Meet the Dynamic Female Filmmaking Duo Behind Award-Winning Indie Film 'The Planters'
It might not be known on a worldwide scale quite yet, but filmmakers Alexandra Kotcheff and Hannah Leder are powerful forces to be reckoned with. The filmmaking pair directed, wrote and starred in their recent film The Planters (which swept the awards at this yearโs Austin Film Festival).
The film itself is a dark comedy centered around Martha Plant, an air conditioner salesperson who lives a solitary existence planting buried treasure in the desert when she takes in and forms an unlikely friendship with Sadiโ and all of her multiple personalities. Recently, Kotcheff and Leder were asked, โWhat changes when a woman sits in the directors chair?โ And having had two directors in the case of The Planters, they answered: โWe want to live in a world where people from all backgrounds, all genders and all identities are able to freely share and express their art. Every time a woman sits in the directorโs chair, we get one step closer to a more honest representation of the society and culture in which we live.โ
We were proud to be a partner and support a few of The Planters screenings the Austin Film Festivalโand we were lucky enough to interview the duo about the film, their history working together and their creative insight.
This Q&A was conducted by BBATX communications assistant Margeaux Labat and is answered by Kotcheff and Leder as a pair.
You two single-handedly wrote, directed, starred in , and crewed this film, and were pretty much in charge of all aspects of the filmโs production. was taking on the feat that was making the planters all by yourselves a deliberate choice? or something that just happened to be the way things turned out?
Making The Planters without an on-set crew was always how we intended to shoot. It was a wild-hair idea that also came with the peculiar and truly delusional belief that we could shoot the entire film in six weeks. We ended up clocking a total of 127 shooting days.
You two met when you were 8 years old, and made your first film together when you were only 12 years old! would you mind describing your early collaborative film projects together?
Our first film was about a suicidal pre-teen who was grieving the recent death of her parentsโฆ not unlike Alexandraโs character in The Planters. It was all parts emo. The next short was about a very intoxicated fortune teller. Though only one was intended to be funny, both are a riot and star Alexandra.
What was the most challenging aspect of making the planters?
It was a test of endurance we hadnโt anticipated. We signed up for a six-week sprint and ended up doing a two-year marathon.
If you could, what advice (or warnings) would you give yourselves before making the film?
Despite how youโre feeling right now (exhausted, over-heated, like you want to give up, etc.), there will come a time when you would do anything just to go back to experience the pure joy of being able to create with your best friend all alone in the desert again.
Can you tell us anything about your next film project, Peachville?
Itโs a dark comedy about a bipolar Korean mother who takes her adult care-taking daughter to the tiny, quirky town of Peachville to open a nail salon. When a mining company threatens to take over, the mother-daughter team become integral in the fight to save the town. Peachville was a finalist for the 2016 Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab.
What advice would you give to aspiring women filmmakers that wish to make films with perhaps a limited crew, training or resources?
For better or worse, we live in a time where access to all kinds of information is just click away. Use this and see where you can fill in the pieces yourself. We couldnโt afford to hire an editor so Hannah had a couple hours with an editor to pick his brain about Avid and then got online and taught herself the rest. Also, find people you admire and want to work with, and collaborate.
When and where else will audiences be able to see The Planters? Will it be in theaters anytime soon?
We are having our Los Angeles premiere this month at AFI Fest and weโre currently looking for the best distribution fit. In the meantime, you can keep tabs on our whereabouts on theplantersfilm.com and our joint Instagram account (@lederkotcheff๏ปฟ).