Following the disappearance of her abusive partner during lockdown, Katharine begins to unravel. When an unexpected visitor invades her home, she is forced to reckon with her demons and face her new reality.
I Don’t Find Any Of This Very Peaceful is a low-key psychological thriller about the darkness we must embrace before we can truly accept who we are. With echoes of Haneke and Hitchcock the film’s heightened cinematic style attempts to draw the audience into Katharine’s small world and experience her journey out of the darkness.
The film was made entirely in lockdown between April and June 2020.
Written, Produced & Directed by Sam O'Mahony
Starring Lisa Dwyer Hogg
Here is a sneak preview of what to expect from The People’s Film Festival 2021. I Don’t Find Any Of This Very Peaceful is an Official Selection for our upcoming festival where it will be in competition for the £1000 film fund. Our judges loved the twisted turns of this incredible lockdown film. It just goes to prove that great art can be made under immense limitations.
Recently we caught up with director Sam O’Mahony to ask him a few questions about his project.
TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR FILMMAKING BACKGROUND:
I trained as an actor but have always been making films. My first job out of drama school was a year at the RSC and even then I was making shorts between shows (I had access to some pretty good actors!). The last acting job I did was a tour of The Weir where I managed to shoot a music video with 2 of the cast over the 3 months on the road. Recently however, directing has replaced acting as my main artistic outlet. I’ve been making music videos, docs and shorts for a few years now alongside a lot of writing and editing other people’s films. I bloody love it.
OTHER THAN LOCKDOWN, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT ANY OTHER INSPIRATIONS BEHIND YOUR FILM?:
I wanted to make a film that reflected the anxieties of this time. Or more specifically the anxieties of what happens afterwards. What kind of people will we be? What will we have learned? As a film maker working in this time, deciding to make something without any resources was an empowering (and exhausting) enterprise and I think the film reflects that; an artist struggling to create but finding strength despite her demons. Haneke, Hitchcock and Hammer probably all influenced the vision to some extent.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO BRING THIS FILM TO LIFE DURING LOCKDOWN AND WHAT OBSTACLES DID YOU OVERCOME ALONG THE WAY?:
I approached it exactly as I would any other shoot only that I had to run each department. After the script was settled on, I began mood boarding and figuring out ways to turn our flat into another story element. I knew I wanted it designed and lit. I didn’t want it to feel like a social realist piece so colour palettes and a strict camera language were defined and (largely) stuck to. Lisa, my partner, is an incredible actress so that was one element I never needed to worry about. (She also made the film’s artwork). I scheduled it as 2 long day’s shooting with one day of rehearsals and lighting/costume tests. We actually pulled it off! It was hard though...and the flat is small...and our poor dog had no idea what the hell was going on...but we got there.
DID YOU HAVE ANY CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR CREATING QUALITY CONTENT ON A MINIMAL BUDGET:
Some of my favourite films show very little. Their strength is in their ability to stoke your imagination sufficiently that you create the images yourself. Sometimes a brilliant reaction shot is more powerful than the reveal. So, my solution towards a lot of the low-budget issues was to prioritise script and performance and not feel pressured about showing too much. If the story worked and the performance was believable (and well-lit), we don’t need endless coverage and slick camera moves. Haneke is a master of efficiency in his work. He can make an insert of some food on a table terrifying. It’s so simple, costs nothing and works brilliantly. Perhaps it’s that he makes you wonder what’s happening just beyond the frame? So, while film is of course a visual medium, you don’t need to show much to make a big impact. But your story needs to be strong enough to keep you watching.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE PART OF THE FILMMAKING PROCESS:
I love the shoot but I adore the edit. Even when it looks like the film is in trouble because you didn’t shoot this or that, the options that reveal themselves are so exciting. What sound design can bring to an edit never ceases to amaze me. Great sound design can compensate for so many short-comings and mis-steps and clunky edits! I often find a calm descends in the edit and solutions present themselves far quicker than at other stages of the process.
ANY FILM RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE CAN WATCH TO KEEP US BUSY WHILE SOCIAL DISTANCING:
I loved Bacurau, a kind of Roger Corman-esque story about a Brazilian town besieged by mercenaries who have paid to hunt the locals. It’s at turns a socio-political satire and exploitation movie. There’s some dodgy acting amongst the mercenaries but I love a bit of bad acting sometimes and it felt appropriate considering the genre. I suggested it to a few people who absolutely HATED it! I heartily recommend!
Interested in getting your work selected as Short of the Week?