PIIF 2021 - Pick of the Week 02 - Nicole Romine, director of "Mistress of Tears"

In PoTW 02 we interviewed Nicole Romine, writer and director who had created this piece of art in form of short movie “Mistress of Tears” and submitted to PIIF, She came from the art of dancing to the movies and, as we can see on her short, she will succeed also in the filmmaker career. Enjoy her words.

Alex Sorlino (PIIF Program Director): Nicole, talk a little bit about your background in dance.

Nicole Romine "Mistress of Tears" - PoTW W02: Well. I always like to say that dance is my first language and I believe it is for all of us. It's really the first thing that we do before we learn to put words together and it was dance for me was the place where I felt most at home.

AS: Making the camera part of the dance and a dancer express for a camera, that's totally different of being on a stage. How did you deal with that?

NR: I think part of my approach to this, because really for me both the camera and the dancer have to be choreographed. I have to keep in mind the audience's perspective what are you looking at as the audience what is it that you need to see in order to be a part of her world so talking a little bit about that opening shot where we began so that you know immediately you are looking at point shoes. So it's really all for me choreography all of it,  even the lighting is everything dances for me which kind of goes full circle back to the fact that I always say you know movement is my first language. I love the process, I mean, I just love the process but I do find I will be honest I find it really hard to watch the monitor and not the dancer that's really hard for me. I want to watch the dancer, you know, and I have to keep reminding myself, no no no… (to watch the monitor).

AS: Nicole needed to tell Anisa "you have to dance now not on a stage you have to dance with a camera and for the camera”. How did you do that?

NR: Right. Well we started in the studio of course right? So, first the choreography and putting the whole piece together, it was creating the movement creating the story flow all of these things and even as I'm doing the movement with her and choreographing the dance I'm also thinking about what's going to need to happen here with the camera and, of course, as you know, with filmmaking, you break things up into smaller pieces, equipment has to be moved, lighting has to be reset, right? You know, there are moments of extreme agonizing and to help her come into that by talking to her or in some cases for me, you know, there's a hilarious picture where I'm on the set with her and I was doing the movement for her, you know; To help her feel what she needs to feel. The beauty of working with dancers I feel - I mean, I love them with all my heart - is that, because they've grown up in a culture that is so disciplined and you're always striving for this unattainable perfection, really. There's this unbelievable commitment to your art form. You're willing to suffer for it,  you're willing to, I mean, I always say it's blood sweat and tears, I mean if you want to dance that's just this nobody goes into it because they think they're going to get rich and famous, you do because it's a calling, really. To be a dancer is a calling and so more often than not they come to the work with these unbelievably open hearts. They will give you everything they have. It's to create a work that allows people the opportunity to start exploring that within themselves. You know to walk away with a sense of the wonder of what it means to be alive. What does this mean to be alive? And, what if I remove all these stories that I've told myself over and over again? If I remove the cultural boundaries that I feel, what can I not be? There are no boundaries on human potentiality, you know, except the ones that we place on ourselves. That's really sort of what MOON (The mother project from “Mistress of Tears”) and it's it brings together all the art forms that I love so much and my hope is that it becomes really an experience rather than just the audience observing something occurring on stage.

AS: Nicole Romine, thank you so much. I'm sure we could talk here for so much longer but i'll I would like to thank you very much for your time for your experience and for your initiative of creating this piece of art “Mistress of Tears" for sharing it with us for subscribing for PIIF and I hope i'll see you there.