IN CONVO: SAVANAH LEAF

It's been some time since the premier at the BFI London Film Festival where I first saw Earth Mama, however the feeling it gave me still lingers, as my mind continues to process the plight of its characters and the system which attempts to harvest all life from them. It was especially potent because the story is rooted in the truth of the California Bay Area community, burdened black motherhood and the unsettling knowing there are no happy endings. However, writer-director Savanah Leaf, manages to derive warmth and hope in a sanitary world, through the power of love and shared experience. I had the fortunate opportunity to not only interview Savanah, but also champion my friend upon the release of her debut feature film.

By Ebele Tate

Ebele: How are you? 

Savanah: I'm good. How are you doing? 

Ebele: I'm good! So like, oh my god, this film is so incredible. And I'm just so proud of you. Agh, you're just like, it's incredible!

Savannah: Thank you so much. That's kind.

Ebele: And how has the whirlwind been? It's been such a whirlwind, right? 

Savannah: It has been really crazy. Yeah, I mean, the last what? 12 hours or 24 hours or whatever it's been. It's been really weird. I was so surprised. And then, you know, I feel it's crazy because I went home to the house that I grew up in and then you just start reflecting on like, how did I, it was just like me and my mom in this little box little place, you know? 

Ebele: Don’t cos you're actually gonna make me cry.

Savannah: Yeah.

I start crying and so does Savanah. I couldn’t contain it. I felt so overcome by emotion to be in a position whereby I was interviewing a friend who I’ve watched embark on this journey from the beginning of her career, and arrive with such an assured and deeply moving debut, Earth Mama, to much critical acclaim including the win of the illustrious Douglas Hicktox ‘Debut Director’ award at the BIFA’s in december and most recently a BAFTA nomination for ‘Outstanding Debut’. What a result! And a win for Savanah is a win for all of us trying to make our way and tell our stories in an industry which habitually sidelines black and brown filmmakers.

Ebele: Oh God, do you know what it is? It’s because we haven't had a chance to even like, properly speak since the screening [BFI London Film Festival premier]. 

Savannah: Yeah.

Ebele: So I'm just, God I didn't want to get emotional. But…

Savannah: Yeah.

Ebele: Mate, like, I can't even express how excited I am for you, you're just fucking smashing it. And I was gonna say, congratulations on the win and like, what does it feel like to have this sort of, full circle moment of, you know, dreaming of this all this time, and the film just being so well received? You know, you've put so much blood sweat and tears into the process of making EARTH MAMA, and it's been received with so much love and adoration, how does that feel?

Savannah: It feels really crazy cos you know, like, you're still…well you sometimes don't get a chance to just like, take a breath. Like, I've been doing these things. And like, yeah, people might see the great reviews, but I haven't been necessarily reading everything. And I'm just kind of focused on how do we get this film to more people's eyes? Like how do we encourage people to see it? And, the people in the film just poured so much heart into this project and shared their life stories on screen. One of them who opens the film, just like, kept saying all she wants to do is be a public speaker and she's kinda doing that just by being in the film. So then last night, it was me just resting for a moment. And I was like, Oh, wow! Her voice and all these other people's voices is really out there. And like, we're really, you know, being recognised for it. Because sometimes it feels like nobody's recognising that. 

Ebele: Yeah, yeah. 

Savannah: Even if you, even if other people they're seeing it, like for me, you don't always get to register that. So yeah, it’s special.

Ebele: Well, let's go back to the beginning girl, cos, like, you know, G.O.A.T Film Club is a community of filmmakers just like yourself and those also trying to break into the industry, so I really wanted to build this conversation around what it was like getting to this point. And then of course, we'll talk about the film, but  this is all about where you came from, and how you got to this first point of a feature debut. Let's talk about Savannah the Olympian, you know, like, talk to me about that, and how do you feel that helped support you in filmmaking? 

