Director Molly Ratermann Chats Darkly Funny Short Film SUICIDE

Usually, with a name like Suicide, one can expect a heavy and perhaps unpleasant affair. However, in Molly Ratermann's short film, we follow best friends Carson and Franny into the desert, where Carson plans to execute her grand death, and laugh along the way. Suicide manages to explore sexuality, friendship, and of course, death, in 20 sharp and refreshing minutes.

First-time director Molly Ratermann speaks with Winter Film Awards' Allison Jiang about the process and the message behind her film.

See the NYC Premiere of 'Suicide' on Saturday February 25 at the 2017 Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival. For tickets and more information, visit winterfilmawards.com/wfa2017.

Q: In one sentence, what is this film about?

One sentence, that's tough! Suicide is a coming of age film encompassing Carson, a suicide planning hobbyist, who, in her final attempt, will have to truly make a life or death decision.

Q: I think everyone who watches Suicide will relate to Carson, played by you, in some way. What inspired this witty and misunderstood character?

I wanted to make a character that was relatable for a lot of the wrong reasons. Carson is definitely a bit quirky and clearly delusional, but more than that, I think people relate to her pettiness. Everyone has moments when they feel no one understands or that their small problem is the biggest problem in the world, no one could possibly understand. For Carson, she takes it to the extremes. The reason satire works is because it's over-dramatizing a subject and I wanted to do that with Carson, apply what works about satire to her character... So I tried to make her an over-dramatized character in an attempt to put under a magnifying glass her perspectives and faults. I also thought it would be fun to have an excited and positive character who is attempting suicide.

Q: You starred in, directed, wrote, and produced this film. How was it juggling all these roles? What was it like stepping into the directing arena?

Juggling all the roles was definitely tough, but I actually really enjoyed it. It's kind of great having your mind running a million miles an hour and ending the day feeling really fulfilled... and of course exhausted. Actually, the first project I did as an actor after Suicide, I was really RESTLESS on set feeling like I should be doing so many other things. I had juggled the roles before on a much smaller scale which helped quite a bit on this project. I also had a really effective crew who were totally on top of things and gave great feedback.

Stepping into directing is one of my favorite things. It's a great feeling when you've compiled a vision in your head or thought of nuances in a scene and then making it come to life. I also love being able to collaborate with both actors and crew. It's like using totally different parts of your brain and is a great challenge, problem solving on both ends.

Q: The desert scenes in this were gorgeous. Where did you shoot these and were there any COMPLICATIONS that came with it?

We shot all of the desert scenes in DEATH VALLEY in California. Oddly, shooting guerilla style in the desert had way less COMPLICATIONS than I would have thought. The only real complication was chasing the light, especially when doing the sunset scenes because it really gives you a very small amount of time to keep consistency while you're shooting. We were also a limited crew, so lugging everything so far off the road was a bit of a workout, but made it all even more fun. The desert itself, though, was stunning and we really lucked out with the weather as well.

Q: Suicide is a funny, feel-good film about, well, suicide. What were you trying to say about the nature of suicide with this film? What was your message in writing the ending you wrote?

Well I wanted to make a film that highlighted the topic of suicide, but in a way that wasn't too heavy for people to watch and for me, comedy has always been a successful way of handling tough subjects. More people deal with and are affected by suicide and depression than I think people realize. I wanted this film to be a flurry of things surrounding the topic of suicide. I'd like people to walk away from the film with more perspectives on the topic than just one. Whenever a film has made me sympathize with more than one character's perspective, it sticks in my mind and becomes a real subject for me to think about, debating all angles. At the very least, I hope the seriousness of suicide and mental illness becomes something the audience walks away sincerely thinking about, not bogged down about.

Q: What are you working on next?

At the moment, we're in post on a short and in development on a feature. Hopefully some fun projects to look out for this year and next year from us.

By Allison Jiang. Allison Jiang hopes to one day work with words for a living, own a big dog, and set a world record for watching television. She currently goes to school at Johns Hopkins University, where she is not studying to become a doctor.

Winter Film Awards Is New York City. Like the city itself, we showcase the eclectic diversity and excitement of the independent arts world. Winter Film Awards is proudly one of the Top 10 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway.

The rapidly growing Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, now in its sixth year, is a dynamic and exciting event in the heart of the City. Winter Film Awards showcases films from emerging filmmakers from around the world in all genres with a special emphasis on highlighting the work of women and minority filmmakers. The Festival runs February 23-March 4 2017 in New York City.

Among the 88 Official Selections to be screened at Cinema Village in the heart of Greenwich Village (22 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10003), is a diverse mixture of 11 Animated films, 8 Documentaries, 11 Feature narratives, 10 Horror films, 12 Music Videos, 24 Narrative shorts and 7 Web series, including 12 student films and 33 first-time filmmakers. Filmmakers come from 30 countries; 42% of the films were created by women, 45% were created by people of color. Visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com for schedules, tickets and details!