House of Tomorrow
Hey Maxine! Tell me a bit about yourself and your directing career so far.
Hey Demure Mag! Well, I’m 22 at the end of this month, my favourite colours are green and orange (although never together) and I am currently wrapping up my Honours degree in Film & TV.
I have mainly worked in the realm of music videos up until this point, as well as curating live events since I was 17. House of Tomorrow is my first (official) short film.
Headshot by Priya Manders
What is House of Tomorrow about?
House of Tomorrow follows Mischa and her little sister Agnes, as they live alone during a near-future climate disaster. They each have opposing ideas on how to live their lives and protect each other, which causes a lot of mixed emotions and conflict between them.
What inspired the plotline?
My sister and I are very close (I'm the lil one), and I'm often inspired by our relationship. Also being raised in an ethnic household, I was raised with this mentality of ‘I'm not your friend, I'm your parent, so even if you resent me for it, I’m going to do what I think is best for you’. There's a lot to be said about that cast of mind, but I think it’s an interesting theme to then apply to a parentification sibling dynamic. It’s what causes most of the tension between them.
I knew I wanted to make a film about sisterhood, how conflict & love exist simultaneously. The film was initially going to be just that - two sisters living alone navigating the world together. But after the fires happened at the start of 2020, I wanted to incorporate my own eco-anxiety into it too.
What films have been the most inspiring or influential to you and why?
We The Animals (Dir. Jeremiah Zagar) has been my biggest influence. Everyone who knows me is probably sick to death of hearing me ramble about this film. It’s a beautiful depiction of family, of conflict, of being a kid amongst volatile relationships, of queerness, of brotherhood. It was a key reference point for House of Tomorrow.
I also regularly think about the film Head On - which is a Melbourne film by Ana Kokkinos. It’s kinda like our city’s own Gregg Araki film.
Still from: We The Animals (2018)
Which was hardest throughout lockdown; getting started or finding motivation to keep going? What did you have to conquer?
I’m not sure either of them were particularly hard in relation to the film. This is probably a testament to the incredible team I had with me - always excited, engaged and ready to put in work. Editing virtually has had its challenges - notes sent over facebook, vimeo links sent weekly, screen sharing edit timelines via Zoom, etc. But Paul is a wonderful storyteller and editor, and they made the process extremely smooth!
Shot of the crew
What's your favourite part of the whole process?
Collating reference images, brainstorming with crew, making google spreadsheets (lol), becoming a little family with everyone on set, looking at things through monitors, seeing footage for the first time.
AGNES played by ELLIE STEWART
MISCHA played by LEWI DAWSON
CLEO played by STEF RAAD
Advice for other young (existing or wannabe) directors?
I am very much a wannabe director so my advice can’t mean much. But all my work outside of a university context has been through showing initiative and organising my own projects.
My biggest blessing has been working with people (often friends) who are totally on the same page as me. If you can find people where every idea they suggest, leaves you responding ‘yes!!!’, that’s probably a good sign.
Where can we view House of Tomorrow?
We’re still wrapping up a couple of things in post-production, but hope to hit some film festivals come 2022!
Keep updated through social media :)