Meet Sparky Tehnsuko, Director & Writer Of Bella Ramsey Starring Short Film ‘Villain’
Interview conducted and written by Nikhil Mohan.
Star Bella Ramsay in ‘Villain’ (2023), Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
On May 16 at the Cannes Film Festival, Top Film sat down with director and writer of ‘Villain’ Sparky Tehnsuko to discuss his fantasy short film starring Bella Ramsey (‘Last Of Us,’ ‘Game Of Thrones’).
In 2023, Tehnsuko released ‘Villain’ from his independent film production company Cowboy Funfair, co-founded by Sej Davé.
‘Villain’ logline (IMDb): An orphaned girl seeks revenge on the creature that destroyed her home, but discovers more in its lair than she bargained for.
(Top Film) How did you get your start in the industry?
“I first started getting into film making as a student. I went to stage school — I wanted to be an actor,” Tehnsuko said to Top Film. “I watched films like crazy. I had several drawers full of stuff — recordings, tapes off the TV, and playing them again and again and again.”
Growing up, Tehnsuko never had a video camera at his disposal. It wasn’t until he ended up at college where the technology finally became available to him. It was there that he realized he loved filming.
“Wanting to be on-stage fell behind, I wanted to be behind the camera,” explained Tehnsuko. “I started making films around that time.”
Tehnsuko continued making films after his university studies, but it wasn’t until 2014 that he built up a few connections within the industry and started to take things more seriously.
“I moved to London and started in the film industry as a runner. I got to know a bit more about the process by being on set and watching what every department does.”
In 2014, Tehnsuko made a short film titled ‘They Call Me The Kid,’ in which the director says “we did a few festivals” but had no time to create more short films after its festival circuit.
(Top Film) How did ‘Villain’ come to fruition?
“[During the pandemic] Me and Sej, who’s my wife and producer, decided instead of learning how to bake banana bread maybe we could take one of my scripts and look at how to develop a film more specifically than we’d ever done before,” said Tehnsuko. “We chose the one that I’d written as a blue sky kind of thing, with so many elements I had never approached before — like VFX, prosthetic makeup, and stunts.”
They knew this was an ambitious project to tackle. Tehnsuko says he had written the story as catharsis for some events that are based on his own experiences, and “hidden under the dragon metaphor.”
The Dragon from ‘Villain’ (2023), Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
‘Villain’ was in development throughout 2020, and Tehnsuko had reached out to his connections in the industry:
“We were getting in touch with people we had met through our work in the industry to ask if they would help us with this or that: what do we do to start the process with VFX, what do we do to find prosthetics artists? All the people we got in touch with were world-renown heads of department which we’d never be able to work with if not for the lockdown. They all kind of said ‘we’re bored out of our minds, can we just do it?’ So we had a lot of top-tier talent behind the camera.”
They ended up shooting the film at the end of 2020 between lockdowns 1 and 2.
‘Villain’ screened at festivals last year and received an overall positive reception from critics and audiences.
(Top Film) The film has no dialogue, yet we’re latched to Bella Ramsey’s powerful expressiveness. What was the decision for no dialogue, and the casting process?
“No dialogue wasn’t really that much of a deciison. It’s just how the script came out. In the first draft, there was only one word, which was Bella’s character saying ‘no.’ I hadn’t realized until I read through it a couple of times — I was like ‘wait a minute, I put one word in this, why is that even there?’” the director said. “The reason there’s no dialogue is because it’s intention for the characters not to be able to communicate. They don’t even try to communicate, that’s kind of what causes the conflict between them.”
Bella Ramsey in ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
Tehnsuko went on to explain the casting process: “Bella was an early addition to the film. We had a wonderful casting director and she did an incredible job. She came back really quickly with a list of people who would be appropriate for the role. Bella’s name was top of that list.”
Bella Ramsey was sent the script and they were intrigued by the story, while also keen to work during the challenging pandemic times.
“We did some FaceTime’s to discuss the character and to go over light rehearsals earlier on,” said Tehnsuko. “After speaking to Bella, I got the immediate impression that they could do anything I asked of them. Even during filming, there was very little direction required for them. They nailed this character.”
Bella Ramsey in ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
Isla Gie in ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
(Top Film) Can viewers come away with their own interpretation of the film?
ST (Sparky Tehnsuko): “It’s [the film] based on a specific incident in my life but I haven’t made it obvious in the film. So people have interpreted it in the way that I do and some people come up with things that means a lot to them. That’s what I want from the film — for it to mean something to the people that are watching it.”
(Top Film) What’s something from your story that you want the audience to take away from, thematically or otherwise?
