“slash/back is a movie about a group of teenage girls from a remote Arctic community who take on an alien invasion.” Director Nyla Innusuk on slash/back which screens at SxSW 2022.
Welcome to SxSW! Is this your first SxSW experience? Are you attending in person or doing the virtual fest?
It is! I will be attending in person with some of my amazing cast who are flying in from Nunavut, Canada.
Canada represent! How did slash/back come together?
This is my first feature, and I knew that I wanted to make an alien invasion movie about a group of Inuit girls who knew how to hunt. When I told people about the idea, I knew that it was something that people were responding to. I pitched the movie at Toronto International Film Festival’s Pitch This competition in 2016, although at the time I was attached as a writer and producer, not the director. A week before we were supposed to pitch the project, I was told I had a 50/50 chance of surviving the month, and it really pissed me off that I might die before I got to make a movie. So I told the guy I was pitching with that I wanted to Direct, and I found some funds to create a proof of concept film, which is where I met some of my cast. We found our producing team, and my co-writer Ryan Cavan and I developed the script.
Working with Ryan was a very emotional and rewarding experience. We’ve since worked with each other again on another script.
While working on a project, what’s your creative process?
I am a collaborative director. I don’t know if there is another kind, but I like to work with amazing artists and technicians who are great at what they do. I am passionate, and recognize that my nature is to try and control as much as possible, so I actively try to push back against those instincts to be more flexible and open to new ideas. It is important that I know what I want, but also be open for that those ideas to change.
slash/back was my first film, so I learned so much about the job. Now that I actually understand what is required, I can already see my process will changing. I like to be as prepared as possible, so that I can help make everyone feel confident and comfortable on the day. I would almost prefer to have animatics of the entire movie before I shot, and almost know what I have before I get there, so that we feel comfortable taking risks in the moment.
What was your biggest challenge with creating this feature, and what was the moment where you realized “Yes, this is IT!”?
The entire thing was a crazy challenge. First time director, with first time actors, in a community that does not have the capacity to handle a large crew. I had moments in editing where I was sure I had wasted everyone’s time and money. I don’t know that I’ve had the realization “this is IT”, but I don’t know if I’d ever feel that way about something I made. What has been amazing is seeing my young cast grow up, and see the impact that this movie has had on their lives. It has helped them become young women and men who are proud to be Indigenous, proud to be representing their community, and that makes it all worth it. That’s IT.
I am a tech person, so I would love to know about the visual design of the movie from the cameras to the formats used and how it was made from a technical standpoint!
I love technology as well. I am actually trying to get back up to the community where we shot slash/back to film a 360 degree horror short using a bunch of cameras at once. It is such a visually stunning place.
This particular project had a quite a bit of visual effects work, which was done both practically and with special effects. We had a contortionist named Troy who wore “skin suits” and did some crazy stuff with his body. The most technically challenging shot was probably filming the actor getting dragged off of the fishing dock. We had to move the dock so that it was out of the water, and place a green screen and foam padding on the other side.
What are you looking forward to the most about showing your movie at SxSW?
I am really excited to be joined by my talented cast. We haven’t seen each other since we did some ADR work over a year ago, so it will be really nice to be together.
Where is this title going next? More festivals or a theatrical or streaming release?
I think we are going to try and show it at a few more festivals before it does it’s next thing.
What is the one thing that you would say to someone who is wishing to get into making movies, especially now as the world is changing at such a fast pace?
It is a hard job, so you really need to want it.
And final question: what is the greatest movie you have ever seen at a film festival?
The Grizzlies! (Again, Canada represent. — JW)
This film and many others like it will be showing at South By Southwest taking place March 11-20. For more information point your browser to www.sxsw.com!