DEADLINE: What was your reaction to Switzerland choosingQueensfor the Oscars?
KLAUDIA REYNICKE:Back in September, we found out we were on the shortlist for Switzerland.
They had a short list of two films.
Abril Gjurinovic and Luana Vega in ‘Queens’ (Reinas)Klaudia Reynicke/Outsiders Pictures
It was mine and another one.
The other film Ive seen is a great film.
It was shot in French in France and Lausanne in Switzerland.
The thing is that Im Peruvian, but Im also Swiss.
So, when you add all these things together, the film has more points in Switzerland.
Suddenly, they call us and say, Its you.
And were like, What?!
They were like, We believe in this film and these values.
We believe in the story of all these women who believe in this other woman who made that film.
And Im like, Wow, this is insane.
Since then, its been crazy because Ive never done any Oscars campaign before [laughs].
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DEADLINE: Talk about the need to film in Peru.
What was that experience like?
REYNICKE:We did everything in Peru because it didnt make sense for us not to.
Its a small film.
Its a small-budget film.
It was like, We have to do it in Peru.
DEADLINE: That house that the family of women lives in is so gorgeous in a very retro way.
Talk more about the atmosphere and aesthetics you wanted to capture with the film.
REYNICKE:The house is from the 50s.
I was trying to find a house where I used to live, which is my grandmas house.
My mom and I used to live at my grandmas house.
She was a divorcee and then remarried to my stepdad, who is Swiss, so we moved out.
But thats my childhood.
We changed some colors and other minor things.
REYNICKE:I thought of many moments from my life when I started creating this project.
Now Im in my 40s, and I dont know how Peruvian I actually am.
I did the same thing with him because we had very similar lives.
He is also from Peru.
So, some of his memories made it in.
For example, the father makes the atomic eggs, right?
I guess because back then, 80s or 90s, it was such a thing to be atomic.
I dont know what that was about.
For me, its the car that goes in the desert.
Thats something from my childhood, in Ica, a city that is desert and the ocean.
Thats one of the strongest memories I have.
So, I needed to recreate that moment.
Also, theres the ghost.
The house, the family, they needed their ghost.
Its a good ghost thats going to protect them.
Its not exactly like the scary ghost from the Western world.
And all the parties, my family was like that [laughs].
I do remember this with a lot of warmth in my heart.
Recreating those scenes was very important to me.
DEADLINE: There are many layers toQueens.
Originally reading the synopsis during its film festival run, I thought the story would be mostly about him.
But outside of the brief taxi rides, we dont see his life outside of interacting with the girls.
Its very much about womanhood and sisterhood.
Why did this work better for your narrative?
We have all these women though, and I wanted it to be a theme of family.
The important part is why do they re-become a family?
It was important to tell the story not from one point of view but from different generations as well.
The mom has her own agenda, the grandma has something else.
I love my family, but my family is a bit crazy, I think [laughs].
When nothing is perfect, but love is there, you work it out.
DEADLINE: For what he lacks in being reliable, Carlos is a sympathetic character.
You dont let him off the hook for the lies or the distress he causes.
Hes just trying to do the best he can with what he has.
How did you approach that character working with Gonzalo Molina?
Hes the mirror of a society thats falling apart.
Yes, he lies, and he does a bunch of things we can criticize him for.
But at the same time, I think this man is underwater.
And it was important for me to talk about this group of women.
This mother is doing everything on her own, and shes the pilot of the whole thing.
Shes also in a society where its not easy to be a single mom.
At the beginning, I was like, Wow, I dont think this is going to work.
But then Im like, Wow, hes exactly the opposite of the character wed written.
I thought it was going to bring an entire balance to this character.
A script is a dead thing for me.
It has no emotions, nothing.
Life comes from the person whos going to do the role, so we found Carlos this way.
DEADLINE: Jessica and Tracey, what led you to add this project to yourLady Metalmark Entertainmentbrand?
JESSICA ALBA:Tracey brought it to me.
She had been talking about this film for a while.
TRACEY NYBERG:I saw it at Sundance.
Then I reached out to Jessica and said she had to watch this.
We were just starting the company, maybe three weeks in [laughs].
But the fathers role is much more complicated and human.
Now, I think we are realizing more that the reality is that women are also capable.
I thought that was beautiful.
DEADLINE: What kinds of projects are you both looking for in general?
Anything specifically made by women, or is everything open?
The driving thing for us, too, is diversity.
And again, in front of and behind the camera, however that looks.
And just having a supportive, creative framework for filmmakers much like Klaudia to hopefully do something interesting.
It feels like there is that blank space.
DEADLINE: How did you find the two lead girls, Abril Gjurinovic and Luana Vega?
REYNICKE:We started casting before COVID.
I was in Switzerland doing casting.
The country closed completely for two years.
When the country opened up again, we started casting again.
There is no cinema industry in Peru, especially the bang out of cinema I do.
They have series and soap operas.
So, I asked the casting directors to go on the streets and find kids.
We call it
Yeah.
What we call casting salvaje, which is wild casting in English.
So they found Abril in a shopping mall with her dad.
Out of 200 kids, I believed everything that she was doing.
They called me three days later and said, We cant find her anymore.
And I was like, What?
It turns out she lived in Belgium, which is next to Switzerland.
Shes super talented, but the plus was that her story was pretty much Lucias story.
So, when the casting directors saw her in the shopping mall, she was visiting her dad.
Im Zooming with all the producers.
Im like, What do we do?
And they kept sending me girls, but nothing that stood out.
My Peruvian co-producer, Daniel Vega, also my co-writers brother, is on Zoom.
I see his daughter walking in the background, and Im like, Whos that?
Hes like, My daughter, Luana.
She wants [our daughter] to do something real like a doctor or lawyer.
So, he sends me pictures and left some dialogues of the script around her room.
I also cast her best friend, to help her maybe sign on to the project.
So, she tried and did it perfectly, and I said, Shes the one.
DEADLINE: What would you like audiences to take away from this film?
REYNICKE:I want audiences to feel the hope and the light.
This project talks about womanhood, migration, complexity, and complicated families.
They can dislike the film too.
I prefer to have that than to have someone who doesnt care at all about the film.
But from time to time, theres that person who says something, and Im like, Thats good.