The director continued: “The themes of the story are basically about the sickly nature of trauma. Trauma creates this violence against another person. It becomes this ongoing thing. It was something very personal to me that was therapy for anger that I had misplaced in the past when I really should’ve just worked on myself and let it go for the other person’s sake. It’s: what it is you want vs what it is you need.”
(Top Film) Tell us a little bit about the location choice for this project.
ST: “We filmed at a farm in Buckinghamshire. Another wonderful contact we had was Alex Gladstone who was our supervising location manager. He helped us out massively by finding places, because we needed something that was entirely natural. We ended up at this farm with an amazing view and uninterrupted greenery.”
The director also stated how they got “lucky” as an empty barn (on location) had allowed them to set-up a stage and film all the interiors — acting as the inside of the cave. The burning of the character’s home was entirely practical, and the land wasn’t being used until the spring, allowing the crew to utilize the location to their advantage.
Title card of ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
(Top Film) Did you show anyone the film before release and do you listen to feedback?
ST: “I always make sure that a script has a lot of feedback, I have a lot of writer friends now. We’re always sharing what we’re working on and how we’re improving. When it comes to the film, to be honest, at this point I haven’t really had the same kind of criticism from people that I’ve shown the film to. I feel like I kind of need to find people who will be more blunt with me. When I finish the film, I like to hold a cast and crew screening to celebrate everyones work. Then I start asking people what they think of it; what was strong? What was weak? Crew members kind of zero-in on how their work was, and for family and friends it’s kind of annoying because the only answer you’re ever going to get is ‘oh yeah, I really liked it.’”
(Top Film) What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned from working on this project — maybe something you’d adapt into future projects?
ST: “As a filmmaker, I would say even more rehearsals. I would’ve loved more time, but that’s always the thing — would’ve loved to have shot for a third day so that the stuff we did shoot wasn’t as rushed as it was. But then of course, that costs money. Budget is always going to be an issue.”
Tehnsuko also mentioned the need for more b-roll to aid with the editing process.
Bella Ramsey filming ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
(Top Film) Did you find any of your cinematic influences in your work — whether you noticed them during or after production?
ST: “I don’t know if there was any I discovered after making or watching ‘Villain.’ But there were definitely a lot that were very pressing going into it. Russian films like ‘Come And See’ and ‘Stalker’ were very much on my mind for tone and characters. Those are films that absolutely inspired me and in terms of the allowing people to figure it out, I’m a big David Lynch fan. I know that there are films that are surreal for the sake of creating feeling but then there are others that do have a message that’s hidden in there; you just have to figure it out. I appreciate that approach and that’s something I thought about when it [‘Villain’] had no dialogue. If people want to put in the effort and figure it out then they’re very welcome to, but otherwise I’m very happy for people to take their own interpretation out of it.
Filming of ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
(Top Film) Can you tease any of your future project? What’s next for Sparky Tehnsuko?
ST: “I’ve got a few. I’ve got one which is a sequel to ‘Villain.’ I am working on the script for the sequel to the events of the short film, which is its own self-contained feature film. It’s about what happens to the characters after they leave the cave. It’s also an exploration of the iron-age society which is something that hasn’t been put on film that much.”
The director/writer also mentioned a project outside of his ‘Villain’ world:
ST: “I’m working on a script for something called ‘Piano Man,’ which is kind of based on a true story about a young man who was found catatonic and was discovered to be a very skilled pianist. When they put out a advert in the local paper when trying to find his identity, it became this huge 15 minutes of fame for someone who did not consent to it. The story I’m writing isn’t necessarily about that person, but it is about a care worker who is effectively given a situation where he feels he’s running out of time to make his life worth while. He suddenly has a patient of his become incredibly famous and attaches his self-worth to that. When all the media attention dies down he suddenly has nothing to attach himself to and has to deal with the things he was trying not to deal with.”
Sparky Tehnsuko directing on-set of ‘Villain,’ Courtesy of Sparky Tehnsuko.
The sequel to ‘Villain’ may not come around for a little while, as the director describes it as an ‘expensive’ fantasy and will likely tackle ‘Piano Man’ first.
See the short film ‘Villain’ below:
“Villain” specifics: An orphaned girl seeks revenge on the creature that destroyed her home, but discovers more in its lair than she bargained for.
CREW: Director: Sparky Tehnsuko | Screenplay: Sparky Tehnsuko | Cinematography: Andreas Neo | Editor: Sarah Bowden | Music: Jo Quail.
STARRING: Bella Ramsey, Isla Gie.
PRODUCTION: Cowboy Funfair.
2023 - Short Film - 10m
