Interview With Milda Baginskaite, Director & Martha Binns, Star Of 7 PLANETS

7 Planets, the fourth short film of director Milda Baginskaite, follows the life of the daring and determined Cassie as she searches tirelessly for signs of life or habitability on one of the titular seven planets. Though only short in length, the depth and breadth of the story is vast and impressive, making Cassie’s long life feel like an odyssey. I spoke to Baginskaite and lead actress Martha Binns, who plays Cassie, about the creative decisions for this film, and the experience of making it.

Zoe Crombie for Film Inquiry: I first saw your latest short film 7 Planets at the LA1 Short Film Festival in Lancaster, UK. In creating the concept of the film, did you want to tell a local narrative similarly to the winner of the audience vote True Grit? Or were you wanting to tell a broader story to a smaller community?

Milda Baginskaite: The story I wanted to tell, from the very beginning, was aimed at individuals of communities of all shapes and sizes. 7 Planets is about people who have dreams greater than themselves. To me personally, it’s about a dream of a world that would be better than the world we live in at the moment but I’m happy for audiences to interpret it in their own way.

In casting the lead actresses for 7 Planets, how did you intend to show the progression of the main character?

Milda Baginskaite: If we’re talking just about the casting, I was mainly focusing on the actresses’ eyes. It was very important to me that they all had a kind, naive and dreamy gaze that could carry childhood nostalgia throughout the film.

Martha, I recently saw in another interview for Close Up Culture that this was your first time acting in a film – what did you do to prepare for the role, and for this new experience in general?

Martha Binns: Honestly I didn’t really do anything to prepare haha! I went into the experience with not much of an idea of what to expect, but the rest of the cast and crew made it really easy.

How did you find working with Milda and others in the cast and crew?

Martha Binns: It was an absolute dream, it was an all-female crew and I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with. Milda knew exactly what she was looking for with the acting so did a great job of directing an absolutely oblivious newbie actress like me!

To me, the static and symmetrical camerawork and pastel mise-en-scene of the film resembled that of Wes Anderson’s movies, particularly Moonrise Kingdom. Milda, would you consider Anderson, or any others, as inspiration for the aesthetic of your film?

Milda Baginskaite: As I’m a huge fan of Childhood Studies, naturally, Wes Anderson is a director I’m interested in a lot. I really like Asian cinema which is where I borrow a lot of framing ideas from. I wanted 7 Planets to look almost animation or comic book-like to enhance the themes of nostalgia and dreams.

As well as directing 7 Planets, you also wrote the screenplay. Did you find that these duties overlapped in ways that you weren’t expecting? Did these elements inform each other?

Milda Baginskaite: I think a lot about directing when I’m writing. I suppose every writer has their own little tricks. Personally, I find it very inspiring thinking about working with actors and all the nuances they could bring to the characters. I often prefer to workshop with actors at the writing stage to improve the scenes, but it’s also a luxury I can’t always have.

You shot the film on location in the Lancaster area, in lots of locations like Lancaster University that I and other locals were definitely familiar with! What kind of look and feel were you trying to pull from the shooting locations you chose?

Milda Baginskaite: I have studied in Lancaster a few years ago myself, so I was familiar with the surrounding area. Comic book-like, nostalgic and futuristic were the adjectives I was looking for in each location. Lancaster Uni was perfect as I wanted the “futuristic” to look sustainable, recycled and not at all bright and shiny like some sci-fi films.

As a female director, did you feel a certain responsibility to depict a woman’s story in this and other films? Particularly a story so closely linked to scientific progression and self-empowerment rather than romance?

Milda Baginskaite: Responsibility is a big word. With my films, I try to create characters as true to what I see in people as I can. I don’t feel I should or need to lecture anyone with my stories, but I do feel the responsibility to give a voice to complex female heroines, who, I think, deserve to go on their own narrative journeys.

Martha, was there anything in particular that attracted you to Cassie’s character?

Martha Binns: I love how devoted she is to her research and to the cause; even after all the times she was let down or disappointed she still remained hopeful, which I think is something everyone can admire.

Was there any collaboration between you and the other two actresses portraying your character, Poppy O’Brien and Sue Moore? What growth do you think she goes through in the different stages of her life, and how did you aim to show this in your episodes?

Martha Binns: Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to meet the wonderful actresses playing my other generations! I think the growth that the character goes through is quite subtle; in the earlier stages of her life she deals with being quite a social outcast, but seems to eventually get past this and realise that her own love and devotion for her work is more important.

Are there any new projects we can look forward to on the horizon, Milda?

Milda Baginskaite: Quite a few, actually. I’ve been having a very busy summer. I’m making three narrative music videos that are sort of short films in themselves. First one should come out in August and the other two in September. I’m also directing another short film I wrote in Barcelona in a couple of weeks. It was going to be a very small passion project for me and my producer but with the team and actors we got on board, it grew into a much bigger thing. It’s called Pink Pool and it’s a story about a self-obsessed teenage girl who makes all the wrong decisions when no one shows up at her birthday party.
I’m also working on two more shorts to be filmed here in the UK and one back in Lithuania next year. Hopefully, after these projects, I can move on and further develop my first feature film.

Do you have any plans to collaborate with Milda again on a film, Martha?

Martha Binns: I would absolutely love to work with such a wonderful director again, so we will have to see what the future holds…

Last question – what impact do you hope to have on the viewers of 7 Planets?

Milda Baginskaite: When the film was screened to a children audience in Germany, a five-year-old asked what was the profession of the woman in the film. When I answered – scientist, the girl smiled and said, in that case, she would like to be a scientist also. I keep in touch with Poppy, the girl who plays young Cassie. She has recently mentioned to her mum that she would like to one day go into directing, like Milda. Tiny things like that, make me very happy. The film is out there, and if anyone needs to take anything from it, they will.

Film Inquiry thanks Milda Baginskaite and Martha Binns for taking the time to speak with us.

7 Planets was shown at the LA1 Short Film Festival on April 28, 2018.