Director Roxy Rezvany’s Movie ‘Honesty’ Premieres on Deeper into Movies This Friday
Somesuch director Roxy Rezvany's movie 'Honesty' will be premiering this Friday, July 14th, on Deeep Into Movies.
In the film, a young woman goes to the police to report her husband for domestic abuse, but rather than finding the relief she longs for, she faces the unexpected.
Director Roxy Rezvany said, "As they trade ideas back and forth, it becomes apparent that the director would be more interested in the ideas her visual appearance could open the door to, rather than her actual performance. However, as the requests he makes become increasingly awkward, we did not play the conversation for laughs, but merely let the inherent absurdity emerge from the scenario. Our focus was to observe a latent imbalance of power become increasingly explicit, and the aim was not to frame this film as two villains versus a hero. This is after all a situation where Lily has much to personally gain. The Director and Casting Director are genuine in offering suggestions to help her prevail, and she equally is happy to jump through hoops to do what it takes to win the role. Yet, it is clear that Lily did not walk into the room with an intent to fetishise a Muslim woman’s experience of domestic abuse, and it is not entirely clear why her initial take on the scene was not what the Director was looking for. So...what exactly brought us here? The film is a direct comment on the film industry; its portrayal of stereotypes and fetishisation of trauma, the lack of cultural diversity of its gatekeepers, and its failure to acknowledge the relative power of different decision makers in the creative process. Ultimately though, the film challenges who and what we deem worthy of belief.
Emily Renée said: "Having spent many years in audition rooms, I’ve always been struck by what unique environments they are. They feel like very contained spaces, sometimes claustrophobic, other times playful, occasionally oppressive, and when the audition is over and the adrenaline comes crashing down, it can feel like you’ve dreamt the whole experience. The inevitable power dynamics between directors, casting directors and actors - the employers and the employees - also feel symbolic of the existential struggle we all face to prove ourselves in our jobs, sometimes at the cost of our personal integrity and creative ambitions. In Honesty, Lily finds herself falling deeper and deeper into the trap of pleasing her potential employer in order to do the thing she loves. But the price she pays - disclosing information about her personal life, offering her heritage up as a solution to a character problem, agreeing to all requests that are made of her - leaves her feeling, by the end of the film, deeply discombobulated. As an actor, the challenge of playing an actor playing a character, was a tantalising exercise. Lily’s different performances as Maya chart her own development over the course of the film, with her final performance being the most truthful, as she suddenly awakens to what is happening to her in real time. The film therefore doesn’t seek to judge or condemn Lily’s decisions, but leaves the audience wondering how will she move forward from this experience.
