The Spotlight: Anna Gutto
Anna Gutto discusses making her debut feature film and how she found herself behind the camera in ‘Paradise Highway’
By Anna Fredrikke Bjerke, Norway Ambassador for FREE THE WORK
The Spotlight is an interview series in which we follow under-the-radar contenders as they break ground in the festival and awards space. For FREE THE WORK, Norway Ambassador Anna Fredrikke Bjerke interviewed director Anna Gutto at NIFF.
Last August, the 50th-anniversary edition of the Norwegian International Film Festival kicked off with epic programming highlighting Norwegian cinema. Standing out from the pack was filmmaker Anna Gutto’s feature directorial debut, ‘Paradise Highway,’ which had premiered at Locarno Film Festival earlier the same month.
Its impressive cast is led by Oscar-winner Juliette Binoche as Sally, a seasoned truck driver who agrees to smuggle illicit cargo for a deadly prison gang in order to save her brother’s life (Frank Grillo). But to Sally’s surprise, the ‘package’ she is meant to pick up is a 13-year-old victim of human trafficking, Leila (newcomer Hala Finley). Morgan Freeman joins them as Agent Gerick.
Serving as an indictment of a broken system, ‘Paradise Highway’ examines the unfathomable ways the authorities fail to perpetuate the heinous crime of human trafficking, which disproportionately affects women. Anna Gutto spent nearly two decades in the States, first in New York and then in Los Angeles, before returning to Oslo during the pandemic, which is where I caught up with her to discuss her shift from acting to directing, being compelled to tell pertinent subject matters on screen.
Anna Fredrikke Bjerke: When did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?
Anna Gutto: I was interested in storytelling from a very young age and acting in school plays was what was available to me as a kid. I ended up playing a lot of male characters because they were the most interesting, and nobody else wanted to learn that many lines. I went on to do theater professionally for many years, first in Norway and then in New York, where I started two theater companies and mounted many plays. Among them are all the US premieres of [Norwegian playwright] Jon Fosse.
I always knew I would progress to directing, but as I started directing more, I realized the theater was not the right medium for me as a director. From a creative perspective, it was because, in the theater, the information always has to be in the dialogue, and a craved the ability to guide the audience's eye more visually. I had also grown increasingly aware of how theater often became an exercise in telling stories to “my friends.” Not literally, but in the sense that most people who go to the theater already view the world the same way as I do; they read the same newspapers; see the same shows, vote for the same political party, etc. I wanted to reach a wider, more diverse audience.
… if I didn’t feel joy from the work even on the toughest days, then I’m not sure it’d be worth it. I think it needs to feel that way. Joyful!
AFB: I can certainly relate to that: the desire to tell stories was always there but the transition into becoming a director happened organically. And it went pretty naturally with writing my own stories. With that in mind, I am curious about where you pull inspiration from.
AG: I pull inspiration from reality more than fiction; life around me and the wider world — the news, docs, conversations, people on the subway or on the street, that crazy lady at the store or the old guy at the corner, that mousy girl in the building down the block, the flowers in the park, the morning sky, family and friends — everything that surrounds us, big and small. I do of course also draw inspiration from great filmmakers, but my core inspiration tends to spring from real-life experiences and situations.
AB: As for your writing process, would you mind telling me a little more about it?
AG: As for everyone I’m sure, I’m attracted to stories I find fascinating, and they tend to be about untold situations or a new angle or perspective on something familiar. For me, when there is something I don’t understand, it makes me curious, and — if I’m lucky — there is a story worth telling.
AFB: What kind of characters are you attracted to?
AG: What I’ve realized from looking back at the films I’ve done is that it tends to be characters that are underexposed. Like the female truck driver in ‘Paradise Highway’ or the mothers in ‘Mommy Heist’ who perform a heist with their babies. Or a new angle on characters we’ve seen before, like the quarterback football player in ‘A Lucky Man.’
AFB: I think there is an automatic curiosity to that as an audience member: when you don’t immediately recognize the character or necessarily know where the story is going to go.
AG: Yeah, and it is exciting to see characters that we haven’t seen before. That said, I’ve found that sometimes audience members, or even critics, get taken aback by it.
AFB: You mentioned ‘Paradise Highway’, your most recent work, which recently played at the Norwegian Film Festival in Haugesund. It is such an explosion of expression. What was it about this story that made you want to tell it?
AG: ’Paradise Highway’ became the story that it is because of a lot of different elements. I would say that the very first seed was planted when I was a teenager: it turned out that there had been a brothel in my friend’s building. I was shocked that it had happened right under our noses. Obviously, some time passed before I started writing the [script for ‘Paradise Highway’] but the issue of trafficking stayed with me. I became increasingly aware of how pervasive it is and how prevalent it is, also in the U.S. There’s also so much in [the film] that is influenced by having conversations with female truck drivers. As I started writing the script, I especially got to know this one-woman trucker, Desiree Wood. She invited me into this community where they would have these conference calls while they were on the road. They would be all over the country, from Colorado to Florida, and I would sit in my tiny apartment in New York, listening in on these conversations and being invited to participate. A lot of the truckers’ dialogue in the movie is actually a direct transcript of these conversations. And it goes beyond that: so much in the film is imbued with what I learned from spending time with these women. They all have tough life experiences and traumas that have forced them to make active choices — to better their own lives and the lives of their family members. I also went on the road with Desiree…
For me, when there is something I don’t understand, it makes me curious, and — if I’m lucky — there is a story worth telling.
