NEW AUTEURS
ANITA ROCHA DA SILVEIRA TALKS KILL ME PLEASE
In KILL ME PLEASE (MATE-ME, POR FAVOR), a giallo-tinged meditation on puberty, a 15-yearold girl living in Rio de Janeiro must navigate a wave of murders in her neighborhood. AFI: Your film plays cleverly with horror film references. What inspired you?
Anita Rocha da Silveira: I’m particularly fond of David Lynch. The TWIN PEAKS pilot and BLUE VELVET were very important references. He inspired me to create an alternative universe where I could exaggerate the tones. Most importantly, however, I like the way he portrays flaming desire within a society that’s doomed to fail. AFI: Your lead actor Valentina Herszage is an incredible discovery and a real-life high-schooler. Talk about your collaboration.
ADS: It was very important to be able to work with teens of the same age as the characters. I didn’t want a 20-year-old playing a 15-year-old girl. I wanted to find teens who were going through similar dilemmas, [and had] faces that carried the marks of a stage in our lives when our bodies are constantly changing. Valentina was 15 years old during the shoot, and she fascinated me because of her love for horror movies — her favorite is THE SHINING. Other actresses were more prepared, but she was fearless, and that kind of energy was fundamental to the character. Together, we talked about sexuality, desires, experiences with death, violent impulses. AFI: Did the themes of religion come from your own personal upbringing, or did they erupt from the setting of the film?
ADS: In Brazil, we’ve been seeing evangelical churches grow at an exponential rate. For KILL ME PLEASE, I took my inspiration from a real church, with a big temple in the area where I shot, which targets a younger public. This church has teenage pastors, uses surf boards as altars and also pop music to attract followers. For me it was important to show the church because it’s part of the lives of many Brazilian youths, and also a counterpoint to [lead character] Bia’s desires and wishes. It represents a conservative discourse I’m fed up with, mostly about how a woman is supposed to behave.