Leah McKendrick & Natalia Leite On ‘M.F.A.,’ SXSW, Francesca Eastwood [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Leah McKendrick & Natalia Leite On ‘M.F.A… by Uinterview

Natalia Leite and Leah McKendrick, director and writer of the new thriller, M.F.A, spoke exclusively to uInterview at SXSW 2017 about the film which stars Francesca Eastwood as Noelle a student in a visual arts program, who is raped by a classmate. Noelle attempts to report the crime to her school, but realizes to her disappointment that the institution won’t do anything to aid her.

McKendrick explained her motivation behind the project. “Writing the script was really in response to all of the very similar stories I kept seeing popping up in the media about these girls being assaulted in school, and the system failing them, whether it be the school or the police,” McKendrick told uInterview.

“Feeling like I needed to do something, and not really knowing that I had any power in any way, and putting that into my art, and writing a script that I felt hopefully gave a little cinematic catharsis and retribution that hopefully girls would be entertained,” she said. “Not just girls obviously, but the girls that’ve experienced this and boys as well hopefully, would feel like their voice had been heard, and that it matters.”

McKendrick then described director Leite as “the perfect director.” Leite herself had endured a similarly traumatic experience, and was immediately drawn to the script upon reading it.

“I read the script, and was immediately like, it’s such a page turner, it was super engaging, super entertaining, read it super fast, and it was really well-written,” Leite praised. ” I was drawn to the subject matter also just on a personal level, having gone to art school, and having gone through similar situations.”

M.F.A. is not your typical rape-revenge film, however, which Leite went on to explain. “It seems like a lot of those films were more from a male perspective, a lot of them were male directors.”

“And that a lot of times, when you see stories where, the rape-revenge stories, where women are out seeking revenge and killing people. They’re crazy and you don’t connect with them, and they’re just psychotic women, you know? And for us, we wanted to do something where the character’s super likeable, and we can relate to her, even though she’s doing bad things,” the director said.

McKendrick also emphasized that her inspiration for writing the script came organically.

“I just write from my own perspective, so everything that I write is always going to have that female protagonist, and is going to be empowering to women hopefully. That’s always my goal and where my artistic preferences lie,” she said.

On the choice of Eastwood for the role, director Leite said, “She really understood the story, she was willing to take the risks that it called for… We wanted someone to have a very innocent and charismatic look and yet have a lot of depth to her, and can just go on this emotional journey with her, and I think she really achieved that.”

 

The film premiered nationwide on March 13, 2017, to rave reviews from audiences and critics alike.