Savannah: Yeah, I mean, it's crazy cos you know, as a kid when I realised that I had a talent in sports it’s kinda like, everything switched. Before that I was always drawing and doing all these artistic things. Within my suit of sports I felt like a natural talent for that so I just switched gears and that was everything. I was just training and training and it enabled me to go to university you know, full ride fully paid for, which I don't even know if I would have been able to go to university if I didn't have that, you know, and then it enabled me to play for for my home country Team GB and the London 2012 Olympics was just crazy. It gave me all these opportunities, I was able to play professionally and all of this was amazing, but it was also like, doing that it's just your body being active, it's like a performance. Sometimes you don't feel like you can fully emotionally express what's going on in your headspace. And so, when I got injured I was forced to kind of, be still and in that stillness I realised I really wanted to express stuff that was below the surface. At that time I decided to knock on a lot of people's doors, commercial production companies, cos maybe I read somewhere that people knock on doors, so I did that. And I really had nothing on my resume that I just kind of begged people to let me work for them. I started working at commercial companies as a Sales Rep Assistant and then from there, I made my first short film for like, 1000 bucks or 1000 pounds. So it was really like nothing, I don't understand how I even made something for that amount of money, it seems crazy! And then from there, I was asked to do a music video. And then like, did a one year master's programme in acting at Drama Centre London, which I don't even know still exists and that was to learn how to work with actors.

Ebele: Yeah, but didn't you go to Central St. Martin's and do..? 

Savannah: Yeah, that was in a programme within Central St. Martin's. 

Ebele: Got ya.

Savannah: And then I was making music videos and commercials for a company in-house. And then I had to move back to the US. And at that time, I was like, fuck, I'm still working for these companies. Like, when do you make the switch over from working inside a company and just being freelance? Like, that's like one of the scariest pivots, you know?

Ebele: Girl, yeah! 

Savannah: Right? You need the finance, but you also need the creative and you need to be a Director. So at some point, I just, like, took the leap. And I was terrified. And I was for a while, not sure you know, how I was going to financially do it. But then something just clicked at some moment and at that same time, I started writing the script [EARTH MAMA]. So, it's been a journey, but it's been a good one. 

Ebele: Yeah. Because it was based off of your short, THE HEART STILL HUMS right?

Savannah: Yeah. So I wrote, well the first draft of the script, which was kind of initially me reflecting on my relationship with my sister and her birth mom, and just like being a child who doesn't have your parents around you and kind of questioning why they're not raising you. So that first step was kind of roughly about that. 

Ebele: Talk to me more about that relationship. 

Savannah: Yeah. What, my sister? 

Ebele: Yeah.

Savannah: Well I was just kind of reflecting off of like, the moment I met my sister's birth mother, which was kind of based around that restaurant scene, which was really like, in the middle of the film. The midpoint. And I was imagining what she was going through. I think there's this big question in the film I set out with when I first wrote, which was like, can an audience ever feel empathy towards a mother, specifically a black pregnant mother, who makes a difficult decision while pregnant? You know? I don't really wanna give anything away, but like, that was the key kind of question, so I had that in that first draft of the script. And then I was like, questioning myself and then I made that short doc [THE HEART STILL HUMS], which was just kind of like emotional research for the script. I came back to the script afterwards and did further research about, what does it mean to be fit to parent? You know? And who determines that? And why is it so difficult to get out of that system? And what are the measurements and requirements that have been made for people? What are people's daily routines? Like all of that. I think it’s really interesting and important in understanding why it's so difficult to keep your children when you've been put in this sort of system that is constantly trying to take your children away. 

Ebele: Yeah, because in EARTH MAMA you could definitely see the evolution of your filmmaking practice from the documentary sphere into the fictional world. 

Savannah: Yeah. 

Ebele: You mentioned before, about incorporating real stories and real people. Talk to me about what it was like casting the film, and how those stories fed into the script. 

