Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Interview: ME & MY PEN*S (Short) [Dances With Films LA 2025 - Los Angeles, California - Virtual] - Part I - video Dailymotion

Fest Track

Director Claire Chubbuck talks to Fest Track about "cathartic realism," themes and genre  in regards to her short film: "Me & My Pen*s" playing the Midnight Shorts section at Dances With Films Los Angeles 2025 in Los Angeles, California.

Transcript

00:00For people that don't know,

00:28can you talk about the aspect of cathartic realism and using that as a

00:31style, both, you know, cause you teach, but you also,

00:34as a director,

00:35you embrace this in terms of what you're doing with a lot of your shorts and

00:40your creative elements, correct?

00:41Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

00:46Cathartic realism is,

00:49it's like a filmmaking method that's rooted in the Chubbick technique where

00:53actors are using their real life trauma to transform pain.

00:58And not just deliver emotionally truthful performances,

01:02but to reframe how they see their past experiences.

01:07Now taking that,

01:09cause obviously it wasn't how I lost my virginity was the first short.

01:14Is that correct?

01:15Yeah.

01:16It's the first short that we made in this style and we were really trying to

01:20figure out how making this film about this moment in her life was going to be

01:29helpful to her, right?

01:31Because we don't really need another story about a woman getting kidnapped and

01:36raped.

01:37But what we do need is,

01:40well,

01:41she needed to process this.

01:42And it was one of the most profound experiences of my life as well.

01:47But then to also put in your two cents about how it felt for you,

01:54because these common occurrences,

01:57whether they should be common or not,

01:59or not something I'm here to discuss.

02:01But I do know that many women feel differently about these experiences.

02:08And so through cathartic realism,

02:11you get to share what it felt like for you.

02:15And this is where the filmmaking process is essential.

02:19And it is,

02:20it's what genre it is helps inform this.

02:24It's the camera angles.

02:25It's the way it's,

02:26it's edited.

02:27It's the sound design.

02:28All of these are helping the person share what their experience was like

02:33while giving people a,

02:36a,

02:37the viewers,

02:38the people,

02:39uh,

02:40the audience who is receiving this,

02:41a version of like,

02:43like how they wish they had behaved in those moments.

02:47That's you.

02:52Yeah.

02:53Um,

02:54hi,

02:55I'm Jason.

02:56Hi Jason.

02:57Um,

02:58this is my first meeting.

03:00Thank you for having me.

03:02Um,

03:03I can tell by hearing everybody else's shares that,

03:05that I,

03:06I belong here.

03:08Then you have to select which ones you want to do,

03:10because obviously there's so many people with so many different kinds of

03:13stories and approaches.

03:15Um,

03:16for this short,

03:17why this one,

03:18why did this speak out?

03:20Uh,

03:21because obviously every film,

03:22you have to have a motivation to want to do it.

03:24Cause it's a lot of time.

03:25Could you talk about that?

03:26Obviously you have more in the works,

03:28but can you talk about having this short specifically?

03:31The one that's currently in dances with films.

03:34Correct.

03:35The one with the title that's tough to name on,

03:37on,

03:38on certain levels of broadcast.

03:39Correct.

03:40Uh,

03:41yes.

03:42Uh,

03:43I,

03:44and you knew this,

03:45you,

03:46you,

03:47that's part of it.

03:48Uh,

03:49it's going to be called Victor as,

03:51as its official title,

03:52which is the title of the name of the,

03:54uh,

03:55anthropomorphic character,

03:56but it is meant to catch attention and be memorable,

03:59the title,

04:00but we chose this.

04:02Yes.

04:03So I think that a very common theme in my work and my level of interest

04:09is about the gender divide.

04:11And I think that is mainly along the lines of sexuality,

04:16right?

04:17So I don't think enough women understand how awful it feels to have issues

04:25with your manhood in that moment.

04:29And it's why men can't speak about it or really relate to it.

04:33It's why the Viagra industry is,

04:37um,

04:38it,

04:39like there's commercials.

04:40They're all making money all over the place.

04:42Cause it's,

04:43it's an issue.

04:44And that,

04:45that's what intrigued me.