AFB: I am sure there are several moments that stand out from going on the road with Desiree, but is there one in particular?
AG: There are many things, but I think what really stood out was how little truck drivers are respected; how few resting stops are accommodating to them and how, at the delivery sites, they often have to wait for hours to deliver their cargo, and then they are not even allowed to use the bathroom. And how, of course, for women truckers everything is even harder.
AFB: What was the editing process like? Did the film change much?
AG: The editing process is when you make the final film, and it’s just so fun, because now you have it all. It’s right there. The script is a blueprint at best. Now, for this movie, I had worked on the script for so many years, so the film didn’t end up being that different. It’s very much the same story. Still, there are scenes that, because of the performances of the actors, especially those of Juliette and Hala, became different, or more, than what they were on the page.
So, of course, during the editing process, we worked with what was there. My editor, Christian Siebenherz, who’s very talented, technically of course, but he also has a great sense of dramaturgy and character. He has a great imagination and is unafraid of trying to make something work, also when you’d initially think there is no way that would work, but then he tries…and he makes it work.
I added some scenes [during the writing process] for how the relationship between Juliette and Hala’s characters develops, but then when we shot the scenes, their relationship worked so well that we ended up not needing all those scenes. There are also some scenes that worked in a different order than what I had written. But, if you read the script and saw the film, it’s the same story.
AFB: Have you edited out images that have stayed with you?
AG: In this film, there are very few scenes that we actually cut out. I tried to look for deleted scenes to put on the bonus features, and could only find three. There were hardly any deleted scenes, but a lot of scenes got shortened. And some scenes got moved around, which had to do with character development.
AFB Speaking of working with actors, how has your background as an actor shaped how you direct?
AG: Well, it is the only background I have, so I can’t compare but I am very happy to have that experience because I know how to communicate with actors, and my theater background has given me discipline — the curtain rises at 8 pm no matter what. There are of course directors who don’t have an acting background who are brilliant with how they communicate with actors, it’s difficult to know if my ease is [because of my background].
AFB: ’Paradise Highway’ is your first feature film. What have been some of the more unexpected challenges or surprises of navigating the festival circuit and the release?
AG: There are always surprises and things to navigate! Lionsgate [the distributor] didn’t see festivals as important for their strategy, so unfortunately for me, the film didn’t have much of a festival run. Locarno Film Festival with 8000 people at Piazza Grande was a strong experience though. Sitting there in light rain on and off, and thunder in a distance — watching our movie, which also had light rain and thunder in a distance.
The biggest stakes for me were when we screened the film for our trafficking advocacy partners — before the film was shared with an audience. They appreciated the film wholeheartedly and that meant a lot to me. Not that I made the film for them, I made the film for the audience, but to know that the film respected its topic and the people portrayed, was powerful. There was especially this one organization, Truckers Against Trafficking, which said that they’d been approached by film and television productions for years, but this was the first time they wanted to put their name on a project. The response from these people who work with this issue every day meant a lot to me, so, by the time reviews came in, I had already gotten the approval that meant the most to me. Of course, it was still great to get that stellar review from Variety tick-in! For this particular movie, because it was marketed so singularly as a thriller, while it really is more of a character-driven road movie, I knew it would hit some negative responses from the people who went in expecting a run-of-the-mill thriller. And that’s okay. The critics who got the movie loved it, and it’s good when you read reviews where your intention and execution have become so clear to people.
And it was the same with the audience. There too, yes, some would get disappointed from the expectation the marketing created, and I knew that would happen, but rest…I received so many overly enthusiastic responses on social media and in person from people. I was surprised by how strongly the movie affected so many people. That was beyond expectation! And the conversations it started — and continues to spark. That’s the real excitement!
AFB: Lastly, what’s one key piece of advice you would give to other writers/directors who are getting their start in today’s industry?
AG: I’d say to check with yourself whether it’s really what you love to do. I love my work so much that all the hard, persistent work doesn’t feel tough, but if I didn’t really love it, if I didn’t feel joy from the work even on the toughest days, then I’m not sure it’d be worth it. I think it needs to feel that way. Joyful!
‘Paradise Highway’ is available on AppleTV, Amazon Prime, and everywhere else you rent or buy movies in the U.S.
Anna Fredrikke Bjerke is a Norwegian screenwriter and film director based in London with a penchant for character-driven stories that speak to contemporary issues of gender politics and representation.
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