Mandy, star and screenwriter of Unnatural, screening Tuesday, March 3 at NYNL Art of the Short, answered 3 quick questions from Iris Chan about her film.
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IRIS: What are your inspirations for this film? Did this story come from personal experience, watching those around you, the media, etc? Is it easier for you to pull from experience or from inspiration from others?
MANDY: This film was inspired by my personal experience with infertility and the suffocating pressure to hide it. It also touches on lost friendship. A good friend, who also wanted a child, couldn’t remain friends with me once I had a baby, and she did not. It was too painful. In many ways, this film is my naive attempt to tell women like her that it’s ok. You’re enough. You can be the star of your movie even if you don’t “get the guy” OR the positive pregnancy test.
As an actress, I think it’s easier for me to pull from my own experience.
IRIS: In our society today, the pressure to conceive for women is very common. It's almost as if women have to choose to focus on one’s career or put children first, a decision Sam makes that you highlight in this story. Did you write this film with the intention of sharing that pressure that women face? How would you like audiences to react to this film?
MANDY: Yes, while it isn’t the main intention, it was an aspect I wanted to include. Women are pulled in so many directions these days. And I think a lot of artists are calling BS on the ridiculous notion of women “having it all,” in really creative and smart ways. The working mom ideal is reminiscent of trying to achieve a photo-shopped, cover model-level of fitness. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors, and something has to give. (In my case, my husband is constantly giving.) I mean, I guess I “have it all”, if that includes a “have nothing” bank account.
I would like audiences to see themselves in Sam. To think, “my story didn’t go the way I thought it would,” or “I didn’t achieve that goal that I was striving for,” and to love themselves just the same.
Also, maybe think twice before asking a woman when she’s going to have kids.
IRIS: At the end of this short, we see Sam finally giving in to see her friend’s photos of her twins, after much heartache in not wanting to see them because of her own struggles with not being able to get pregnant herself. If you were to continue this story for Sam, what sort of future do you see for her?
MANDY: She would get up the next morning and go to work. Have good days and bad days and go on about her life. Nothing extraordinary would happen. She would still experience great love and have amazing friendships. If she did find romance, it wouldn’t be the main focus of her next adventure. You don’t have to worry about her. She’ll be just fine.
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