On the morning of an important job interview, Gemma wakes up and something is wrong: she has grown a fishy tail. With her sister's help she gets ready and heads out anyway. Rosie Gaunt-Mathieson calls A Tail, screening at HollyShorts London, "a modern mermaid fable."
Gaunt-Mathieson has been attached to Finola's script since 2020. Over that time, they write, it became more and more pertinent to tell Gemma's story, that of "a woman who’s lost control and is judged for who she is and what her body is doing."
Key Takeaways
- Gaunt-Mathieson has been attached to Finola's script since 2020 and says the story felt more pertinent to tell as time went on.
- The production went ahead after losing its previous lead to illness. Gaunt-Mathieson says it was hard to recalibrate and writes of Hayley Morris, "I adore her performance."
- Gaunt-Mathieson contributed to the scripting of the final scene and let the leads improvise a little.
Below, Gaunt-Mathieson answers our questions in writing.
Interview
What drew you to make this film, and why this story, why now?
I’d been attached to Finola’s script since 2020, as my experience both as a woman (and a female director in the industry) ticked on, it became more and more pertinent to tell Gemma’s story – a woman who’s lost control and is judged for who she is and what her body is doing. A woman who is trying to find her power when it seems the world is against her having any.
What was the hardest creative decision you made while making the film?
Probably proceeding with the film despite losing our previous lead to illness. Having prepped for so long with someone else in mind, it was hard to recalibrate. But Hayley Morris was an utter joy and smashed it all out of the park. I adore her performance and she threw everything at it. It’s begun a really strong creative relationship and it feels like this is just the start.
What surprised you most about the filmmaking process creatively or logistically, including any moment on set or in post that changed how you saw the story?
Just how incredible finishing post and music can be at cementing the whole vision. Karina Byrnes’ score adds a layer that feels like it’s reached into my soul.
Once we nailed the grade with Marty Mcullan, the VFX with Freefolk and sound with Peregrine Andrews, we were flying.
“Karina Byrnes’ score adds a layer that feels like it’s reached into my soul.”
What moment in the film feels most like you, or like something only you could have made?
It’s Finola’s script, but I became so entrenched in it that it does feel deeply personal. I contributed to the scripting in the final scene and let our leads improv a little in their fatigue and the trauma of what the tail means and represents. It’s bittersweet, dark and humorous and feels very much like an extension of my view on the world.
“It’s bittersweet, dark and humorous and feels very much like an extension of my view on the world.”
How does your film fit within, or push the boundaries of, its genre or form?
It feels of its time. I grew up with Splash, The Little Mermaid and Death Becomes Her; these films shaped my experience, but they all had very 90s approaches to women. A Tail is a modern mermaid fable and an accessible female allegory. It straddles comedy, drama and pathos whilst also being pretty fucking weird. I love that it can’t be boxed into a genre and that it leaves audiences with complex feelings – that was the whole point.
What does it mean to have your film selected for HollyShorts London?
We’re genuinely thrilled. HollyShorts has built an extraordinary reputation for championing bold, distinctive short filmmaking and giving emerging voices an international platform. To have A Tail recognised as part of that community (on home turf) is a real honour, particularly given the calibre and creativity of the programme.
Where do you see this film going next?
We’d love the short to gain traction in the US and Asia. Finola and I are developing a feature and a TV series around the idea, and we are looking forward to finding a home for it.
Gaunt-Mathieson writes that the film has given them "confidence in directing the weird, pushing boundaries and higher concept work." Asked to finish the sentence "At the core of all my work is a desire to," Gaunt-Mathieson wrote: "be truthful, weird and bold, in both the comedy and the pathos."
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