Antigone Interview: Sophie Deraspe

“Right when I met with the possibility of making films it was a huge revelation for me, I could connect with the world in so many ways.”

Sophocles' Antigone has been updated for the modern world but her determination and courage have remained.

Québécois writer-director Sophie Desraspe has masterfully updated this centuries-old Greek tragedy and created a timely, relevant film. Anchored by the breathtaking lead performance by newcomer Nahéma Ricci, Antigone examines the lengths one will go to keep their family together.

Desraspe has created a film that feels bold and youthful while retaining the elements of the original that made it significant. The social media montages, in particular, are a fascinating modernization of the Greek Chorus.

Antigone has had a wild ride since its premiere at TIFF in 2019. The film won the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the festival, went on to become Canada’s submission for the 2020 Academy Awards and is currently one of three films up for the Toronto Film Critics Association Best Canadian Film award.

We spoke with Desraspe about adapting Antigone, blind casting her lead actress and what all this attention means for the film and her career.

Can you talk a little bit about yourself and how you got into filmmaking?

Sophie Deraspe: I knew I would do something related to art but I wasn’t sure exactly what. I was interested in photography, music, literature, and so many things, but film never crossed my mind. My parents are not in the film business, it wasn’t in my childhood, it wasn’t an opportunity I was thinking of being possible.

After having studied German philosophy and literature, and doing photography on the side, I took an extra class in film at the University of Montreal. That is because I had a friend from high school who was in film studies and I just thought “okay, let's have a class with you just for fun.”

Right from day one, I realized how film would be able to gather all of what I was interested in, sociology, philosophy, music, art, and photography. I felt like maybe I wasn't excellent at anything but I would be good at all this when I put all together. The session after it finished I changed to film.

When you finish university there’s no one waiting for you to give you money. I started as a Director of Photography doing small things and then it grew bigger and I started to write my first script.

Where did you first read Antigone?

SD: It was during my year in literature, after German philosophy. I was exploring.

But that’s the best way to find what you do, right?

SD: Yes, and actually I spoke with—because I’m in the U.S. right now—I spoke with a lady yesterday and she said that since it costs so much, she feels like students are more committed to what they study. But on my side, it feels like it’s so great that I had the opportunity of experiencing different fields before really knowing what I wanted to do.

Right when I met with the possibility of making films it was a huge revelation for me, I could connect with the world in so many ways. It wouldn’t have happened if I grew up in a system that would have asked for me to know exactly, at 17–18, what I was going to study and make a living out of after being done. We live in a great system in that way.

Your films explore different social/political angles. Did this come from having the room to explore what you wanted to do and having all of those experiences?

SD: Yes, I think it’s part of me. I can’t help but question the world I live in and I feel art is a wonderful way to do so. At the same time, all the films that I’ve done I try — of course, I have my own perspective—to be fair because I know there are many angles and perspectives. I like to put that in conflict so the world is not unidimensional. If I wasn't making art I would want to be doing something that would make the world better in some way. Making films is a way of being an activist.

What I like about film is that it takes time, it takes many years to nurture a script and then finding who your collaborators are going to be. There's something about nurturing a voice that I really like. It doesn’t happen in many fields, and I feel like there is something really specific about feature films that I feel so lucky to be able to finance and work in.

Can you speak about how you approached writing an immigrant family for Antigone?

SD: There were a lot of people coming from Algeria and Kabila because they had, in the 90s and early 2000s, this civil war that made them flee their country. Since a lot of them do speak French, Quebec welcomed a lot of immigrants from Algeria. But at first, in my mind, she could have been from any country or continent.

The character I was inspired by is Antigone herself. Antigone is not an immigrant from the original story but it's her against the King, against authority and the state. The law of the land vs the law of the gods or family or love. It is something that is inside her vs something that is outside of her.

How do you go about adapting a play from so long ago into something that felt so current?

SD: When I first read Antigone, even if it's tragic they all end up dead at the end, for me, it's so uplifting because I was in front of a character that was so strong and intelligent. She stood up for what she believed and that gave me so much energy. A sense of power from a very young woman. I couldn't imagine that was written more than 2000 years ago.

