(Film still from Hero MacKenzie's 'Release'. Director of Photography Arturo Vaquez)
Hero Mackenzie, both a former MA Screenwriting grad and recent MA Filmmaking grad, sat down with us this week to talk about her short film 'Release', which will be screened at this year's LSFF's 'Show Me Your Scars' event. The event which will be held on the 20th of January at 3.00pm features shorts that range from five to nineteen minutes in length and focuses on characters either trying to overcome their past or taking back control of their current situation.
Hero's film, 'Release', does just that. The story focuses on Benjy, a garbage collector recently released from prison, who looks to reconcile with the daughter of the man he fatally stabbed ten years prior. The inspiration for the film came from the real life events surrounding the murder of Philip Lawrence in 1995.
Lawrence, the headmaster of a school in Maida Vale, was fatally stabbed after intervening in a gang altercation just outside his place of work. Philip's assailant, Learco Chindamo, who was only fifteen at the time, spent fourteen years in prison after a parole board recommended that he be released. Both the public's outcry for his deportation and the media's reaction to his release made Hero beg the question: "Does society forgive and if not what is the point of punishment?".
'Release' follows Benjy, a character similar to Chindamo, as he struggles with his life post imprisonment. Whether or not society can forgive is a complicated question to answer, but 'Release' gives us insight into the sort of internal struggle a character like Benjy can have while in pursuit of that forgiveness.
(Film still from Hero MacKenzie's 'Release'. Director of Photography Arturo Vaquez)
Creating 'Release' for her LFS MA Filmmaking grad film was no small feat. With twelve locations and just six days to shoot, Hero, a screenwriter as well as director, recalled a story that occurred just five days out from production:
"I had initially written the script with a story about a man released from prison seeking redemption from the wife of his victim. Five days before filming, we had everything in place - the talented lead actor, great locations, a brilliant team, all the logistics sorted. But we didn’t have the actress to play the part of the wife. Either the actresses I auditioned were not right for the part or I had agents coming back to me saying ‘she loves the story but she hates swimming!’ or ’she loves the story but she feels uncomfortable in swimwear!’ I had my producer saying ‘Hero, we're going to have to rescript it to a street or a park or something’. I just couldn’t bear that idea."
During her time at LFS, Hero worked with Screenwriting Feature Development Tutor, Roger Hyams, who she says had a sticker on his desk that said 'Relax, it's going to be tough'. Drawing on this, Hero didn't give up on her initial vision:
"You know, as writers, as storytellers, you have that one image in your head that propels you to make the film. Mine was the ‘pool scene’ - there’s something about water and its restorative nature that was important to me. I went home feeling completely demoralised. I crashed out in bed and when I woke the next morning, it was there. She would be the daughter of the victim, not the wife, and I knew exactly who would play her. It’s one of those 'light bulb' moments. Now, of course, I watch the film and it couldn’t be any other way.”
She credits her MA Screenwriting background for the epiphany and elaborated on her experience stating:
“There’s this romantic notion of writers and screenwriters that the process is fluid. It isn’t. It’s pure structure, pure craft. You're constantly having to ask yourself with each scene, 'how is this answering my essential question?’ Only once you have that clarity can you explore and shift things about."
(Film still from Hero MacKenzie's 'Release'. Director of Photography Arturo Vaquez)
This quick thinking is just the kind of thing you'd expect from someone like Hero, who talks about her work with both a sense of thoughtfulness and passion. The great detail she goes into during the writing process, she says rivals Carrie's walls during an investigation on the TV series 'Homeland'. This only makes us all the more eager to see what she works on next.
You can catch 'Release' this Saturday at The Mall, St James's, SW1Y 5AH.