THE WHITE DRESS Directed By Vanessa Gildea

Indie Express: Tell us about your film?

Vanessa: ‘The White Dress’ is a short simple story about a forgotten person, a little girl making her first holy communion on her own. There’s no dialogue, it’s all visual, it’s a little girls silent world. Reading that back that sounds so depressing but I hope it’s not, it’s about her bravery, and no it’s not autobiographical!!

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

V: It’s based on a true story as told to me at a party by a teacher, who was working in inner city Dublin at the time. I was blown away, I couldn’t believe that we had suddenly gone from one of the poorest Countries in the world to one of the richest but yet the divide between rich and poor was wider than ever. We have some serious wealth in Ireland now but there aren’t any less homeless people, heroine addicts or neglected children than when we were poor – I wanted to investigate that idea a bit further. I wanted to say that what I saw disgusted me but in a subtler way… that’s how it happened.

IE: How did you assemble your production team?

V: The Producer was David Lawless and we had made a pact one night that we would produce a short for each other, he had a company too so that helped, that reminds me I owe him a short. I had worked very briefly with DoP Paddy Jordan on a short doc I directed and I liked his creative style, so I sent him the script and he jusy got it, and had loads of ideas that matched my own and so started one of the best, most collaborative relationships ever!!! Joking aside I think I will always work with him, he even came to Africa on a shoot with me. I was lucky to get a great sound recordist Tiffany Hodder and Production designer Benjamin Gough, through recommendations and can’t wait to work with them again. I got my boyfriend to do the music (free of course) and the co-producer Shirley sourced good people for me. I kept the crew small cos that’s how I like it… you’d have to see the film but it was shot kind of documentary style and the topic was sensitive so a small crew was best.

IE: How did you find your cast? 

V: I contacted good child actor workshops and auditioned. Rebecca who plays the little girl was the first girl I auditioned but I couldn’t let myself believe I’d found her, so I auditioned many others but went back to Rebecca, she made the film, her performance is what people comment on after they’ve seen it, she was a real find and had never acted in a film before.

Gerry Shanahan and Rory Mullen I found through The Attic Studio which is an amazing resource, my friend Dawn who’s a great actress did a bit for me, although I messed up her scene and I got some locals to be themselves & extras.

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

V: Almost one year – sounds mad doesn’t it for a 4 min short film?

I wrote it in August, applied for a funding scheme in September, heard I got the award at Christmas, started prep in March, shot in late April / May, posted in June, delivered in July.

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.

V: I wrote it in one day and never did a re-write, weird that’s never happened since!! This story just would not leave my head, the idea of this little girl on her own… the bravery. This is my first film so I was really scared, but having the support of the producers and the DoP Paddy, was the only way I could have done it. I suppose I knew what I wanted to achieve I just wasn’t so sure how to get it.

Myself and Paddy watched films together, films I liked, shorts I liked, we looked at the colours and tones and the camera movements, even though we didn’t copy what they did we used the sensibility of the films to create our own working style. The key for me is having a clear and strong vision, then pick great people to work with, find a way to explain what you want not just actually but tonally and emotionally, Be open to change / suggestions. Some of the best things about the film came from Paddy or other crew / cast members. They’re all professionals and creative people – in my book you’d be insane not to use their input sometimes. Trust is a bit thing I suppose.

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

V: Dealing with 30-40 extras in a church for the communion scene!!! We shot in some pretty rough but beautiful inner city locations so we had a lot of input from the locals, which was tough at the time but makes me smile now to think of it…

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?

V: We shot almost entirely on location in inner city Dublin, these areas are full of great characters. During a shot in the Liberties an elderly lady walked straight in to the action and started talking to me… she was so sweet and had lived there all her life, she was so into what we were doing so I asked her to be an extra in the film.

I also remember lots of laughter, so important in times of stress.

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far?

V: It’s been great, especially in Ireland. It screened at Foyle Film Festival & Belfast film festivals where it won first prize, Galway film fest where it came second, Kerry where it got a special mention and first prize at Geneva Film Festival, it also got nominated for an IFTA (Irish Film & TV awards) and myself, the producer and the DoP got all dressed up and attended the ceremony which was great craic, watching famous people  getting drunk!!

I got to go to New York and Madrid with the short and that was so much fun, the festivals flew me over, put me up and just treated me so well! I couldn’t believe it, I had a blast.

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

V: I’ve never been to L.A. and I won’t be going this time which is so disappointing, I would love to be going… it’s a long way from Dublin and very expensive, and everyone knows there’s no money in shorts!!!

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question? 

How was the dialogue afterwards?

V: I did a Q & A with some teenage girls in the Irish Film Institute in Dublin and they just had a million questions, which was brilliant. People always ask, is the film about you? And No it is not… My mother is mortified because people assume it’s autobiographical – I don’t know why!

It’s this sad story about a neglected girl, whereas I had the most glorious Communion day surrounded by family and friends, Mum if you’re reading I’m setting the record straight.

People often ask me ‘Where is the little girl now?’ and I don’t know I never met her, I only imagined her world based on some scant information.

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

V: How do you begin to answer this question??? Mike Leigh ‘Life is Sweet’, Ken Loach ‘Kes’, Lynne Ramsey, Paul Greengrass, Michael Winterbottom, Harminy Korine, John Huston ‘The Dead’, Woody Allen ‘Annie Hall’ and Albert Maysles.

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

V: I’m not a good writer or a very eloquent speaker but I am so fascinated by the art of storytelling. Visual storytelling is something that has always been appealing and couple that with the idea that maybe I could give it a go, what’s the worst that could happen?

 I also studied film in college as part of an Arts Degree. And I think watching strange and arty films on Channel 4 in my teens sowed some kind of seed of curiosity about the whole process…

 IE: What is next for you? 

V: I work as a producer also and just finished a 3 year project, a music documentary in Mali, West Africa and trying to get that film out there and seen, it’s called ‘Dambé – The Mali Project’. I’m also in prep with a new doc about an Irish revolutionary called Kathleen Lynn – which I’m loving.

I so desperately want to direct again, and I’d love to direct tons of shorts, I love the short format and I don’t just want to make shorts as a stepping stone to a feature, I want to make films in and of themselves, irregardless of length. As in the way short stories and novels are seen as separate formats and judged on their own merits… Long live the short film!!

IE: What is next for the film?

V: Well it’s nearly two years old and I fear coming to the end of its festival life, I have been really slack about applying to festivals and it could definitely have done a better journey around the world. It will get some TV broadcasts in Switzerland and Italy and keep touring a bit with a wonderful endeavor funded by the Irish Film Institute and Culture Ireland called ‘Reel Ireland’, where they organize for Irish films to screen at small, local and often obscure places around the world, towns that don’t necessarily have film festivals, I love that they’re bringing films to people in that way.

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

V: Don’t give up smoking just before the shoot. Seriously though, tell stories you’re passionate about and work with like minded creative people.

IE: What question would you like to be asked about your film? 

V: (Asked by Mike Leigh/ Ken Loach/Martin Scorcese)

‘Would you like to screen ’The White Dress’ with my next feature film in cinemas worldwide?

IE: What is the Answer to that question?

V: Me – ‘Yes please’