Filmmaker Interview: Ruth Caudeli discusses Same, Again

With its World Premiere just around the corner, we sit down with writer-director Ruth Caudeli to discuss her film Same, Again, which will screen on Tuesday 25 February as part of Queer Screen’s 32nd Mardi Gras Film Festival. Ruth reveals what she hopes audiences will take from the film, which LGBTIQ+ film was the first to have an impact on her, and how she would offer advice to her younger self.

Queer Screen: Tell us about the film and why everyone needs to buy a ticket to see it.

Ruth Caudeli: Same, Again is an irreverent film that speaks loud about a topic that might confront you. It’s about different types of abuse that we suffer as women. Some of these abuses are silenced, some of them not that much. But it’s uncomfortable to see them on screen, because they happen all the time, but I think it’s time for us to be uncomfortable about these kinds of topics. Also, it has amazing actresses and actors on screen, so you won’t feel it’s like a movie, you will feel as if you are a voyeur, witnessing a slice of life unfold.

What do you hope audiences take away from your film?

I hope people meditate on what they have just seen. As women, do I feel any kind of abuse in my daily life? As men, I am abusing without knowing it? It’s a movie that needs people to chat about it and we would like to start a dialogue after screenings.

There are more channels for LGBTIQ+ films than ever before, why are queer film festivals like ours still important?

They are a window for so many movies, and a way for filmmakers to connect and to feel less lonely with some stories that are difficult to tell and to distribute. I think festivals like this one are essential for us a community, because they make us feel together and they screen movies that can change lives.

What was the first LGBTIQ+ film you saw that really impacted you?

I didn’t have so many queer references on screen when I grew up. Some of my references came from TV shows as Dawson’s Creek or Spanish TV shows such as Al Salir de Clase, but I have to admit that when I watched the movie Imagine Me & You, when I was a little bit older, I felt that there was a space for me. It was a rom com with two girls! I hadn’t seen that before … Then along came The L Word, But I’m a Cheerleader, and many more.

Our festival theme is all about love – the love of queer cinema, the love of queer storytelling and the love of the queer community… What’s the first film that pops into your mind when you think of those concepts (and why that film)?

I think about Desiree Akhavan and her movies Appropriate Behaviour and The Miseducation of Cameron Post, because they are so sensitive (in different ways), and also so natural and so real. They don’t try to represent perfect queer characters; they represent us as we are.

What is one piece of career advice that you would give your younger self when it comes to filmmaking?

Work. And don’t stop working. Because it’s your work who will push you to wherever you want to go. It’s not luck, and it’s not talent. You need talent, of course, but you need to work even when you don’t have strength. Working hard will be your passport to keep doing what you love and to be in peace with yourself.