Before The Winter is a 15-minute short film that tells the story of May who lives with her mother, Yu, and their cat who is really sick. At school, May doesn’t really interact with anyone and buries herself in her journal. When Juan tries to get his hands on that diary, he and May get into a bit of a scuffle, and May’s prized possession gets confiscated by their teacher, Mrs. Lee. What Lee and, later on, Juan discover through that journal makes them sympathize with May. But when the reality of her words become apparent, it sends a chill down the spine of the characters and the audience as well. I sat down for a virtual chat with director Juan Zuloaga Eslait to talk about the inspiration for this story, the look of the film, that plot twist, and more.
Film Fugitives: First things first, that was one of the most devastating short films I have ever watched. What was the journey of processing this story written by Flora Wengu Jiang and turning it into a short?
Juan Zuloaga Eslait: Thank you for that. The first thing that blew my mind when I read the very first draft of this story was precisely how devastating it was… However, in my case in particular, it was not so much the act itself but what initiated it that drew me into telling the story. It was the infinite love this girl had for her mother that made her capable of anything. When I first approached Flora I expressed to her that I interpreted this film as the story of love between a mother and a daughter, and that it was that which would guide my directing.
FF: Other than the most apparent theme about how we never really know what’s going on in somebody’s life, what are some of the other themes you have tackled through your short film?
Juan: Circling back to the idea of love, and the thought that every action we take, regardless of how bad it seems, is initiated by it. Even if the action requires a child losing its innocence… that is something we all can empathize with, and come to understand.
FF: While making the film, did you ever think about what you would’ve done if you came across a confession like that in someone’s diary?
Juan: I never did honestly. But understanding others is a huge part of my work as a director, because I believe having the capacity of understanding others is the key to further understanding ourselves and learning to live as people among each other… So when doing the film, maybe I didn’t necessarily think about what I would do, but I did want to challenge the audience in this way, by giving them the chance to understand May’s actions.
FF: There’s a distinct lack of colour to establish the bleakness of May’s life, and the consistent “frame within a frame” style of visual storytelling mirrors the layers of the narrative that you’re playing with. So, what was the process of establishing the look of the film and using it to tell May’s story?
Juan: There is only one thing which dictated the whole aesthetic process of the film, and that is May as a character, her own interpretation of her reality, and the memories she carried. Every time the DP Donny Li, and I, would sit down to break down the script, we would always interpret it with that added layer of May’s arc… we would always ask ourselves “How does this impact May? How does she remember this moment in particular” and those questions would always lead to the right answer.
FF: You leave a lot of things, especially the explicit stuff, to the audience’s imagination to make that final reveal as impactful as possible. So, what’s the process of creating an unreliable narrator in such a short span of time?
Juan: I think with May in particular what made it so special was the idea that it was a diary in which she spoke about her pet. This immediately established a sense of innocence in the movie that is really easy to relate to; making the reveal of unreliability all the more impactful, and yet hard to take, because nothing really ever changed. It was still an innocent girl, and what she said was the truth, but she just said it, in her own way, and for the audiences the moment of the reveal is so emotionally heavy because of this.
FF: The music is really haunting. What was the process of fine-tuning that?
Juan: Composer Hari Muhic and I had a lot of discussions regarding the “feeling” we wanted to achieve with the music… and all our conversation always circled back to a piece that reminded us of a nostalgic past, a longing for something that was completely gone…. It was May’s innocence that faded away. We took a lot of inspiration from Max Richter, especially his album, Memoryhouse.
FF: While all the actors in the film, including the cat, are excellent, it’s Venice Wong who does most of the heavy-lifting. How did you collaborate with her and extract such a reserved and impactful performance from her?
Juan: Venice was an interesting discovery, because it was one of those rare audition tapes that I saw and I had absolutely no questions… I knew immediately that was my May… she had that heavy innocence hidden behind a somber look in her eyes that immediately made me feel for her. She understood May right away, and our collaboration together wasn’t much more than me just guiding the process, answering her questions and always making sure she knew what every scene meant for her in that moment… but she naturally had it already.
FF: What are the movies that inspired the storytelling and visual language of Before The Winter?
Juan: I would say, Hirokazu Koreeda’s Nobody Knows. Even though tonality was different, my DP, PD and I always circled back to this movie when working in Before The Winter for many different reasons but most importantly the shared essence between both.
FF: Which artist has influenced your storytelling the most?
Juan: There are two great artists to whom I owe a great deal as a filmmaker. One is film director Alejandro G. Inarritu, and the other one is author Herman Hesse. At the very core of their work, there is a strong connection with my goal, a bond that is unbreakable, which is why I always look up to these two. Their work represents exactly everything that I want to achieve as an artist in my life.
FF: What are some of the opinions that you want audiences to have after watching Before The Winter?
Juan: I would like to challenge them, presenting them with a difficult situation, all in the hopes they come out of the theater with a greater understanding for human life, and a deeper appreciation for what motivates our actions, and how to accept that, and learn to live together with it.
