Night Cap with The Manila Lover
Interview with Johanna Pyykkö, director of The Manila Lover
Firstly, why did you choose to set the story in Manila?
I met a woman from the Philippines in Sweden. She was traveling and told me about how Nordic, white men tried to define and predict who she was based on their preconceptions. These white men were never able to see her real personality though. This meeting inspired me to write the character of the Filipina in The Manila Lover short, and that is why the story happens in Manila. For me it was interesting to place the white male character in the Philippines, in a country that was not his own. Through his journey in the story, I wanted the film to show what happens in the Philippines today, from an angle that is new in European cinema. This felt true and relevant for me, and therefore artistically challenging in a joyful way.
It’s quite refreshing seeing this unexpected power dynamic between the two. What gave you the idea to explore this relationship?
The inspiration came from meeting this Filipina, and also from me being from a working-class background. Because of my background, I have met working-class men similar to the main character Lars, and seen them from many angles, and I feel the personality of this man is not fully explored artistically. In the relationship between the characters – the Filipina and the white, Nordic man – both their personalities are explored, in a way that feels exciting to me. That is why I put both of them in this film. His Nordic narrow-mindedness was also an inspiration, and his feelings of longing and loneliness. Something I feel is missing when we tell stories about men like Lars, is the intimate and sensual angle. I felt the relationship between these two characters created an interesting dramatic landscape.
The first scene is in Norway I presume. So are we to understand that Lars’s motivation for travelling to the Philippines is to look for love?
Yes, it is Norway. Snow and cold. For me the short intro is about his longing for love.
Can you tell us a bit more about Abigail’s motivation?
The Filipina, Abigail, likes Lars and finds him attractive, but they have different intentions and expectations like many people do in relationships. We met with many women from the Philippines and took in their feedback on the character of Abigail. Among the ones we took inspiration from especially, were a female film director, a professor in gender studies from Manila and our fantastic co-producer, Bianca Balbuena-Liew at Epicmedia and her team. We wanted to deepen Abigail as a character and make her real to the women we talked to. Without saying too much, her choices in the film are representative for what Filipinas feel men can do today in the Philippines, but if women do the same they are judged. The film lets Abigail be who she is, without judgement. She is not perfect, but then again, who is? In portraying the characters, I really feel they came alive thanks to the actors Angeli Bayani and Øyvind Brandtzæg, I love their performance and development of the characters.
What are your future projects as a filmmaker?
I’m heading towards production on my first feature, the working title is Ebba, mainly funded by The Norwegian Film Institute and produced by Verona Meier at Ape&Bjørn. Me and my co-writer, Jørgen Færøy, are writing the second draft right now. We have it mapped out over a wall with post-its, it looks messy, but it becomes more alive, I feel. We recently received a lot of good feedback from the Next Step Lab of Semaine de la Critique and also from the TIFF Filmmaker Lab, at Toronto International Film Festival – so there’s a lot of interesting ideas and thoughts to work with. In addition to that project, I’m developing other features, a TV-series and a short.
Would you say that the short film format has given you any particular freedom?
I definitely feel I can take more artistic risks and daring choices, and not worry so much. The budget is smaller and the intended distribution allows for it.
The Manila Lover is part of International Competition I1.
