Marianne Farley interview: ‘Frimas’ director
“The subject matter is going to stay with me,” reveals “Frimas” writer and director Marianne Farley. For our recent webchat, she continues, “You’re writing it, then you have to finance it and shoot it, as well and promote it. I really have to feel like I’m contributing somehow to society. That’s something that’s gonna stay with me forever.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“Frimas” is set at a time when getting an abortion has become a criminal offense. Kara (Karine Gonthier-Hyndman) seeks out the services of an illegal mobile abortion clinic from a meat truck. The film has been shortlisted at the 2022 Oscars for Best Live Action Short Film. It’s a category Farley was nominated for “Marguerite” in 2019. She says, “In all my films I’m really close to the characters. I always approach it through their perspective. We use a lot of telephoto lenses. We can feel her fear, pain, doubt and anxiety.”
The director explains, “The important thing for me was that people understand that bans and restricting access to abortion has an impact on actual human beings. The reality is that women will keep getting abortions, whether it’s legal or not. The difference is, are they going to risk their lives? It happens, like 70,000 women die every year from illegal abortions. I wanted people to take away that no matter what your philosophy is around abortion rights or abortion, it has a very real impact on women.”
On shooting the film, Farley reveals, “The weather was crazy. It was minus 30 Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit). We shot for two days outside. The other two days we were inside, thank God. It was really tough just to speak when you’re when your lips are freezing.”
It was an apt challenge considering the name of the film. Farley explains, “Frimas means frost, a thick thick fog that turns into ice as it’s falling. It was a precise metaphor about what’s going on with these rights right now. You know that these rights are required, you can’t see what’s coming, but what’s coming is not that great. We have to be very vigilant. It’s really scary.”
