Celine Sciamma interview about Water Lilies

Alternative Film Guide has posted a question and answer interview with Celine Sciamma, the writer/director of Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres). I usually would not do a post of this nature but since I thought Water Lilies was well executed, I decided to go ahead. An excerpt from the Q & A session:

What was your inspiration for Water Lilies? I wanted to give a female perspective about the rise of desire and love. Even before I had the storyline, I knew that I wanted to depict what I like to call “the difficult job of being a girl.” Cinema has been talking about women for a century now, but mostly men have[been doing that talking]. I asked myself the question of the specific look and knowledge I, as a director and a woman, could have and convey on the subject. I wanted to go against the folklore of teenage girl’s in cotton underwear and their mysteries. I wanted the film to be an answer to that undying tradition of fascination. Water Lilies goes in the locker rooms of girls, but not to fantasize – to see the crude reality.

The remainder of the interview can be found here.

Source: Alternative Film Guide

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