by Reuben Stojanovic-Rowe
“I was very fortunate to get Lachy and Michala involved, and everything just fell into place after that,” reflects young Victorian filmmaker Finegan Sampson.
Starting in high school theatre, Sampson soon turned his sights behind the camera, completing a short film for his film studies, and starting a production company with his filmmaking buddies.
“It’s called OneHouse Productions. In university, there were four of us who were shooting things daily. We thought, let’s come together and form a place where we can share our passion for storytelling. We’re operating in Collingwood where we do lots of corporate stuff, music videos and now short films.”
Teach Me How to Cry is an intimate character study of middle-aged actor Graham (Lachy Hulme) struggling to tap into the emotional vulnerability needed for an upcoming performance. With the help of an acting coach (Michala Banas), he is given one last chance to prove himself before younger talent comes to steal the limelight away from him.
“It was such a big project. This was a film we’d been developing for over a year during my film studies.”
Originally planned to shoot in five days, this had to be reduced to three.
“Lachy could only give us three as he had already signed onto another feature. We had to work fast with our backs against the wall. We were fortunate to have established OneHouse already, which had taught us how to work efficiently and helped us fire all cylinders to execute within the time we had.”
The short film tackles the vulnerability of being an actor and the mask one wears in front of an adoring crowd. Sampson admits that the idea had originated from his time acting.
“In one show I did in high school, I played Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar. There’s this scene that was pretty full-on emotionally, and I remember that tested me. And I thought, as an actor, what an interesting place to be. I think that’s the moment where the film really came together for me. This character came to me who had bottled up all this turmoil and having to perform in front of hundreds of people and not being able to cry.”
In the development of the story, Sampson read a paper that compared the ‘Actor-Director’ relationship to the one between a patient and therapist.
“I found that very interesting and wanted to capture that in this film. The character of Graham is sent to this acting coach, and he was probably expecting these wild, warm-up routines, but it turns out to be just a simple conversation; sitting down with someone. The acting coach plays that therapeutic role and tries to match his energy. And that commonality between them breaks down the wall that Graham has to hide his emotions. All he needed was someone to have a chat with and do a little self-reflection.
Casting the Graham role was crucial to the film’s success, and Sampson was surprised to receive an invitation to chat over coffee with the actor after sending his agent the screenplay.
“Lachy really liked my script and wanted to get lunch. I’ll be honest, I was setting myself up for disappointment as he had never done a student film and he’s far too busy. But we got on really well. In fact, for the first hour, we weren’t talking about the film at all and we were just connecting as two people in the film industry. He invited me to attend the Peninsula Film Festival that he was judging that week, so I drove down there the next day to meet him where I also met Michala Banas. And we all had a nice chat and essentially, Michala said, ‘I’ll do it if you do it Lach!’”
Suddenly, Sampson had found himself with not one, but two well-known and highly experienced actors at the centre of his student thesis film.
Though the film focuses on the vulnerability of performance, Sampson admits that there is a level of emotional vulnerability in taking on the role of filmmaker.
“Whether you’re acting, directing or whatever role you’re in, you’re trying to connect with people. As a director, you are being vulnerable in showcasing how you see the world and trusting everyone with your vision. Being vulnerable to something that is personal to you, I think you learn a lot. Not only for yourself but for everyone working with you. It’s quite therapeutic. That’s why I think it’s important to take your ego out of it. There’s a certain weight you bear in bringing out a film, so you can’t be too self-centred.”
Teach Me How to Cry is screening at the Byron Bay International Film Festival 2023 on 21 October 2023, where Finegan Sampson is nominated for Young Australian Filmmaker; it will also screen at the Canberra Short Film Festival in November.
