REQUIEM
EMMA GILBERTSON
2021
25 min
United Kingdom
English
FILM:
TRAILER:
Requiem is set in 1605, against the backdrop of the witch trials. It’s a coming of age story, following Evelyn as she engages in a game of cat and mouse against her father, Minister Gilbert, in order to be with Mary, the woman she loves.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY – EMMA GILBERTSON
Em J. Gilbertson (they/them) is a writer/director from Liverpool, working across film, television and music videos. Em is represented by Independent Talent and is a recent graduate of the prestigious NFTS’ Directing Fiction course and a Channel 4 Scholar. Their graduation film “Requiem”, starring Bella Ramsey, won for Best Postgraduate Drama at the Royal Television Society Student Awards 2022 and has been selected for multiple BAFTA qualifying film festivals. Since graduating, Em has done some second unit directing on BBC’s “Silent Witness” and ITV’s “Malpractice”. Previously, Em shadowed BAFTA nominated Phil Barantini and the legendary Mary Harron. Em has also directed multiple music videos that have featured on MTV and in Kerrang!
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
It is estimated that 1000s of women killed during the witch trials went unrecorded. Ultimately this is the problem of systematic prejudice and abuse – it goes unwritten and invisible. Young and beautiful women were accused of bewitching the men who raped them. Old and poor neighbours were accused of cursing families and land. Accusations of witchcraft were ultimately ways of scapegoating the poor, weird and different and allowed those in privileged positions to keep the status quo in their lives. Those who tried to speak out were punished. Growing up in the aftermath of Hillsborough this became an issue close to my heart at a young age.
Growing up in Liverpool was not easy – I tried to assimilate. But I honestly couldn’t wrap my head around certain expectations of being female. There seemed to be a gap in-between my queerness and the way society expected me to be. We were very intentional about representing the love between Mary and Evelyn as beautiful, sacred and natural. My first experience of love was so poignant and consuming – I believe we can all relate to that whatever our sexuality is. Whereas the church is represented as patriarchal, cruel and cold. It’s not the women and their love that is wrong but the way they are treated as a by-product of society.
While watching this film, I want the viewer to experience both anguish and empowerment in those final moments. Sometimes ash makes for more fertile ground. We cannot allow life to be treated insignificantly.
I was incredibly lucky to work with both my cast and crew. Working with both Bella Ramsey and Safia Oakley-Green felt magical. Both girls really embodied their characters and went above and beyond. Working with the crew was very satisfying – we really went all in to try and create this ridiculously ambitious film. We supported each other, we laughed, we cried (big time) but no matter the circumstances – everyone on the crew believed in the script and that passion never left a dampener.
Some of the challenges making this film included learning how to work under Covid-19. It really was like taking a step into the unknown, challenging for a well-versed director and felt almost impossible as a new voice. Luckily, I had the most brilliant production team who rose to the challenge and made it safe for everyone involved. Challenges and delays aside – this film will always be incredibly special to me as it’s my NFTS grad project.
EMMA GILBERTSON