Savannah: Yeah, so I knew I wanted to cast this kind of combination of so many people, you know? Like people from acting space, from music space, the dance space, the basketball space, I was thinking everywhere. I wanted it to have that kind of voice that felt like everyone coming together. A community. And so we got these great casting directors on board to help guide us through that. And some of that started from, you know, the documentary, thinking about those people from there and then it extended to a lot of different nonprofit organisations, to basketball clubs, to local acting groups, and then kind of like the typical casting direction, and I knew I wanted to have this documentary element to the mother's group and certain scenes, but as we went on I just wasn't sure if that would work, you know? So I wrote it in the script that I have dialogue written in there for the mothers group, but I also wrote, like, we'd love to hear some real stories, if possible, but I don't know if anyone really wants to share their thing in a feature film. And then we had that day of shooting, the mother's group sharing their testimonies was like, maybe the third day of shooting. And that was like one of the craziest things because I think it just set the whole film into the right place because it inspired Eric Alexander with her portrayal of Miss Carmen and it inspired Doechii with her portrayal of Trina, Tia with her portrayal of Gia. Just hearing like real life experiences, from so many people with different personalities, you know?

Ebele: And how did you find Tia?

Savannah: So Tia is a musician that's from the Bay Area, which is where the film takes place. And we were looking everywhere for this Gia character, literally everywhere and Tia was one of the musicians we had reached out to, and we had reached out to a lot. And when she did her first casting session they instantly called me afterwards and they were like, I think you gotta see this casting tape. And when I looked at it she was just so tapped into her emotions, and she had just given birth the year prior, so she was still kinda breastfeeding, she was still going through postpartum, she was training to become a doula. She was doing all this stuff around motherhood. 

Ebele: Amazing. 

Savannah: So I was like, that's crazy. And she's also tapped into her emotions, like very intuitively. And then the question became like, can she handle this role? She's in almost every scene, you know, can she handle it. And how is she at taking direction? That became the kind of question over the course of the next three to four sessions.

Ebele: And what kind of techniques did you use to help draw that performance out of her [Tia Nomore]?

Savannah: During set or getting cast?

Ebele: Just throughout the process really.

Savannah: In the casting… She turned up to one of our casting sessions and was wearing a lot of makeup because she just came from a show. And like, I instantly got rubbed the wrong way, because I’d asked everyone when they come to the casting session to be as stripped back as possible. Like, I don't like to see any makeup because I don't want to feel like you're trying to be something, I really want to see who are you without anything, you know? Your hair, everything. And so it really kind of threw me off because she was so done up and so the next time around, I was like, I just had her do kind of different techniques of like screaming as hard as she could and then entering a scene, or like, doing jumping jacks and then entering into a scene, or like, different kinds of movement based actions to kind of see how that adjusts her scene work. And then in prepping for the film, we slowly picked apart the script. I showed her probably 70% of the scripts and not the last 30% until we were almost done with the film. And we just analysed everybody's emotional relationships with Gia and why they are that way and how that might relate to us as people. And then we did little sessions where Tia would wear her belly and become Gia and then kind of play her relationships with other people around her. So for one day, her and Doechii went to the mall and tried on bras and like went children's book shopping, and the whole time they're playing Gia and Trina to kind of build their history of their relationship. So stuff like that, you know? 

Ebele: Love that. And what was your process when finding Doechii?

Savannah: Well that was a tough character, that was probably one of the later characters that we passed, because I knew she needed to be that person. You know, faking that kind of like best friend energy, that's a little bit problematic, but also really fun. And like you need that person. Faking that, is just so, we can all tell. So I knew she needed that energy as soon as she walks in. And I also knew that she needs to be kind of like, fierce and quite strong. And also unyielding in her opinions. So one of the scenes that we did the casting sessions around was the argument scene and then we did a funny scene. And so when I saw Doechii, her comedic timing is kind of insane. Like, she just can do it like this. She doesn't always memorise the lines, but she can quickly memorise them very last minute, and her timing is crazy. So she kind of adds humour to it that you didn't even know was there a lot of time. And then we did the argument scene and she like, I don't know if you've seen her  music video ‘Crazy’, but she just lets loose, and so she had both of that. She could let loose and give you her opinion and not be afraid of that opinion and she could also be fun and bubbly and making you fall on your belly, you know, laughing and so she had both of those.

Ebele: Do you feel like you've learned anything about yourself as a director working with non-actors through this process? And actors in the same vein? 

