Winner of Best Short Film Action for the Artemis Women In Action Film Festival 6th Edition, Glass Darkly was adapted from a true story and puts real life events to the test on the big screen. With the challenges of a period piece and the daunting task of recreating the setting of Holland in the 40s, Glass Darkly is a chilling eye-opener that strikes a powerful yet dissonant chord.
“If there’s one thing all of us key members hope audiences will get out of this film, it’s simply to stay true to yourself. These were young girls that chose to do what was right, no matter the consequences or the scorn they received from society for doing so (and surprisingly for them, there was a lot). The reason many of us are here is because of people who had that kind of courage.” – Dave Penner, Et Al
About: In 1941 Holland, two Dutch sisters must deal with the turmoil of their Nazi-occupied town. Heavenly Reyna; Tori Griffith; Benjamin Schnau; Dillon Ford; Brian Bentz; Dave Penner & Eli Chance, writers/directors. Adult themes, graphic violence. Subtitles. USA
Interviewed by Kaylene Peoples
Responses by Dave Penner & Eli Chance, Directors/Co-Writers, Viktorija Razevska, Producer/Editor; Benjamin Gaskell, Director of Photography
Tell me a little about your film and what inspired you to make Glass Darkly?
Dave: I’ve visited the Netherlands twice, but I had also heard the tales of the Oversteegen sisters from a friend of mine who moved there years back. These girls, along with Hannie Schaft, are famous folk heroes over there. Rightly so, because they have such an incredible, unique, and inspirational story. For Americans though, it’s one that the vast majority of people have never heard of. When Freddie passed away in 2018, I read into more details of their exploits and that’s when I realized their story could make a great short film.
How long did it take to complete the film? What was it shot on?
We were given a grant to make the film by a non-profit as part of their narrative shorts program, so it was about a year from being accepted into the program to finishing production. Unfortunately, this program is no longer around, but it was a great collaborative experience. Then it took us about another year of post-production after that due to Covid setbacks. The film was shot on RED.
Tell me about the filmmaking process. Let’s talk about the cast and crew.
It was a great group of both cast and crew. The thing that impressed us most were Heavenly Reyna (Freddie) and Tori Griffith (Truus), who each blew us away in their auditions. We left it open to both native Dutch and German speakers and not. Neither of them spoke either language but they did such a great job we felt confident casting them knowing they could put the work in and pull it off. We also had a dialect coach in rehearsals and on set to help with that. Heavenly actually speaks fluent Spanish and Mandarin. As for the German soldiers, they all spoke German to various degrees.
Tell me about who was involved and particularly your key players.
The two of us (Dave and Eli) were lucky enough to have Viktoria Razevska as both producer and editor. She knocked it out of the park for us and also has such great creative instincts. Benjamin Gaskell, our DP, is a great award-winning cinematographer and good friend of ours, and always has tremendous dedication to his craft. Executive producers Cory Yee, Patrick Reasonover and Matt Edwards were also huge reasons this thing happened. We’re very grateful to have crossed paths with all of them.
What was your experience on Glass Darkly? What drew you to this film?
War is a such a devastating thing. Here are two young girls, 14 and 16 years old that should have been playing sports or talking about boys or out chasing their dream . . . yet instead, they’re out fighting tyrants trying to oppress their town. There are probably a lot of teenagers that relate to having the prime years of their lives taken away from them during this Covid situation now. But for Freddie and Truus, they weren’t even drafted, they chose to do this because someone had to. We were really drawn to what that would do to a young girl’s psyche, and the idea that no matter the reason, once you take the life of another, there’s a part of you that is changed forever.
What were some of the most memorable moments on set?
One that comes to mind was in Michigan when we were shooting some of the bike scenes at a Dutch amusement park. We had a skeleton crew for that and it started pouring rain on us, so we had to constantly adapt to the environment to keep our gear from getting wrecked. At one point our DP Ben touched a light and got a huge shock. He soldiered on and didn’t even tell us about it until later. At the end of the night, the owner came out and turned on the carousel and we rode around like little kids. It was a hectic shoot but I’ll never forget it.
As a filmmaker, tell me about your background.
