Tell us, how did this film come alive?

A bit over a year ago I worked on an idea for my graduation film. I pitched the idea to my DOP who was at the time studying with me and we decided to make this our graduation project.. In about 4 weeks the 12 min film was written & produced. This was my first proper try on a narrative short film. The narrative short is an amazing place for collaboration and making new friends. With no source of funding and no revenue stream once made. This project was only made possible by the generosity of a group of old and new friends, all of whom donated their time to the broader effort of growing their experience and shepherding more projects like this into existence. We learned a lot of things along the way but having sat on this piece for long enough now, I’m very excited to share it with a broader audience.

Where was it filmed?

We shot all scenes in the northern boundary of the Austrian Alps over the course of 3 days. Easy accessibility and the surreal landscape surrounded by almost 3000m high peaks made the location choices obvious. After a few days of intense scouting, our main location, the observatory was confirmed just shortly before the first shooting day. Becoming access to this location, in particular, was important as it was carrying a big role in the authenticity of the film. When pitching a no-budget sci film that plays on another planet I was somehow expecting to get doors slammed in our faces but it was truly amazing to see so many people become excited to be a part of it.. Opening their doors and offering us, not only their spaces but also their time and trust. // Christoffer Borggren

What was the budget?

3000 euros…

The short film “Sally Ride” has an open ending, how come?

The initial idea was way too big to squeeze into 12 minutes. I need episodes and seasons to properly tell this story. The full length script of the pilot does not include any of the scenes in the short film, it actually starts on earth with Lucy trying to convince the world that she is not crazy and that there are people up there, on another planet and they are in need of help, and quickly..

You’ve gotta go through some bad ideas to get to the good ones. Tell us one of your bad ideas. How do you get past the bad ones to find your spark?

I pitch all the time and I try not to take the feedback personally. I first then see the ideas from different perspectives. It is an important part of my process to openly discuss character's decisions. But in general, I try not to spend too much time with certain ideas, if they work they work if not, I move on.

Do you consider yourself part of a sci-fi community? Or when your brain is in the future and your body’s in the present, is that isolating?

No, I don’t.. The sci-fi movies that I like are more sci-fi in the stories than in the visuals.
Being stuck in the present while thinking of concepts and characters in the future is not isolating at all, it is one way an escape from reality. And one of the main reasons I go the cinemas and watch movies, it takes me places.

When you’re creating the props and sets that make a new world, where do you look for inspiration?

To Sally Ride, I took a lot of inspiration from Organic Architecture. It is a philosophy of architecture that promotes harmony between human habitation and the natural world..

Lightning round: 1. Star Wars or Star Trek? 2. Philip K. Dick or William S. Burroughs? 3. Practical or CGI? 4. Dystopia or Utopia? 5.Post Apocalypse or Pre Apocalypse?

Star Wars Astrid Lindgren Practical but it depends on what I’d like to tell and how. Dystopia Pre apocalypse.