Trailer for Hailey Rose
I had the pleasure of chatting with Sandi Somers, the director of the film Hailey Rose, which is currently on a limited run in Canadian theatres, playing in Halifax, Calgary, and Toronto. We dove into various topics, including the personal and cultural differences between living in a small coastal town versus a big city, bridging the gap between drama and comedy in writing, queer filmmaking, and advice for aspiring filmmakers.
Bio
Sandi Somers is a native of Cape Breton Island who for over two decades has been residing in Alberta. She has worked in Canada and Europe for the past 25 years as a filmmaker, theatre artist, and educator. Sandi’s work often revolves around challenges within human nature, discovery of truth, while addressing themes of connection.
Sandi’s work has been featured across North America and in festivals worldwide such as The Lesbian International Film Festival in Paris, Los Angeles New Waves, The Melbourne International Film Festival, the St. John’s Women’s Festival, and The Calgary and Edmonton International Film Festivals. With over 70 films behind her and 40 nominations for her films, Sandi continues to create thought-provoking works in various genres. She creates dance films, music videos, dramas, comedies, video installations and has directed a documentary syndicated TV series.
A Conversation with Sandi Somers: Director of Hailey Rose
You can find tickets for Hailey Rose on the Cineplex website.
On Being an Artist and Having Two Homes
Adam Manery
You’ve had a long career in the arts but in a different way than many other directors. You’ve done lighting for theatre, worked with a range of visual mediums, and worked on film in roles outside of direction. How would you describe the artistic journey that has led you here?
Sandi Somers
I’m an artist, and sometimes I have different things to say through different mediums. I’ve had the pleasure of being involved in so many of these different mediums, from theatre to visual arts, even to music. All of those different forms really came together when I started making films. Through film, I could see how all those things, which may have seemed like a lack of focus, were actually building the foundational blocks for being an artist. And that’s still how I look at my work, even in film. It can meander and it can move from certain styles to other styles. In the end, everything worked toward my getting into film.
AM
There’s something to be said for exploring mediums and being an artist first. So many people want to be filmmakers, but they’re not even sure what art they want to create. Your journey as a filmmaker has led to two feature films: Ice Blue and Hailey Rose.
This latest project is a film about family and human connection. We follow Hailey, a character who comes from Nova Scotia, moves to Calgary, and then returns East to revisit and potentially reconnect with a family she has fallen out with. Your journey as an Easterner from Cape Breton moving to Calgary parallels this story in some clear ways. How much of this film is taken from your own life experiences?
SS
It’s true. I grew up in Nova Scotia, and I came here to Calgary quite a while ago. However, I’m not estranged from my family, so there are certain aspects that are completely fictionalized and dramatized, but there’s still the core basis of the story that is true. You know, growing up in a coastal town and then moving to a landlocked city. The shock of moving from one to the other is always apparent to me. I still go back home as much as I possibly can to Nova Scotia, but there are so many differences between the two provinces, and that’s really interesting for me to explore. Outside of that, of course, there are aspects of it that apply to my life. We all have parents and siblings, and things like that are universal, but the story itself is completely fictionalized.
AM
That juxtaposition of the landlocked city and the coastal town is made so clear in the film. We have these gorgeous drone shots establishing both settings, right from the opening credits – the hustle and bustle of the city contrasted with the calmness and stillness of the ocean. Both are beautiful in their own way, but we can see an obvious juxtaposition as viewers. To you, what are the differences between your two homes?
SS
How lovely you picked up on that because that was, sincerely, quite important and thought-through about how to represent both. To show these cities and provinces in their natural uniqueness. For the character of Hailey, who grew up in a small coastal town and then moved to a big city with a lot of cars and a lot of people, there’s a difference. It was important to ensure that both of those areas and environments are present because when we leave, it can be a struggle. It can be a struggle to go back to a place where there’s peace and quiet. Well, maybe not with the people… But in terms of the environment, you can drive a long time and be on a coastal road and only see one or two people walking by, as opposed to walking outside of your door in a big city and being bombarded with noise and sound and strangers.