Savannah: Yeah, definitely. I think one of the hardest things about directing is you're on a set with so many different personalities, so many different like processes, especially from an acting perspective, sometimes you know, we've got one person that wants to laugh in between takes and make jokes, and then you've got another person that needs to be in their headspace in the corner, like mentally going through the whole thing, another person that wants to talk to you through the whole scene. And another person that doesn't know what they want, you know, and like, is kind of being influenced. And so it's really interesting, because you have to look at all these different personality types and try to help them with that kind of process. And I find that like… that taught me so much about myself, about patience, balancing and then also, how do I push people? And sometimes people might be angry at you, you know? And they don’t even know why they're angry at you, but they’re angry at you because you're putting them through that emotion. And you can’t take offence to that, you just have to accept it. And you have to be like, alright, you're angry at me. Let me just absorb that and like, let's get this. 

Ebele: Right!

Savannah: That's really tough. So it taught me so much about patience and trying really hard, because it's really difficult not to take things personally. So yeah.

Ebele: Yeah. I think also, it's such a… I feel like this story has lived within you for such a long time, as well. So it makes sense that you are in turn very protective of that yourself.

Savannah: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You're so protective. Also, anytime someone says something horrendous it's like, you take offence to it, because you're like, man, it feels like a direct attack on you. And so you're constantly defending yourself, but also, you've got to try to learn to not feel like you need to defend yourself.

Ebele: And how did you find that? Like through the development process, when you were creating the script with Film4 and A24, when did they come on? What was that like? I noticed that you had two production companies, Academy and Park Pictures, is that correct? 

Savannah: Yeah. 

Ebele: What was that process like for you? 

Savannah: So Academy, Film4 and Park Pictures came on board pretty early. You know, Academy didn't have much film experience, but I had worked with them a lot. And they obviously support Glazer a lot so they had an understanding of filmmaking in cinema really well. And then Park Pictures has similar films, but it has this kind of US centric mindset. So they understand unions, and like, all these parts of production that our UK based producers had less experience or knowledge with. And then Film4 and A24, you know, Film4 came on board earlier and was really integral to the whole writing process. And they're still kind of focused on the creative and how do you tell your story that you want to tell in the best way and is the clearest way. And then also challenging you to find the best version of that. And then A24 came on board to finance the film. So the script was done, but we were casting and all of that, so their focus was a little bit more on the kind of casting and the editing of the whole film, and how that relates to an audience and are audiences receiving what you want them to receive. But also, will it be able to get to the audience's that you want to receive this film? So it's an interesting combination of all these different perspectives, but also very important perspectives to the process. 

Ebele: Yeah, absolutely. And how long was that process for you from inception, to getting Film4 on board, to then delivery of the film?

Savannah: So I first wrote it, I want to say 20…I don't know, 2018 maybe I first had the first idea and then wrote the first chapter early 2019, made the short film September, I think it's 2019. Release it early 2020. But while in that time of releasing it, we got Film4 on board and Park Pictures and Academy came on board. And then from then until late 2019 or early 2020 I'd say 2021, late 2021, we were writing and developing it. So end of 2021, we got our financing. And then 2022 We shot the film that summer and then released it early 2023.

We both crack up laughing. The drive, commitment and determination needed for long-form filmmaking is not lost on us. The process is brutal and masochists need only apply. 

Ebele: And how long was your shoot? Because I remember talking to you before you were going into shoot, and then literally seeing you after you had shot the film.

Savannah: Yeah, it was only 26 Shooting days.

Ebele: Wow. 

Savannah: It's tight, it was a tight schedule. 

Ebele: Yeah.

Savannah: And so, you know, everything felt really quick, like as soon as you are into pre-production. Because it feels like it takes forever just to get through to production. And then as soon as you're in pre-production, it's like, everything goes, goes go-go-go goes. And then you're done filming and you're like, okay… what have I filmed?

The belly is bustin’at this point.

Ebele: What have I done?! Pahahahaha!

Savannah: And then we had, which was just crazy, only had three months of editing, which was really quick. And then we had a month and a half of music and post, so like, from when we were given the go ahead to start pre-production through, you know, finishing the film, it was only like, six months or something. So yeah, it was kind of crazy.

