Francesca Eastwood On ‘M.F.A.,’ SXSW, Sexual Assault, Dad Clint Eastwood [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Actress Francesca Eastwood, daughter of Clint Eastwood, found a script that deeply resonated with her in the rape revenge film M.F.A. Directed by Natalia Leite, the movie stars Eastwood as Noelle in a visual arts student in an M.F.A. program. Noelle gets entangled with classmate Luke (Peter Vack). After Noelle is assaulted by Luke, she attempts to report the crime to her school, but realizes to her disappointment that the institution won’t do anything to aid her. After accidentally killing Luke, Noelle seeks to avenge college girls whose attackers have walked free.

On her first read of the script, Eastwood, 23, was immediately captured by it. “I loved the script. When I sat down, I was just going to skim it, and see what the gist was, and I ended up reading it page to page, and got through it in record time,” Eastwood told uInterview exclusively. “I was just in love. And I was like, I have to be part of this story.”

Eastwood divulged that playing the role was not without its challenges. “I’d be lying if I said that there wasn’t some fear and some nervousness, even now, there’s some nervousness. But I”m very glad that it was made,” she said. “I trusted Leah and I trusted Natalia, their knowledge and creativity, and I’m very glad that I did.”

Understandably, the most challenging part of the film was acting out the assault scene. “It was very vulnerable and emotional, but there’s a clear intent and a reason to do it,” the actress said.

Have her parents – Clint Eastwood and actress Frances Fisher – seen it yet?  “My mom just saw it, my dad hasn’t seen it,” she revealed.

Eastwood had her own personal motivations for participating in the film. “I felt an obligation and a pressure to push myself to do the best job that I possibly could,” she explained. “I felt like it was a responsibility to give it a hundred percent just because I’ve been through something. Everyone on the project has a very personal reason that they’re doing it.”

M.F.A. premiered in the Narrative Feature Competition section at the SXSW Film Festival on March 13, 2017, to general acclaim.