Feb 1, 20226 min read

David Black interviews Saara Lamberg for the Oz Femme Fatales of Horror Month

Saara Lamberg would have to be one of the hardest working women in the Aussie indie film industry. Every time I look around, this director, writer, actor and producer is working on something, and each time I go to an industry event … she is there! Among the many different types of films this dynamo makes, there is a fair smattering of horror – and that is what I want to talk to her about.

DB – Hi Saara, thanks for taking the time to chat to me today. I think the last time I covered your work was when I reviewed your film “Innuendo – The Bad Twin” for The Movie Blog, back in 2017. Although that one is a psychological thriller, I believe that you also have a love of horror?

SL – I love great stories, in what ever genre they happen to fall into. I definitely do not steer away from anything dark, be it horror, drama or thriller, although they almost always have strong psychological elements, regardless. In my opinion drama can actually be more horrific and confronting than any fantasy horror. I feel like sometimes using horror as an element is actually taking a little distance from the subject matter, which might be trauma or fear, or confronting life situations. But drama brings it very close, it becomes relatable and may feel more "real" than fantasy horror, so it may be ever more disturbing.

But yes, I mainly just like any well made film, that has an interesting story and premise, understated acting and all-embracing directing; generally nothing too "slapstick" or "splatter" doesn't resonate with me, be it horror or comedy. I also like anything left of centre and quirky.

Most films that I like are auteured with a strong artistic voice. I often find content with too many producers or directors a little too "happy medium". Whereas autered works you either like or you don't like.

I often compare films to paintings: you wouldn't generally expect more than one person to have been "the artist" behind the painting. Why should film be any different? Of course film is a collaborative effort, but actors are the paint, crew members are the brushes and the director is the artist. Naturally, all of these are absolutely needed for the film painting to eventuate. Resources, might be the canvas?

The way I work as a director is that I take full responsibility and that gives my cast and crew the freedom to play and excel within that framework, in their own specialised areas. I also don't micromanage them, I trust them to be auteurs of their own work and skill sets. They bring me their best and together we create the best we can, within the resources we have.

DB – You were actually in a film called “Horror” way back in 2007, where you played a teenage witch. Was this your first horror movie?

SL – Ahhh now that one was definitely more on the slapstick side! It was all good fun and I enjoyed working with the director Stuart Harrison that at the time was pretty active in making films. I still collaborate with his brother Charly Harrison, he is a composer and has made music for all my films, he is amazing, also won the best music for another horror collaboration we did, Candy Cravings, which was a story about a lesbian cannibal.

DB – I actually met you on the set of a horror movie called Cult Girls sometime in 2016. How was your experience with that one?

SL – I mean, my character blows up a car with her mind power only, so there was that. And the way I got cast was amazing, the director Mark Bakaitis had shown the casting director Nathan Hill my work, and said he wanted someone "like me" and Hill said, "I know Saara, how about we just try and get her." So that doesn't happen very often, and the film introduced me to the cult heroine Jane Badler, who I now collaborate with in my next feature The Lies We Tell Ourselves. So many great things have come from the project and I am very happy to have been cast in it.

DB – I’ve been going over your back catalogue of horror films and 3 stand out to me – “Mad Woman”, “The White Room” and "The Lady of The Wheel". Can you tell us a bit about these?

SL – Sure, Mad Woman by Sebastian Mittelman was a classic creature horror, whereas "The White Room" by Paraskevas Mourikis was more a closed psychiatric ward, almost a horror film in a music video kind of film, and "The Lady of the Wheel" by Pheona Donohoe and Tony Ferrieri is called a drama, but really, is a great example of a drama that is more a horror than perhaps some horrors themselves, given that my character is an alcoholic mother that gives birth by herself to a baby in a old caravan and later shakes her baby to death, all of which is accomppanied by haunting music and imagery.

What is similar to all these films is that I play highly disturbed characters in all of them. I do seem to get cast in those roles more often that not, and I am pleased, because they provide me so much more room to do a good job as an actor than something less multidimensional would.

DB – Aside from Horror, you have worked in many other genres of film. Can I ask about your future plans, regardless of whether the films are horror or not.

SL – Absolutely. I just want to make better films and more films. I will keep writing and directing my own films, but I love working as an actor in other people's directions. So I am always really happy to hear from directors that would like to work with me. Don't look at my work and think you want "someone like me"- you want me!

I consider myself lucky to be able to delve into different genres and whilst I find myself very comfortable in the uncomfortable and psychologically challenging roles, I have also been getting more and more into comedy, even doing some standup every now and again. And a hard hitting drama is close to my heart. When I am an actor in someone's film, I don't direct! Unless you really want me to, but generally, I like to step away, and given I like auteured works, I believe you know your film way better than I so I will just do the best I can as an actor, but I would never step on your toes. I think maybe some directors might be daunted by me because I also direct, but yeah, I have no interest in changing your vision, so feel free to hire me with confidence. I get immense joy from acting in other people's films as acting was my first love, and probably always will be.

Personally, I really look forward to releasing work- my second directed feature Westermarck Effect was ready in 2020 but pandemic stopped the release which was supposed to be at Cannes Cinephiles; I really hope that can happen this year! And I have a few other films, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, Conversations with Spithead and COMA all in post production and releasing soon after we are over the hump of the pandemic.

I would hope that at some point, someone out there starts seeing the value in my work to provide funding for it. If I can make these films with next to no money, just imagine what I could do with actual funding. It would duly change the course, not only for me, but those that work with me, believe in my films and have been diligently helping all these years.

I also look forward to exploring film further and further, pushing it's boundaries, seeing where we can take film in the future. I really like single sitting content rather than binge watching, I like concentrating rather than fidgeting. So in many ways I love the tradition of a feature film and I would like to be playful and contemporary with that and around the instituion of that.

I am ambitious, and my ambitions are always around quality of the work and loyalty to the art, rather than anything material. As long as I am able to make films and be surrounded by people that love me, I will be a very content human being.