One of the most exciting things about starting each year with the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. Captivating stories, soon-to-be iconic shots, and timely cinematic conversations are all cornerstones of the 2023 Festival slate - and those are all birthed from the hearts and souls of these filmmakers. That means that this year we have the privilege of being introduced (or reintroduced for returning filmmakers) to the artists behind 111 features, 64 shorts, and four indie episodic projects.And while we learn a lot from the art that these storytellers share with us, there's always more we can learn about these filmmakers as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our Backstory questionnaire! As we know, artworks shouldn't have any message', explains Rebecca Zlotowski when asked what she wants the artistic legacies left by her films to convey. But, if the French writer-director did want her film Other People's Children to have an impact, she would hope it encourages women to surpass their inner limits. Families are the ones we decide to create, to invent: They are not connected to biology.
Family is front and center in Other People's Children, in which a 40-year-old schoolteacher, Rachel, contemplates motherhood in all its forms when she falls in love with the charming Ali, father to 4-year-old Leila. Though satisfied with her life before she met Ali and his daughter, Rachel must now grapple with her own desire to have children as she becomes attached to Leila.
Other People's Children is the fifth feature directed by Zlotowski as well as the beginning of her relationship with Sundance Institute. The film premiered at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival before being featured in the Spotlight section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Below, discover how Zlotowski got into filmmaking, why she feels stories like Other People's Children need to be told now, and what advice she would give to filmmakers who want to be better cinematic storytellers.
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