AM
And both have their value and are beautiful in their own way, right? Something you’ve spoken about previously is this idea of becoming “Westernized” after leaving Cape Breton and coming out West. What has that meant for you, exactly?
I still consider myself, deep in my heart, a Cape Bretoner; that part has not gone anywhere.
SS
When I left Nova Scotia and came here to a landlocked city, it was years before I even understood what to do with a mountain or what the environment really had to offer here. And then one day, someone said, “Hey, let’s go for a hike”. After that, I started mountain biking and realized, “Oh, okay. What I used to do with water, I can do with mountains”. I started to get it, but that was a long ride for me to figure out how to access the environment, and being such an outdoors person, it’s a bit of a surprise that it took me so long.
But there are also little things. The smell is different. The feel is different. The air is different. The dialect is different. I still consider myself, deep in my heart, a Cape Bretoner; that part has not gone anywhere. I can go home and have a bottle of Keiths, and my accent will start to come out again. At the same time, though, the film shows how much I’ve grown to respect where I’m living right now and how much I love it. It’s super different from how I grew up – just so different. Also, when you grow up, you’re in a family culture, and you’re in a culture of the people around you. When you come to another city, you’re within a different group of people, and that identifies you, and you identify with that. Not in an inauthentic way, but in a way that is how you fit into a city versus how you fit into a small coastal town.
On the Cast of Hailey Rose and Balancing Drama with Comedy
AM
The film does a good job of capturing that intrinsic “push and pull” that exists within all of us to varying degrees. But to your point, these different parts are not inauthentic despite their inherent contradictions. Still, we have to reconcile with this. Em Haine, who plays Hailey, has to carry much of that weight. What was it like working with her on this project?
SS
Em was great. It was so fun to be able to work with someone who got the character and was really great at capturing these moments. Honestly, everyone was great in terms of their improvisation. It was super fun to work with actors who bring something to the film party. And Em is just a doll – so fun to work with.
AM
Now that you’ve mentioned it, are there any lines or moments that stand out to you that included some improvisation?
SS
Well, they all have a little line there, but one that I remember clearly was Caitlynne Medrek, who plays Rose. They’re all at the baloney barbeque, and they want to leave. Rose says, “Can’t we play something more uplifting?” after listening to Olga singing a song. That was not written in the script, but every time I see that scene, it makes me laugh because it’s such a downer, and then there’s Rose coming in with this beautiful line of like… one more uplifting song before we go.
AM
Caitlin has wonderful timing in this film, both comedic and dramatic. She has some of the most memorable comedic moments – some of those “one-liner” comedic moments that really hit you. From a writing process, how do you balance this serious drama with these comedic “zingers”?
SS
Absolutely. For me, that was one of my biggest challenges. How can we be able to give zingers and write zingers but not have them come off as that? Instead, we have them come off as something the character would say and do. To keep it within a real and full person. All of them did that so well. Not setting up a joke, but just letting it come through in a natural rhythm, yet still being able to pull a laugh out of a tragic moment. That’s a complex thing to do. I love it when I’m sitting with audiences, and I hear the sniffles and the laughter simultaneously, and I’m so pleased that it came off the way it did.
On Queer Filmmaking and Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers
AM
There’s one moment I’m thinking of specifically, which is essentially Hailey’s indirect “coming out” to her mother. Rose is giving a not-so-subtle “limp-wisted” gesture, acting as more or less this revelation of our character’s sexuality, which was hilarious but also fit so perfectly with the family, right?
It’s wonderful to finally have queer films with queer characters from queer filmmakers but be able to access such a wide audience. When you do a project like this, is there an explicit effort to make a “queer film,” or is it simply a representation of real human beings?
SS
That’s a great question. For me, it’s both. It’s both because, you know, being a queer artist, I write something for me – something I would like to see and something I would like to put out there. And ultimately, that is a queer film, but what’s so great about Hailey Rose is that it’s such a universal theme and a universal story. People just talk to me about their relationships with their family. So I know that different people talk about it in different ways and look at it in different ways.
AM
It’s great to be able to create something that is so universal. You worked on this process for quite some time, and there are so many aspiring filmmakers, myself included, who find this process so daunting. What was it like for you?
