“Masterpiece Mommy,” the musical short starring Chinese singer-songwriter Leah Dou, has been selected for the Short Cuts program of the 49th annual Toronto International Film Festival.
The film, which was shot in London in four days, marks Dou’s international acting debut outside of China.
Directed and written by London-based photographer Dorothy Sing Zhang, “Masterpiece Mommy” follows a girl named Justine (Dou) as she accompanies her mother to her mammogram appointment.
“While in the waiting room, Justine’s interior world starts to shift, leading her to question her deep desires and the edges of the sharp bond between her and her mother, ultimately uncovering the true reason for their strained relationship,” the synopsis reads.
For her first narrative film, Zhang wanted to “create new images” that aren’t associated with musicals.
“It’s about a mother and daughter, but I don’t see it as a sentimental piece,” Zhang tells Variety. “I’m not very interested in sentimentality. I really saw this set up as a vehicle to push fiction.”
The film was shot by cinematographer Maximilian Pittner and features a score composed by Sebastian Gainsborough. Lyrics were written by Zhang and the film’s soundtrack composer Alex Minyailo. “Masterpiece Mommy” is produced by Iconoclast.
Ahead of “Masterpiece Mommy’s” world premiere at TIFF in September, Zhang and Dou share exclusive details with Variety about the musical short film.
What was the inspiration behind “Masterpiece Mommy”?
Dorothy Sing Zhang: The desire came when I watched a mammogram procedure. It’s a very strange image — the breasts being flattened — and that this image carried information about death, it felt like a practical sort of surrealism. And the desire to make it a musical was because the machine made these noises that were very rhythmic and melodic like it could be a song, so it was already whimsical and had this spirit to it.
How did you two connect to make the film? Did you know each other prior to shooting “Masterpiece Mommy”?
Zhang: I think an Asian cast felt unfamiliar to this genre, so it was interesting to give some new images to the genre. Leah was the first person that came to mind when I decided that the cast should be Asian, and we had a mutual friend. And I just kept bothering her, really.
Leah, what drew you to the project?
Leah Dou: Honestly, I think what really drew me in was Dorothy — as a person, not just a director. I remember getting on a call with her once our mutual friend had linked us up, and the call was about five hours. And we just talked. I mean, we talked about “Masterpiece Mommy,” but we also talked about other things, and I think we really just connected as people.
How did you prepare for the musical scenes?
Dou: Dorothy and I had rehearsed the scenes a couple of times before shooting, and a really important note — or something that really left an impression is that Dorothy didn’t want me to focus on singing the songs as a vocalist. It was definitely more emotion heavy rather than trying to get those notes right, and so with that in mind, I think what was more important in those scenes was the movement and the acting.
Zhang: An idea that was central was it shouldn’t sound like anything Disney. The way that everyone’s singing needed to be pragmatic, so it was interesting working with the other actors and — I don’t say this in a bad way — I think it was a gift that they were a little bit tone deaf. Especially the mother in the first song; she’s completely off pitch, and the nurse as well. We really liked that, and we didn’t try to pitch correct it.
The songs themselves are quite whimsical. The melody can get very Disney very quickly, so it was wonderful that most of them couldn’t sing. Also, continuity-wise, I think it was important that Leah shouldn’t sing that well — as this kind of vocalist.
What were some of the challenges you had working on this film? And what did you learn from the experience?
Zhang: I feel like I’m still comprehending what I learned, other than just the tedious production aspect. It’s my first narrative film, so it was my first time directing actors. I felt like an imposter because directing actors is something I’m unfamiliar with, so I felt like I was faking playing this role as the director.
Dou: Coming from the music side, it was to let go of a certain way of singing, and that was definitely one of the adjustments that I had to make. Another thing is that I had just wrapped up shooting a TV series in China. I had been working on that for four months, and then going to London and working with Dorothy, it was a very different dynamic; it was a very different approach in acting.
This was my first time working with a cast and a crew that isn’t Chinese or in China, so I definitely did learn a lot from that by just observing how different crews worked and how different directors worked.
Dorothy, do you see yourself expanding “Masterpiece Mommy” into a feature film?
ZHANG: It’s interesting you say that because I’ve seen a lot of short films where they act as pitches for features. I think the story and the songs are fitted for a short format project. I want to make a feature, but I think it’s unlikely that it will be a musical.
This conversation has been edited and condensed.
