Francisca Alegría is Chilean filmmaker whose short film “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye” received the award for Best International Fiction Short Film at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and Best Latin American Short Film at Miami Film Festival. It was also selected for screening at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival as well as New York Film Festival. “The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future” marks her feature debut.
“The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future” is screening at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, which is running online from January 20-30. More information can be found on the fest’s website.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
FA: In a world where animals sing before they die, a mysterious woman returns from the dead in order to reconnect with her family and eventually heal the rift with her daughter.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
FA: Some images started to come to me suddenly, all framed in the world of my childhood: the farm of my grandparents. The first one was a skull of a speaking cow, which evolved over the years into a singing cow.
The scenes that surround these images were inspired by experiences I had as an infant. Some of these experiences took on a new dimension. All characters are based on me and my family.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
FA: I really want them all to connect in whatever way is non-intellectual. FeelIt’s like connecting. My hope is that they find in my work a space for releasing any preconceived ideas of life and death, and just melt into what’s on screen.
I hope they get out of the film filled with emotions and sensations they can’t explain with words. That’s a big hope, I think — but this is what I am interested in at the moment.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
FA: There were many. One of them was time. The level of ambition of the project wasn’t proportional to the amount of time we could afford.
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Let us know how you got the film produced.
FA: The combined government funding for Chile, France and Germany. We received private investment from the U.S. It was a multi-national production effort that took many decades to achieve. We also had to be flexible in our approach to combine different funding sources.
Our film also received resources from great institutions like Sundance and Women Make Movies, as well the support of film markets such CineMart (Rotterdam Film Festival), Netherlands Film Festival, among others. This was vital for us to secure funding.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
FA: When I was a child, I imagined that I would be an artist. I loved drawing and was drawn by visually appealing images. At 13 years old, I started filming short films with my sister, cousins, and grandpa. There was us, our adventures, and a simple camera that I controlled because I knew exactly where to place it. I was unaware of what it meant to be the director of these experiments. When I was old enough for me to make a decision about my life, I realized that it was a combination of these two passions: art and the freedom I felt at those mountains.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
FA: Best advice: As a director, when you are on set and someone asks you a question about anything that falls under the directing area, you are allowed to say “I don’t know, but give me a moment to figure it out.” Before this advice I was afraid to “not know” — I thought directors should always have the instant right answer to everything all the time. I’ve learned to trust myself, trust my knowledge, and trust the fact that answers will show themselves if you’re truly in the present moment.
Worst advice: It’s hard to say. I think I might be able to remove bad advice from my life.
W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?
FA: To trust their instincts in all aspects of the creative process. It’s so hard to put into words certain “calls” or “sensations” that we feel, which for others don’t make sense right away. It’s hard because we have this systematic way of communicating verbally, where we need to respond to input or questions on the spot, without taking the time to “feel” first.
I want to rebel against this method of communicating and to normalize the need for time to process and de-codify intuitive language before it is needed to be translated to another person.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
FA: “Meshes of the Afternoon” by Maya Deren. It’s a rare, exquisite cinematic jewel. It’s an original psychological piece with an absurd amount of complex surreal and aesthetic achievements for the time, and all in such a short span of time.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you creative? If so, how?
FA: It hasn’t been all smooth, you know, but I’m working more than ever. I’m lucky to have the space and opportunities to stay creative. The first year I dove into self-work — therapy, ancestry healing work, etc. — and creative storytelling workshops. It was a year spent digging and learning how to deal with my darker side.
The second year was the first year that I began to write a TV show together with my life partner and creative partner. In the third year, I made Chile my first feature.
I believe that one of the key factors in keeping me creative was to deal honestly with my own shit.
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color on screen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What steps do you believe are necessary to make the industry more inclusive?
FA: Be consistent and inclusive in all aspects of the process. If you say you’re making an inclusive film or show, then start by yourself first, then your team, and everyone you hire to be behind the camera and then think of who will be on screen. These decisions are not abstract or aesthetic. Get involved. Get involved HowYour film or show will be made.
Source: Women And Hollywood