The two of us (Dave and Eli) have been collaborators since we were 14. We were in a pop punk band together when we were in High School, but eventually that creative energy turned to comedy. We produced all sorts of projects over the years (most of which we’re still proud of), including shorts and web series, the most involved being an online series called Break Time. Dave is from more of a film background while Eli spent a lot of time in sketch comedy on stage with Second City. But we love both comedy and drama – it all depends on the story!
What would you say is unique about this film?
Most of our interiors were shot in LA but for the exteriors, we were able to raise enough money to shoot in Holland, Michigan, which has a large Dutch population. It was the next best thing to the real Holland! Many are surprised when we tell them how low the budget was, and part of that is because so many Michigan people were gracious enough to help us out for free. The bikes in the film are vintage 1920s European bikes. Many of the buildings you see are from Nelis’ Dutch Village, a Dutch amusement park, and the windmill is an authentic Dutch windmill that was transported in pieces from the Netherlands. Their homeland plays such a big role in the film as the victim they are trying to liberate, so it was very important to us to put in as much 1940s Dutch authenticity as we could.
Were there any challenging moments during production?
When we scouted the windmill location in Michigan, there was this beautiful sunset behind it, and we were so excited about the shot we had mapped out. Then we get there on the day and it was nothing but ugly clouds. It was disappointing, but we realized that that kind of weather is actually more authentic to what the Netherlands would look like, so we decided to enhance the stormy look to match what we had already shot with the girls riding in the rain. It just goes to show that sometimes challenges can turn out to be creative opportunities.
Raising additional funds was also a challenge, and one of the ways we did that was by helping Eli’s parents sell their RV. That was a whole thing. (If anyone wants to know about Thor Hurricanes, we are now bonified experts.)
What were some of the highlights of filming Glass Darkly?
Dave: The performances were a real highlight for us. There was a moment when I was watching Ben Schnau (Roth) do his thing, and it was so captivating that I forgot it was a live scene we were shooting. We shot some intense, emotional scenes with him and Heavenly and it was so visceral. They made our jobs easy.
Upon watching the film, the score is also such a highlight for us. Pietro Milanesi was our composer and he did such an amazing job with a very versatile score.
What were some of the obstacles?
There were quite a few for this one going into it. The period piece aspect brought many challenges and served to increase our budget by quite a bit. For another thing, it was in two other languages, which neither of us speak fluently (lol). We did as much research in the languages as we could, but also worked hand in hand with translators and a dialect coach. It was a challenge, but well worth it to make the film as it would have been in 1940s Netherlands.
On your next project what might you do differently and what might you do the same?
Uh, probably not make a period piece? Ha! If we had a time machine, there would probably be some little things here and there we might have done a bit differently in time management, but overall, given our very limited resources, we’re very happy with where we ended up. There was actually a scene in the script that we had to choose to cut at the last minute because we were running out of time and knew we needed to prioritize other shots. It would have been interesting to have, because it had a comedic bent to it, but I’m not sure the film is any lesser for it.
How has Covid19 affected your production/post if at all?
Luckily it didn’t affect us a whole lot, because we had been done with production for quite a while before it all hit. But it’s certainly affecting us in terms of not being able to premiere the film or showcase it in festivals in person, which is a bummer.
What advice could you give to a first-time director/producer/composer/etc?
Dave: If you love it, don’t stop. I believe that half of this whole game is about diligence and persistence. It sounds simple, but it’s so true. The other thing I’ll say is to build relationships (as opposed to just “networking”). People want to work with people that are genuine, collaborative, hard-working, and most of all, just good people. Do good by others and they may just do good by you.
Is there is anything else you’d like to mention. If so, please do.
If there’s one thing all of us key members hope audiences will get out of this film, it’s simply to stay true to yourself. These were young girls that chose to do what was right, no matter the consequences or the scorn they received from society for doing so (and surprisingly for them, there was a lot). The reason many of us are here is because of people who had that kind of courage. No matter who you are or how insignificant others may make you feel, you can make a difference in this world. But it’s up to you to take that leap.
Visit Artemisfilmfestival.com. The festival is streaming till May 31st! Glass Darkly IMDB
