Q: What is the idea behind the story of ‘Strangers’?
Emilie: The music video tells a love story about people on the periphery of society, those that don’t ‘fit in’ so they end up either being ignored, forgotten or ostracised. The only way I could do this narrative justice, was by focussing on the honesty in the characters reactions as their love unfolded. It’s a love story that defies the public definition of acceptable love.

Q: Why these characters and this story?
Emilie: I’m driven as a director to tell stories with a broader focus, ones which give a more intricate and delicate sense of representation. The stories I want to tell are about people living boldly and chasing a sense of defiance, those who are seen by society as ‘Strangers’. I wanted to represent these characters as truthfully as possible, how they are misunderstood or shamed by a system for how viscerally they experience life. I want to continue to champion this generation.

‘Strangers’ performers Caitlyn Summer Gilmore (Ivy) and Jay Gordon-Turner (Noah).

Q: The characters in ‘Strangers’ are so well cast, where did you find the couple?
Emilie: They are not professional actors, but have an intrinsic understanding of character nuances. Caitlyn Summer Gilmore (Ivy) and Jay Gordon-Turner (Noah) are fresh out of high school. Jay is studying to be a fashion designer and Caitlyn is studying botany.

IDIDTHAT: Okay, they are literally the most interesting people we’ve heard of!

Emilie: I know right, haha. They were recommended by Mariana del Carmen, who played one of the leads in ekstasis. They are a couple in real life and although I saw a lot of really great actors in the casting process, the chemistry these two had was already on fire. Chemistry is so important, especially for this story and I felt that as a director you can always work with the actor on performance, but not necessarily completely recreate organic chemistry in such a short period of time.

Q: When you directed your short film Ekstatis, you worked very collaboratively alongside your actors, did you have the same approach with ‘Strangers’?
Emilie: Collaboration is something very important to me. When everyone on set feels they have a stake in the work and that their opinions matter, the work is always better. Often when I tell people I work collaboratively they mistake that for me not knowing what I want and it’s not that at all. I know exactly what I want as a director, I am very clear on what I want, and what the end goal is on every project. But, how I get there is up to us as a team and that is why I choose to have certain people around me.

Behind the scenes with director Emilie Badenhorst for ‘Strangers’ on location at Zone 7.

Never in danger of being described as ‘vanilla’, Emilie is not afraid to express her point of view, but whether she’s telling stories that cross socio-political boundaries or evocative love stories, with Emilie it’s always performance performance performance.

Wanna (s)talk some more? ROMANCE Films on IDIDTHAT and Company Website

STRANGERS FILM CREDITS

PRODUCTION COMPANY: COUSCOUS X ROMANCE
DIRECTOR: EMILIE BADENHORST
PRODUCER: DIDI EXELBY
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: SALIM EL ARJA
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: HELENA WOODFINE

FIRST ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: SARAH BLANCHARD

HEAD OF PRODUCTION: LEANNE SANDERS
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR: ELMAREE BOHM
PRODUCTION TRAINEE: CASEY DIEPEVEEN
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: TAPIWA MANDAZA
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT: MAMELLO MAKHETHA

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRANDON LEE BLIGHT
SOUND TECHNICIAN: LUIS TRUJILLO GARRIDO

FOCUS PULLER: MARK VAN ZYL
LOADER: TAFADZWA PASI
DIT & VT OPERATOR: MATTHEW SANDE

GAFFER: SELEMANI MEHANGO
BEST BOY: AHMADI KOKO
SPARK: LUDWE BALINTULO
SPARK: ISSA ZAIDI

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: SABRINA LINDER
PROPS MASTER: SAM KELLY
PROPS ASSISTANT: LEE SIMPSON

WARDROBE: MEGAN THERON
MAKEUP ARTIST: GISELLE INGABIRE
HAIR ARTIST: NONZALISEKO BANGANI

EDITOR: JULIAN REDPATH, LEFT POST
ONLINE EDITOR: KENO NAIDOO, LEFT POST
COLORIST: NIC APOSTOLI
SOUND DESIGN: OLYMPIC

UNIT MANAGER: CHRISTIAN MTSOTSOYI
MEDIC & SAFETY OFFICER: NAZLIE
CATERING: MAX KING

CASTING DIRECTOR: HOLLI BENNET, DISCO CASTING

CAST
IVY: CAITLYN SUMMER GILMORE
NOAH: JAY GORDON-TURNER
CASHIER: ANZIO SEPTEMBER
FISHERIES MANAGER: ANN CHARLES
ICE CREAM BOY: ANDREW MCINTYRE
KAREN: SUNETTE BESTER
OLD COUPLE: PAULINE SILVERWOOD
OLD COUPLE: RAY GOWAN

STUNTMAN: CHRIS VISSER

A SPECIAL THANKS TO
PANAVISION
PANALUX
VAN CARTEL
DISCO CASTING
SOUNDSPEED
MOICODE