Maureen

The initial impetus for “Maureen” was as a specific reaction to being the only woman on a particular set. Again. I have often been the only woman on an otherwise all male shoot, and could only count two days in my entire career when I worked with both female camera & sound. I wanted to know what it would feel like for a set to only have women present. Would it feel different? And how? Having put together the team of producer Penny Davies & writer Amy Hawes, I decided we should make a short film, a two hander for female actors that we could shoot somewhere outside in Glasgow during a global pandemic.

Amy had initial ideas about writing a comedy about scattering ashes, so I relayed the story about my own mother’s ashes which subsequently inspired some of “Maureen”. I cast the wonderful Blythe Duff and Sally Reid before the script was fully complete & Amy wrote with these actors in mind. Blythe & Sally are good friends but have never before acted on screen together. I wanted us to explore the relationship between a younger and older woman and Amy’s script delves deep into family dynamics. The film explores the ownership of the deceased, their memory but also their physical remains. What relationship “wins”? The spouse? The child? The sibling? Is it a competition based on years of shared life, or who grieves the best or most?

Bringing together an all female identifying team would be challenging at the best of times, but during the Covid pandemic it was even harder. But we did it. Two days in perfect weather in Maryhill in Glasgow with an amazing group of professionals. And it did feel different. Surprisingly different. And it was felt by everybody. It was quiet, calm, polite and supportive. DOP Kirstin McMahon did a spectacular job of realising my storyboard & the cast were outstanding. I wanted the performances to be front and centre of the piece and the measured, cool photography & editing captured them beautifully.

A lot of people have told me about surreal, often hilarious tales of what has happened to their loved ones. We don’t discuss death & it’s aftermath very well in this country, & “Maureen” touches on the bizarre places that bereavement can take us to. It is a film ultimately about love and the connections that make and break us.