Arabella Burfitt-Dons joins us on Close-Up Culture to talk about her directorial debut, Grey Matter.
Starring Stephanie Beacham and Eloise Smyth, this original coming-of-age story examines the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on a family and the challenges of teenage depression. The film will have its European premiere at London Film Week next Sunday (10th December).
Grey Matter is your directorial debut. What drew you to this story and made you want to direct it?
I took a long time looking for the right project for my debut. I wanted to make a film that I really cared about, that touched on something important and was perhaps underrepresented in film. Telling a female-led story was also something I wouldn’t compromise on, and then I came across Grey Matter. The film is written by Elizabeth Hrib, a military nurse who was working on dementia wards in the pandemic. The unique experience she drew from brought a real magic to the script and I really connected with the characters and story straight away. I immediately had a vision for it and was making it in my head before I’d finished reading the last page.
The film explores the impact Alzheimer’s disease has on a family, as well as the topic of teenage depression. Can you talk about handling these two big topics in the film?
It was a tricky balance handling both but it’s one of the things I really loved about the script. The film doesn’t just look at Alzheimer’s, it explores mental health within a family. One in four adults suffer from a mental illness so it’s very realistic that multiple members of a family would be suffering from a mental illness. I liked that the story is quite a true representation of real life in that way.
What was your experience working with Stephanie Beacham and Eloise Smyth?
Stephanie and Eloise formed an instant bond from our first table read when they met in person and it just grew and grew from there. It was beautiful to watch and see it translate onto the screen. They were fantastic to work with – they really brought both professionalism and fun into every scene. I would let them improvise and play out scenes in rehearsals before shooting in moments which I felt were right and I could just always tell they were having a great time together which was really a joy to work with. In a script like this, the chemistry is so important and fortunately they really had it the whole way through.
What were the biggest challenges you faced making Grey Matter?
We filmed during covid and due to the illness had to throw our schedule totally up in the air. Originally I wanted to shoot the film as chronologically as possible but it couldn’t have ended up being further from it. Splitting scenes and jumping from start to finish one scene to the next.
And what will be your fondest memory from working on Grey Matter?
I think it has to be filming one of the mobility scooter scenes with Eloise and Stephanie at the beach. At one point Stephanie was driving it and I called ‘cut’ and she kept driving off into the distance – I ran after her thinking oops maybe Beacham’s had enough. No… she was just having way too much fun!
What is your biggest takeaway from directing your first film?
No matter how much you prepare for a film, shot list, figure out exactly how a scene will play out, how it should look and cut together – you need to be prepared to totally throw it all out and start again. You have to adapt and mould the film as you shoot and let go of previous plans that no longer fit the movie that starts to form as you film. I think preparation is absolutely essential and sometimes it works out exactly as you have in your head but the character performances are key and making sure you allow the room for your actor’s to bring that I think is the most important thing. Trying not to cling onto old ideas and staying present with the film and characters you create as you go was my biggest takeaway. Magic happens in the moment and you need to allow room for that to happen which sometimes means deviating from your plan and thinking up a new one on the spot.
What impact do you hope the film has on audiences?
I hope it sparks more conversations around mental health. In particular, opens some people’s eyes to teenage depression and how confusing it can be to experience at that age, and that it shouldn’t be dismissed as teenage angst. I hope it sparks conversations around Alzheimer’s and raises awareness of the disease particularly with younger people, but most importantly I hope it touches and entertains people and leaves audiences with a sense of hope.
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