TEAT BEAT OF SEX Directed By Signe Baumane

Shane: Tell us about your film?

Signe: It is a take on sex exclusively from a woman’s point of view.

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

I like talking about sex, because it is on my mind a lot. Although I do it sometimes too, believe it or not. So, it seemed only natural

to make a film with me expressing my opinions on the subject and adding animated imaged to the voice over. 

Was this a school project?

 NO.

How did you find your cast? 

The cast was in my bed when I woke up and I recognized the talent right away when I looked in the mirror.

It is me, the cast. An easy find for me.

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

About 4 months, with interruptions.

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

 A very demanding sound designer who kept interrupting me in the heat of the recording. But don’t publish this because I like the

guy and want to work with him in future, just not on recording voices.

Everything after that was thoroughly enjoyable and fun.

Tell us about the films festival experience so far?

  It was amazing! The film went to Sundance and to zillions of other festivals. This is maybe my the most popular film

(and I have made 14 short films so far)

What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

Connection with an audience,

Contacts with other filmmakers,

And a high dream mad hope to meet a producer who’d sponsor my next project.

What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

“Teat Beat of Sex” is an ice breaker, indeed. I mean, people are embarrassed to talk about sex or hear someone to talk about it but when

one does it in fact of the matter manner  without shame or embarrassment, people follow the lead. I haven’t had a dull Q&A session so far.

The usual question is if the “Teat Beat” stories are personal and true.

If I have show the film to my Mom.

How long did it take.

How much did it cost.

If my boyfriend has a small Kirby dick.

Why I am so interested in sex.

YES I guess my favorite question is why am so interested in sex.

Do you want to hear the answers to those questions?

What films or filmmakers inspire you?

 Anything good inspires me.

But what influenced me in the beginning of my career was Easter European cartoonists (am from Latvia), thousands of fairy tales,

Svankmayer, Bill Plympton, “The Simpsons”

What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

 It was an accident. A chance. And I don’t see myself as a filmmaker, I see myself as a storyteller.

 What is next for you? 

Am working on a 12 min project “Birth” that I started in 2005, way before “Teat Beat Of Sex”.

It is about  a young woman (17) who is pregnant and afraid to give birth. Not your “Juno” story where the young woman sails through

her pregnancy without any fears or body malfunctions (obviously the one who wrote the script for “Juno” hasn’t been pregnant nor

ever delivered) (although I do like “Juno” but for different reasons)

What is next for the film?

I want to focus on my new film rather than keep sending “Teat Beat” out to festivals,
sending a film to festivals takes so much time and money and effort, that I would never make anything new if I did just that.

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

Make a short film, see if fail and make another one another one another one till you get it right.

One film is only one film. 14 films is a body of work.