04:47And even like,

04:49I,

04:50you will see the costume.

04:51The costume is adorable,

04:52right?

04:53It's most adorable version of,

04:55uh,

04:56male anatomy that I was thinking I could create.

04:59And I wanted to do that so that it was not only a friendly version of this,

05:04but I know from my lived experience,

05:06I was having,

05:08I was sexually active long before I ever actually looked.

05:13Hmm.

05:14Ever actually looked.

05:16And there is a fear that many women have around the same issue.

05:21So if that's why that called to me as a filmmaker,

05:26I,

05:27um,

05:28I have an imaginary friend and,

05:30uh,

05:32his name's Victor.

05:34And he tells me what to do when I'm trying to be intimate with a woman.

05:37Well,

05:38it's interesting.

05:39I mean,

05:40but it's also finding the right tone.

05:41I mean,

05:42cause we're also talking about perspective,

05:44you know,

05:45perspective and perception.

05:46Um,

05:47but that rests in how the structure is,

05:50you know,

05:51obviously the humor here helps diffuse a bit,

05:53a bigger issue and an irony that the film is speaking to.

05:57Can you talk about tone,

05:59but also talk about finding sort of that,

06:02not necessarily balance,

06:03but finding that edge that you wanted to walk.

06:06Tone is something that I think genre helps dictate.

06:10Right.

06:11And genre is the framework under which we're understanding this truth,

06:16right?

06:17Like this could have easily also with the same narrative,

06:20been a horror story,

06:21right?

06:22Just different shots,

06:23different music,

06:24different things.

06:25But why it existed so well in the world of comedy is that genre is

06:31really about how we are unable as people to feel comfortable in

06:36society.

06:37Okay.

06:38That's my,

06:39that's the opinion I have of the genre and that's what that was really

06:41doing to him.

06:42So it was another layer of helping us tell the audience how it felt

06:48to be going through this.

06:50It felt like he was an outsider in societies.

06:53We didn't want to focus on the horrors of this particular issue

06:57happening.

06:58And there's also an element that this could have been more of a rom-com.

07:02It's a little bit of a rom-com.

07:03It could have been more of a drama,

07:05but it,

07:07it in the,

07:08in the genre is the release of the information.

07:14If that makes sense.

07:15And it comes down because I was reading sort of the tenants of

07:18cathartic realism.

07:19It's also that the ending can be changed for catharsis in certain

07:23ways.

07:24Could you talk a bit about that?

07:25Because it's interesting because stories have a beginning,

07:27a middle and an end,

07:28but it's also what you take away from it.

07:30So you're looking at his story.

07:33Yeah.

07:34And then interpreting it on your own perspective.

07:37How do you find where you want it to be?

07:40Did you find it in the edit?

07:41Did you have a really good inkling from the beginning about how it

07:45needed to proceed in that way?

07:46It was,

07:47it's always a conversation because part of the directorial vision and

07:51cathartic realism is helping the subject understand their truth in a

07:57different level,

07:59right?

08:00Of a different layer.

08:01So what I'm doing in this edit,

08:03or as I'm doing the shot list,

08:05and then I present these things to the subject,

08:08and then it becomes a conversation.

08:10And it's in that conversation that we are shedding light on the

08:14things that cause that person shame,

08:16because I'm saying, Hey, as an outsider,

08:20it felt like,

08:21it felt like you were being presumptuous that she was going to come

08:25over.

08:26You were going to take this medication.

08:27Like you had it all in the bag.

08:29And that he has the chance to say,

08:31no,

08:32that's not at all.

08:33What was happening.

08:34I wanted to make sure I was ready for anything.

08:36I was expecting nothing.

08:37And then that changed the tone of the music that from what I

08:41originally had so that the music told the love story that he

08:46was trying to portray in that moment that maybe wouldn't have

08:50been obvious to everyone who was in that room that night.

09:06I was just like,

09:08I'm a fan.

09:09And I just wanted to be an intro of this as a whole show.

09:12Thank you for keeping it up to me.

09:13And,

09:16I really appreciate it.

Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Interview: ME & MY PEN*S (Short) [Dances With Films LA 2025 - Los Angeles, California - Virtual] - Part I

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