Ebele: A whirlwind. 

Savannah: Yeah yeah yeah. 

Ebele: And when you were developing the language of the film, what were those collaborations like with your cinematographer? 

Savannah: Yeah, so I'm trying to figure out who to be our cinematographer and one of the people that I was excited about was Jody Lee Lipes, because I had loved everything he had done before. But also, he's a very narrative based DP, he has a lot more experience than I have and we had worked together on short form stuff. And so when he first met me after reading the scripts, he also read the script in like, a day, so I was already kind of loving that, because I hate sending a script to someone, and then they take like, forever to read, it’s like so anxiety inducing. So he read the script quickly and then he said he loved it, and like, let's chat. So we went for a walk and that walk was me kind of telling him I don't want to shoot this shaky handheld, I don't want to force any of the emotion through the camera, I want to be a bit more like, let Gia speak for herself and walk beside her. And so together we created this language, which was both a lot of static camera, but also a lot of dollies. You start on one end of the track, you go to the whole other end of the track and then you come back and it feels almost like you're trying to get out of something and then you get pulled back in. 

Ebele: Right. Which is really indicative of this cycle that Gia is going through as a character. I found it really interesting the way you entrapped her in this 4:3 [ratio] space, which really reflected this entrapment in her environment and in her circumstances. And what was really interesting as well was this look into the generational trauma of black motherhood and the absence of Gia’s own mother, and how that plays out in the other women within the film as well. Talk to me about your intentions behind that. 

Savannah: Yeah, I was kind of thinking a lot about, in a lot of these spaces Gia feels really cold, because she's in these very sterile environments. And she's being told, be a parent in that circumstance. So you know, one visitation room she's supposed to be a parent and show her kids she loves them in a space that is like, you know, grey walls, grey carpet, not much to play with there. And she's being watched all the time. Or in the hospital which is a place where you give birth, and it doesn't feel like a birthday environment, you know. And then kind of contrasting that with something that feels really erm… tapping into her natural state and this kind of lineage of black mothers and the strength of our maternal innate instincts and the escape of recalling into your physical self. So I wanted to show that contrast in our visuals through this surrealism I suppose. 

Ebele: Umm yeah, I really loved the way you peppered the trees in, like when she's looking out the window but it’s onto a forest and then we finally go into this forest, but by way of something that's actually quite devastating and falling back into this old habit that she’s trying to break free from, but at the same time its this space of safely. Talk to me about this decision to use trees as a motif and the language of the Redwood. 

Savannah: Well I had been thinking a lot about umbilical cords and you know, watching my sister's little umbilical cord dry up and then fall off, it's like our connection to our parents and how weird that looks, and also how powerful that symbology is. Shedding the thing that you survived inside, shedding your only connective piece. So that was really important and powerful to me and there’s that same sort of connection that Redwood trees have with one another, they like speak to each other and so maybe some of it is a bit surreal and hard to articulate but there was a connection between that kind of umbilical cord and how trees have umbilical cords beneath the ground as well. 

Ebele: That's beautiful. So last question, what would your advice be for filmmakers pushing into their first debut feature?

Savannah: I would probably say… Yeah. Keep going. I know it sounds crazy, it's tough. Everything is so erm, it feels… like you go through these rollercoaster of emotions and I think you should find your person that's not on set or find a couple people, but find people in your life that you can tap in with outside the production of it all, because sometimes you need an outlet outside of filmmaking to just feel love and support cos it's heavy stuff.

The belly laughs return and I wish I had more time to keke with my friend, however time has run out and so again I congratulate her on what I consider to be one of the most beautiful films I’ve seen in 2023 and implore you all to watch it. Earth Mama coming to a streaming platform near you!

Ebele Tate is an award winning multidisciplinary creator, filmmaker, and the founder of G.O.A.T Film Club. Born and raised in London, she is interested in the intersection of gender, class, race and culture and is dedicated to creating work which challenges the status quo from an authentic perspective. A National Film and Television School ‘Directing Fiction’ alumni, where she was awarded a Channel 4 Scholarship, and an NYU TISCH School of the Arts alumni, where she also studied filmmaking.