If another project isn’t flying, you can try something else. At the end of the day, it all goes back to really enjoying what you do because if it’s a slog all the time, you’re not going to want to continue doing it.
SS
Yeah, it’s a daunting world. I think a part of it is just staying focused on your art and your path. When you start thinking about the amount of people and the amount of artists there are all walking the same path, it can totally be daunting. I’ve done so many shorts, and it’s because I love the short form. I love the art form. It’s something I never thought I would leave, but after making so many shorts, I got to a point where I wanted a different challenge. And in doing that, I felt, well… maybe I should give feature filmmaking a go.
It was about finding the right story and the right people to come and cheerlead with. I feel like that was incredibly important – finding the right person like Scott Lepp, the producer. He and I, once we found each other, we’ve done so much together, and it’s really important to find someone who has your back. Once you have that, you can work together to find the right script that you can get funding for.
It’s super challenging, it really is. When Scott and I did our first feature, Ice Blue, we went for “Features First” or “Talent to Watch,” and we didn’t get it. So we just kept working on it. I had written the story, and Jason Long had written the script, and we kept moving forward. Eventually, we found a way, and we got funding for it.
Now, Hailey Rose was something I had written prior to doing Ice Blue, so it had been on the shelf for quite a while. Sometimes, you need a bigger budget, and you need different environments. So Ice Blue was just the first one that came out because it was the first one that was funded. For me, that’s another thing – always having a project in the works, always having something so that if something doesn’t go at this point in time, you have something else.
I consider that the “artist’s filmmaking cycle” of always having something so that if another project isn’t flying, you can try something else. At the end of the day, it all goes back to really enjoying what you do because if it’s a slog all the time, you’re not going to want to continue doing it. There’s a lot of rejection in this industry. A lot of rejection. You have to find the stream and the person that works for you and keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Some people may be more fortunate and can make it happen faster, but other times, when you get your rejections, you find another route and keep going. I feel that being an artist and coming from that space in my heart, you know, it continues to propel me forward, even in the face of a lot of rejection.
On Hailey’s Journey, Leonard Cohen, and Future Projects
AM
It certainly takes a degree of mental fortitude to keep going, but of course, these challenges are part of what makes us human. Of course, Hailey faces her fair share of challenges in the film. When you write a character, do you map their future beyond the end credits? Where do you think Hailey is now?
SS
What a great question. I feel that Hailey and Sid are living the life they want to live. I really do feel that. You know, one of the journeys of the film is to become the person you can be instead of the person you’re made to be from your previous experiences. The character of Sid has done that before entering Hailey’s world. It has taken Hailey some time, but she has finally come around to understand what’s valuable to her in her life. But I still think she’s going to carry the drama around with her.
AM
Hey, a little drama is okay. Before we go any further, I have to say that there was a line in the film that I took personal offense to.
Anyone who knows me knows I have a borderline obsession with Leonard Cohen, and at some point in the film, Rose says to Olga, basically as a threat, “Well, we could stay at home and listen to Leonard Cohen all night,” and that was the impetus to get her out of the door. So, I wanted to ask you about how that particular line came into the script.
SS
To be clear, I, and every Canadian, love Leonard Cohen. Such a loved, beloved creator. Out of all the lines you could have picked… What I’m saying there is that Olga is her own person; she is who she is, and it seems to me like she would be the kind of person who wouldn’t just sit at home, the lights dim, a nice glass of wine, and listen to Leonard Cohen. Too funny!
AM
Before I let you go, as you mentioned, being an artist and a filmmaker, you always have multiple projects you’re working on. What do you currently have on the go?
SS
I have another feature script that I’m writing with another great filmmaker, Corey Lee. We are working on that one pretty diligently, and hopefully, it will happen. I’ve also been doing research on a documentary for an organization I started called “Herland Mentorship for Women.” Outside of those, I have another feature I’m writing. So right now, I’m writing a lot, and hopefully, that’ll turn into another film or three.
You can find tickets for Hailey Rose on the Cineplex website.
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