Q&A with Filmmaker Amelia Annen
Amelia Annen is a filmmaker based in NYC. She received her BFA in Theatre and Minor in Creative Writing from New York University in 2021. Some of her directorial credits include: Rural (Next Generation Indie Film Awards, Best Short Film + Best Director: October 2022 Gothamite Monthly Film Awards), Angel (Best Comedy Short Film: ISTANBUL FILM AWARDS), Girl of My Dreams (Best Student Film: FROSTBITE Int. Indie Fest July 2021 and Best Student Film: Art Film Award July 2021). Her pilot "A-Team Lovestruck" was a Second Rounder at the Austin Film Festival, and she is making her first feature this summer with her writing partner, Maxine McCormick.
This Q&A is part of the Bushwick Film Fest Filmmaker Q&A series
Heaven Help me (2025)
What do you hope audiences will take away from watching your film?
A good laugh, honestly. This film doesn’t conquer any major societal issues, but every day I wake up, and I feel like the world is slowly dying, and I’m sure other people feel the same way. So I hope people can laugh, ideally with a friend.
What was a big challenge you faced while making this film?
I wrote Heaven Help Me after what I think was nearly two years of major writer’s block. Obviously, I wrote some things, but they were all terrible. So this was a fun break from feeling completely uncreative. The first thing I came up with was that a priest was listening to a woman talking about her dreams. Everything else came later. It took me months to write this script, and it’s pretty simple…so that was how bad the writer’s block was.
Were there any films or directors that influenced your approach to this project?
Watching back Heaven Help Me back in post-production, I can see my love for witty British TV and Films sneaking its way into my writing. It almost feels like a lost plotline from Love, Actually or something. Similarly, there’s obviously a major Fleabag reference going on here. I tried to make it different, but I do just love Fleabag, and you can totally see that.
What inspired you to pursue a career in filmmaking?
My mom showed me many golden age movies as a kid, and it definitely gave me a complex that I knew way more about filmmaking and cinema history than my fellow middle schoolers. At the same time, I would make American Girl doll movies with my friends where we’d do the voices off-camera while the dolls sat motionless on screen – very low budget. I’ve been trying to make movies forever, but now I finally have a budget.
How do you feel about your film being screened in front of a festival audience?
Speaking of dreams, I have recurring nightmares where everyone watches my film, points at me, and says, “It’s terrible,” or that the Puritans will come for me and say it's sacrilegious. That probably won’t happen, so mainly I’m excited cause it’s silly, it’s fun, and I can’t wait to hear people laugh (hopefully).
This Q&A is part of the Bushwick Film Fest Filmmaker Q&A series
