Premiering at the Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews, writer/director Claire McCarthy's second feature film, The Waiting City, received an equally warm reception when it opened here in Sydney. I managed to catch Claire amid a flurry of promotional duties to discuss the film and the exhilarating and at times challenging experience of shooting in India. How did this film come about? Claire McCarthy (CM): I traveled to Calcutta about five years ago with my sister who wanted to volunteer with Mother Teresa's nuns. I brought my camera and while we were working in the slums I started to make a documentary about her experiences. We also met a lot of couples trying to adopt children in the orphanages where we were working. I became quite inspired by their love stories and what had lead them to the point of deciding to adopt a child. So that formed the basis for the script. This is your second feature film after several documentaries and shorts — do you prefer making docos or fiction-features? CM: Well I certainly like that intersection between fiction and non-fiction. Creating a film that feels authentic, real and something we can connect to, but is actually a work of fiction. It really depends on the story and what is the best way to tell it. Certainly with this style of the film [The Waiting City] I've used a lot of documentary techniques — long lenses, etc. — because I wanted it to have a kind of observational feel. I also wanted it to have an epic visual quality and for that to have an intimate, emotional aspect to it. So I used doco techniques and also more formal filmmaking techniques to achieve that. You also have a background in visual arts? CM: Yep, I still do paint and do quite a lot of image making. But I guess for me it's more something that informs my process. I kind of love the way that cinema fuses all the things I'm really passionate about — image making, music, philosophy, narrative — and I certainly think coming from a music and arts background helps to inform the style and the tone [of the film]. I would imagine that it could be quite challenging to shoot a film in a foreign landscape and sensitively portray the culture without a degree of 'othering' or over-exoticising. How did you navigate that risk? CM: I think it's really important when you're a guest in someone's country not to two-dimensionalise [their culture] or create a narrative that feels condescending. Spending all that time in Calcutta, doing the research I was doing and all my personal experience there, created a network of people around me who could really make sure that the process was well informed and that the story itself was authentic. You film all over the place — in public spaces, etc. — and it's quite a densely populated, intense place. What were some of the challenges that you and the actors faced while filming in India? CM: There were an enormous amount of logistical challenges shooting the film on the streets of Calcutta. Because we wanted that authenticity, naturalism and almost documentary style, we weren't shooting on sets or in studios; it was on the streets and in real locations … so we'd have to stay on our toes and be willing to change and adapt to what was happening and still maintain a strong connection to whatever the essence of the story was. So being adaptable and working within the constraints of time were the real challenges. When you begin the process of writing a script, does it start with a character or with a story that you want to tell and the characters evolve from there? CM: My point of view really started from these couples. The [lengthy] waiting period I noticed was a common occurrence for a lot of couples trying to adopt. This period is potentially something that will expose a relationship to vulnerability and pressure. What happens when you want something so much but it's out of your reach? What happens within your relationship during that process? That was really the first inspiration. Then I developed characters based on lots of couples that I'd interviewed and began to revolve the story around that. So tell me about why you chose these particular actors for the roles, in particular Radha and Joel in the leads. CM: It was really important to me that the film had strong performances and a great cast. I was really lucky to attach Radha to the project early on in the process. She's such a wonderful, beautiful actress and also has had a very strong relationship with India from childhood. It was important for her character to be that real type-A female at the beginning of the story but throughout the course of her journey begin to see India from a very deep point of view, which I think you can only embody if you've been there and really experienced it. Joel's role was tricky because the character of Ben is a bit of a man-child — he's in some ways the lesser part of the relationship. There's this imbalance that we see between the couple. I wanted to find an actor who could play low status and still be really likeable so that we wouldn't resent him or think he was a looser. Joel is so funny and very manly and likeable. One of the big clinches for me was that he could also play guitar and sing. So that was actually him singing? CM: Yep it's him. That man has too many talents! How do you work with your actors to get that sense of authentic intimacy you were after? Do you leave them to discover it on their own or do you play an active role in facilitating that process? CM: Absolutely [I play] an active role. I was very much involved in collaborating with them, sculpting their performances, tuning the nuances of their emotional life and the progression of their journey. They're both very collaborative actors. I think the chemistry between the director and the actors is very important, as is creating an arena where everyone's in it together and that the creative process is respectful. What directors and actors do you admire and who would you like to work with next? CM: I'm really interested in process of how people work together as much as the end product. For me it's not just about people who are at the top of their game but also about emerging artists and being able to blend the two. And finally, what's next on your agenda? CM: I was lucky enough to get some representation in the USA off the Toronto film festival so I've been going back and forth from there. I'm really thinking about projects that are international but can still be co-productions, so I can still work with the people I love to work with and hopefully bring production back to Australia as well. To read Concrete Playground's review of The Waiting City, click here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=_3kEH2ITVdI