Every year, we have 12 Film of the Month winners, but only one of them can be the Film of the Year. Deciding which one should be the big winner is one of the most difficult tasks of the year. We had some amazing contenders for 2024, each excelling in its own right: drama, suspense, horror, vivid depictions of reality. It’s the latter that triumphed this year, after plenty of debate – Way Out was our big winner, a film that takes place in a tiny environment, but explores themes that go so much deeper. It’s with great pleasure that we sat down with director Reka Almasi and writer Alexis Latham to discuss their award-winning film.
JL: Congratulations – how does it feel to win the Film of the Year award?
RA: Awesome and fantastic. It’s a great honour to get this prize. I know the quality of the competition was really high, and because we were making this film in Hungary where the life for filmmakers is really tough to get so far with what was really a no budget film rather than low budget is a great honour.
JL: How has Way Out been doing so far – its reception at festivals, screenings and such?
AL: Well, we have lots of laurels 🙂 the highlights so far are obviously film of the year at TMFF, but also we reached the semi-finals of the Cannes Independent Short Film festival and were longlisted for the LA independent short film festival. Considering this is my first time acting as a producer as well as co-writer and actor, this is a pretty big achievement for us, as we felt quite alone entering into this world of festivals.
JL: I remember going to the cinema quite some years ago and being completely blown away by Locke, starring Tom Hardy. The depth of emotions, the creative ways to engage in storytelling – all of it I’ve felt again, from different perspectives of course, when watchig Way Out. Has this film or others served as sources of inspiration?
RA: Yes, of course ,just the difference here is that the main character is stuck in a car and not travelling anywhere and feels in an absurd way the comfort of the crashed car, which is almost like a womb for him.
JL: I’ve always loved films like Locke, Phone Booth, Buried – the constraints in terms of location drive such creative ways of telling stories. What was your secret here?
RA: Yes, by restricting the environment, it allows us to focus more deeply on the changes of the character and to inspire the audience to imagine the world that he has been living in. It’s interesting how sometimes these restrictions can engage audiences more imaginatively.
AL: The idea of the car came from the cinematographer Victor, when we all got together for our first meeting, he said “I want to film in a small space like a crashed car”. I really liked the idea of people stuck in small spaces making bad decisions, it is a great metaphor for how many of us are living our lives. We also wanted to bring people to a location that was “Somewhere on the edge of Europe”.
JL: What’s your favourite film of last year, and why?
AL: I loved “Perfect Days”. Such simplicity and yet it was so relatable on many different levels. And also “Anatomy of a Fall”. I loved the notion that no one knows really what goes on behind the four walls of family life.
JL: Anything you’re working on at the moment?
RA: Yes, we have just completed post production on our second short film called “Way Off”, and will be entering it to festivals. And searching for funding and partners to put together the feature length version of our “Way” films.
JL: Thanks again, Reka. We look forward to seeing more of your work, so when you have something new, do send it our way!
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