Josh Burkey, Victims and Villains: Congratulations on having your short film, Bowling 4 EVA, being an official selection of GenreBlast Film Festival. For those who weren't in attendance or haven't had a chance to see the film, can you tell us a little bit about what the film is about?
Aelfie Oudghiri: Thank you. The film is about a teenage girl on 24/7 suicide watch by her weirdo family in their breathtakingly bizarre McMansion. She passes her time bowling and making bad decisions on the internet.
JB: This movie seems extremely personal and at the end it is dedicated to your grandfather. Can you tell me a little bit about the relationship you guys had and that influenced the making of this short film?
AO: My grandfather was a serious bowler and managed multiple alleys at one point, too. He taught me to bowl when I was kicked out of high school.
JB: Bowling is very experimental. It blends elements of live action and animation. How did the animated elements come about for this short film?
AO: The story came to me all at once, so the animated elements were always part of it. I sketched it all out as a comic.
JB: This short film is also a timepiece. Some of the animation audiences will see are the clunky 3D animations of the 90s. Why did you choose to set it up this time?
AO: It's visually a lot of fun. I like the clothes, the graphics, the music. I made Bowling 4 Eva right when we were sort of coming out of Covid and honestly, I just wanted to do something super fun and outrageous with my friends. I wanted to get far away from the 2020s.
JB: The 90s were a different time in bowling alleys. The animations on strikes and spares were random and wild. What was the creative process to recreate those animations and make them your own at the same time?
AO: The artist Julian Glander recommended the animator Nate Die to me, who is massively talented. I sent him references and a pretty detailed storyboard. And that was basically that. He ran wild with it.
JB: I spoke earlier about how personal this film feels. It embraces some pretty intense mental health themes including depression and suicide. Was this a therapeutic experience for you as a filmmaker?
AO: Making the film was cheaper and more effective than a year of talk therapy. So, yes.
JB: Kristina's journey throughout the film dives deep into the very real reality of depression, especially as a teenager. How much of this is autobiographical?
AO: I was once a chronically online, depressed teen-girl much like Kristina. It's fairly autobiographical, but I think a lot of us can relate to her dissociative world view.
JB: Even with some of the more weightier thematic elements, Bowling manages to deliver some comedic elements. How were you guys able to balance the tone of the narrative?
AO: Even the worst parts of your life can be funny in retrospect.
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Victims and Villains is written (and produced) by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey and others, and edited by Cam Smith. Music by Mallory Johnson and others. We do not own nor claim any rights.
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