible and took casts of countless trees to develop individual looks for the different tree people. Each tree person or animal in the film is turning into a different kind of tree which gives them a real sense of individuality and personhood. We have the Oaks at the post office and Mari who is turning into a Cherry Blossom Tree. Even the dog is turning into a specific kind of shrub.
We thought at first there might be some digital work to enhance the trees but, in the end, it was all accomplished in camera and represented a seamless blend of production design and make up effects. Bethan also fabricated some full size tree builds which were incredible, including the final one for Mari at the end of the film.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. It appears you've had quite some success in the festival circuit with Standing Woman. with highlights including Frightfest, Fantasia, Filmquest, Hollyshorts, Leeds & more. Tips and tricks for other short filmmakers looking to crack the festival circuit?
The festival run for the film has been extremely gratifying. It felt like such a wild idea we wondered if audiences might think it was too outlandish, but I think the themes had become so much more current over the time we developed it that the bizarre premise only added to the subtext on climate change and authoritarianism.
I had mainly done comedy tinged work up to this point and this film represented a tonal shift for me as a filmmaker and so we were a little unsure of how to approach our festival run at first, especially as it straddles sci-fi and horror as well. We partnered with Festival Formula and they designed a fantastic strategy for us. I can definitely recommend them as they led us to some incredible festivals we would not have initially considered. From there we were able to build out the festival campaign ourselves as the longer you’re on one, the more you start to spot your running mates or become aware of other festivals that fit what you’re offering. This was especially important for ours as we locked more into the horror side of things as time went on as we recognised we were getting a stronger response, there.
That would be one of my key pieces of advice, to look for festivals that truly suit YOUR film. Don’t send to the top ten festivals in the world and hope for the best, actually research what kind of festival you want to be a part of and what kind of film they cater for. And with that in mind, actually GO to festivals. Being a part of that experience gives you such a stronger understanding of the process and leads to so many new collaborators. I’ve had a great time on the festival circuit, and it’s benefited me in many ways, but one of the most powerful has been in the friendship’s I’ve struck up with other filmmakers. It should never just be about your film.
Your online premiere was with Alter, correct? How did you find the online release of your film compared to your festival run?
The online release was great. We couldn’t have hoped for a better partner than Alter to launch as they are by the far the biggest platform for short form horror. It guaranteed an audience which was amazing but also nerve wracking as this would be the true litmus test for the film. Thankfully the response was largely positive. Most really responded to the body horror and the themes of the film and we got likened to Black Mirror which is high praise. I think some would prefer the film to be more gnarly with the gore but that wasn’t the story we were telling. It’s a quiet horror that is befalling the characters. If we went really out there it would break the reality as the general population in the film are meant to think this method of punishment via planting is more humane.
One thing that was really interesting is how you discover things you did not intend through other people’s eyes. I’ve been told the film has a humorous Edgar Wright vibe, which we weren’t going for at all! I think sometimes extreme or awful scenarios are reacted to with laughter as people don’t know how else to respond. I’ve also had others completely miss the point which is informative in other ways. We as filmmakers may believe our film is saying something very clearly, but we really cannot control the audience’s reaction to it. They own that.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
Don’t wait. I’ve had friends work on the same script for ten years and not do anything in the interim. Just make something, anything. It will keep you sharp. It’s very easy to fall into this trap of chasing perfection but you’ll learn more and increase your chances of making something closer to that ideal in your head if you’re actually making stuff. So stop thinking about it and just fucking do it.
This especially applies to features. I know so many directors who say they’re never making any more shorts then spend years chasing a feature. Make shorts while you’re waiting! It keeps you in the conversation and it keeps you current. They don’t have to be wildly ambitious but believe me, if that feature comes together, you’ll be glad you kept making things than if you hadn’t and you step on set for the first time in years for that feature.
And as for hacks, the audience only knows what it sees. You can play with that in so many ways. We couldn’t afford to make more than 2 tree sculptures but needed 3. So, to get around this we took one of the sculpts and slightly reshaped and redressed it to make our third. It worked perfectly.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
Money. More than anything right now it’s money. So many of us can make something as the tools have never been easier to come by, but when we need to go beyond that entry level and break through you need money. It is incredibly difficult and there are no easy answers to it. We’re all hustling.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
I’ve seen so many great shorts these past few years by some truly amazing filmmakers. There’s too many to count but here’s a few (and yes, of course they’re horror films).
O, Glory! – Charlie Edwards-Moss & Joe Williams
Bleep – Ben S. Hyland
Molar – Tiago Teixeria
Eric – David Yorke
Demon Box – Sean Wainsteim
Blank – Avishai Weinberger
Sucker – Alix Austin
The Heritage – Andrew Rutter