Up and coming filmmaker Lina Suh took time out of her busy schedule to discuss her newest drama “Meeting You, Meeting Me,” a great film about the bond and friendship between two women the spans years. Suh discusses her inspiration, casting and her methods for staging some powerful moments of tension. “Meeting You, Meeting Me” is currently hitting the festival circuit.
For our readers, please introduce yourself.
My name is Lina Suh. I am the writer and director of feature film “Meeting You, Meeting Me.”
Where did the idea for “Meeting You, Meeting Me” come from?
My closest friends and sisters are guiding forces in my life. Foremost are my two sisters who grew up with me across continents in Korea and in America. My high school best friend is Mexican American living in Minnesota, and my college best friends are from Calcutta in India, Nebraska, New Jersey, Washington — of Indian, Irish, Taiwanese, Lebanese descent. These friends are all so different from each other, and different from me, but they have each challenged me with the ways they think and live their lives, they ground me with their awareness, we belly laugh together, they annoy me, I annoy them, they cry with me, they listen, and we have continually chosen to spend copious amounts of time together. They are all my inspiration for this film.
Was there a particular creative process developing these characters?
There were the two actresses I already knew and wanted to work with. I asked them if they would be interested in doing a feature film with me, then wrote the characters with their energies in mind, while also drawing from all of the different friendships I mentioned. I created a loose structure for the story, and sketched out the characters. Then within that, I let the characters start talking on the page. I gave the early drafts to Annika and Sam and continued to workshop some scenes.
Were there any inspirations for your penning of “Meeting You, Meeting Me”?
I did watch and draw from various movies about friendship and relationships in general. “Thelma and Louise” is of course an iconic grown up female friendship story, or “Girlfriends” by filmmaker Claudia Weill or “Steel Magnolias” and “Frances Ha.” But I was also thinking about films that are largely driven by dialogue and conversation, such as the “Before Sunrise” trilogy, or even more recently “Drive My Car” where so much of the film is conversations that take place in a car but my attention never flags. About how I could create a story and a film mainly around these two characters, in a contained location and continue to engage the audience.
Was it easy casting the roles for Sav and Simone?
Luckily, I had thought of Annika and Sam because I already knew them, when I decided to embark on this journey. Annika had been in a few shorts I directed, and Sam had auditioned for another previous project, then participated in a reading of a different feature I wrote. They were both excited about the idea of this film, originally titled “Sav and Simone” when I broached it with them.
How long did it take to film “Meeting You, Meeting Me”?
We shot principal photography before the COVID pandemic in under two weeks. But then when we decided we needed to re-shoot a couple scenes, it was put on hold for the pandemic. Then, instead of re-shooting those scenes, I decided to write new present-day scenes for “three years later” to re-frame the film, and we shot the new material in 4 days, “post” pandemic.
Who or what inspired your love for the art of filmmaking?
I’ve been obsessed with stories and storytelling for as long as I can remember. I first wanted to write children’s books when I was a child, then chapter books, then novels, then movies once I realized there were writers for those too. But I had no connection to that world or industry, so I started writing and putting up plays as my outlet. And attempted to film a “movie” with my parents’ VHS camera at age 12 (?) but failed miserably when I hadn’t pulled off a single shot all day after gathering the neighborhood kids to be in it, because I spent the whole day realizing how much more planning was involved. At that point, I just thought I “don’t have what it takes” so I went back to writing.
What would you like your legacy to be in the film medium (or elsewhere)?
Legacy seems like such a big word! But I do think about it from time to time. I think about what new perspective or experience I may be adding to the conversation – collectively or individually for the audience. I am a story-lover and a film-lover first, so I go back and forth between me as the writer or director, then trying to experience what I’m making from an audience perspective and how I may be moved, entertained, provoked, understood, whatever it is. I hope that the stories I tell can have a lasting effect in the minds and hearts of people who experience it, and will not be immediately forgotten once their eyes leave the screen.
Who are some of the directors or writers that you look up to and who do you want to bring attention to in your field or others?
So, so many.
Truly in no particular order, because I started writing them down and then randomly threw in more in between the ones I had – Elena Ferrante, Shin Kyung-Sook, Hamaguchi Ryusuke, Kore-eda Hirokazu, Charlie Kaufman, Kenneth Lonergan, Park Chan-Wook, Bong Joon-Ho, Tracy Letts, Jia Tolentino, Alice Munro, Paul Thomas Anderson, Elia Kazan – filmmakers and writers of all sorts (novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, essayists). And I know I’ll kick myself later for not writing down others that have inspired me too.
What film or project are you currently working on that you can tell us about?
I’m in the middle of writing what I hope to be my next film, as well as rolling a few TV projects up a hill. My next film may take place in Korea for a large part of the story.
What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers or creators?
Everyone’s journey is so different but I have found it helpful to hear all the different ways that things have been done to learn and be inspired. Then, always focus on finding the special version of the story at hand. Find brilliant collaborators in every field that share your passion.
Party together when you survive all the fires and have made something together.
Rinse and repeat.