At the time I was studying literature, I wasn’t questioning that much the world I was growing up in. But when I read Antigone I just thought, in literature and art history I couldn't identify with most of the women I was reading about. But Antigone I could identify with. Of course, I’m not a hero like she is and I don’t have to go through the same problems but I could totally relate to her courage and the way she was facing adversity. It felt so good. I felt it was so contemporary, even if it's a story with a king and a death sentence, which has nothing to do with the world I live in. As soon as I read it, I had the intuition that I would bring it back to our modern time.

The film has a documentary feel to it, was this intentional and how did you create the memorial and protest sections?

SD: Wanting to adapt an Ancient Greek play, there's a part that is called the Chorus. The Chorus is a group of people that are not characters in the action but they’re commenting on it. I thought ‘Woah, social media acts the same in our contemporary world.’ I was like I will have those parentheses where social media would comment on Antigone, her brothers, what she does and the outcome of it all. After each Chrous, there is a new step in what she is going to do next. She’s in a relationship with social media in a way.

In my previous film, which is called The Amina Profile, I experienced an online relationship between two women, one in Syria and one in Montreal. It was not only their love and political relationship but when the Syrian woman was abducted, then activists and journalists all over the world, many people got involved only via social media. It’s part of how we live nowadays, it's part of our lives. I wanted to experience the language and I already did in The Amina Profile but I wanted to go further, to continue exploring how to explain that language in film.

How did you find your lead actress Nahéma Ricci and how did you work with her to bring this character to life?

SD: When writing the script I knew finding Antigone was going to be very important but at the same time I wanted to go in blind. I have to write it and we’ll see. I had the producers with me, backing me, starting the casting process very early because I knew it would take me quite some time. I knew she wasn't out there in the casting agencies.

We started an open casting 8 months before shooting and when I say open casting, I wanted to meet with all the possible young people who wanted to be actors. I received more than 800 applications and I read them all, I had many questions for them. I wanted to get to know them. I kept for myself the ones that were the most promising and Nahéma was one of those people. She had one experience in a film, she had a small part but she had no professional school or no agent or representatives. She was one of the strong young women that I met but maybe I did not want it to be easy for her or myself. I saw her many times and I did the character with her and we made workshops together.

I wanted to make sure it was the right decision for her, and for me. We had many months and we met every week or I would invite her to a theatre play so I could have conversations with her, not only about Antigone but also about life so I would know her and she would know me. We built a safe ground for her to be at her full maturity in terms of acting even if she did not have the experience before.

The film has received a lot of attention—it is Canada’s Oscar submission, it won Best Canadian Feature Film at TIFF and it is up for the Roger’s Best Canadian Film award—what does this mean for you in your career?

SD: To me it feels like I put the same amount of energy in my previous films but in this one, I did not refrain from exposing dramatic situations and emotions. I wanted to give the actors a full scale of scenes in which they could explode. That is the difference with my other films because I wanted to be subtle but at the same time, I was refraining myself and so refraining the entire story and the actors.

For this one, I just opened up. I see the difference and the audience is seeing the film—not so much in English Canada—but in Quebec, people came to the theatre, it's still playing. We had a very good box office for that kind of film and it won prizes and the film was sold in many territories and we made many festivals. The audience is so warm.

It makes a difference for the life of the film itself and also for me and Nahéma, the other actors. We have a lot of propositions from other countries and in our own country as well.

After Antigone, it's going to be a tough one because we have to keep the standard but at the same time it feels like we have the means to continue working in that direction. The award in Toronto is a very interesting one because it gives you the financial means to pursue an artistic vision. The Oscar nomination is great because even if we don't make it to the Oscars it gave an aura to the film which was beneficial to me travelling to California and Los Angeles. It makes a huge difference.

What are you working on now/next?

SD: I have two projects, one is a French script which is an adaptation of a novel written in Quebec about a 30-year-old man who quit everything and became a shepherd in France in the Alps. It has a lot to do with how to make sense of your life and how do you connect with your true self.

Then I have another one in English, which is a script that I wrote from scratch. The story is of two women from different generations who help each other out. In that friendship, they are going through addiction problems. It’s a drama but its fun at the same time. I want it to be deep but also funny.

Finally, recommend one #MUFFApproved film for our blog readers.

SD: The most recent film that I’ve seen that really struck me was Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I think it makes history in a way, its just a new way of considering the female gaze. It’s not only a very good film, it changes the way we perceive ourselves and not only now but in history. It’s a pretty strong piece. But I could mention many others because I think we are in an amazing time in Canada having women making very good films.