How do you hold onto a home you've lost? JP Allen returns to SF Indie Fest with an answer in his contemplative feature, “Girl in Golden Gate Park.” In this elegantly slow film, two women teetering on the edge of eviction stumble into each other's arms in the heart of San Francisco. Their housing distress brings them together — but it also tears them apart. Joni (Erin Mei-Ling Stuart) must come to terms with the challenges of accommodating even the most attractive of lovers (Kim Jiang) in her heart, rent-free.
We sit down with JP Allen and his two leads over Zoom to talk about their work.
What attracted you all to this film?
JP Allen: I wrote the script around three and a half years ago. The original script involved a heterosexual relationship, but the producer Cathy Montosa suggested that I consider different gender combinations. I thought that was very effective. Kim and Erin were cast for their merit; they simply were the best for their roles. We looked at how they portrayed their characters and the quality of their work.
Kim Jiang: I just want to add that the Asian-American part of it is so inconsequential that it is consequential. It's one of the great pleasures of working with JP and Cathy. They're just so open — unbound by rules.
Erin Mei-Ling Stuart: I come from a much stronger theater background, so working on a small independent film in a big role was really exciting in and of itself. As an actor of color, my casting opportunities sometimes have to do with my race, specifically. I think it's very exciting to tell culturally-specific stories, but it also feels good to have opportunities that aren't directly linked to that.
Kim: I agree with that so much. That would be the utopia of how our world should be. (laughs)
Erin: I think it's powerful to have two Asian women leads in a film where being Asian isn't necessarily driving its content. The representation is still there.
For the actresses: tell me more about your experiences on set. Erin, this is your first complete independent feature; and Kim, you have quite a few IMDB credits. How did this compare to other projects you've worked on before?
Erin: Working in film is just so different from working in theater. In terms of finding an arc through the whole piece, it's a different kind of challenge when we're shooting out of sequence; repeating scenes; and finding that flow through the whole project. Some of that is in JP's court, in the editing — so the finished film is so different from being in the moment, in the scene. Moreover, I think the style of acting can be so much more simple and minimal. There's no need to project or create something. It's more of a simple embodiment of being there.
JP: I think you did a really good job of finding the vulnerability of the character.
Kim: For me, when I read the first five or six pages for the audition, I fell in love with the character immediately. For JP and Cathy, it was also love at first sight – they were just so easy to work with. It's really fun to play such a badass woman. This just felt right. And the character [Jean] – she's a fighter, not a victim; she's always fighting for relief to avoid feeling powerless.
Erin: We also shot a lot of this — as the title suggests — in Golden Gate Park. Sometimes we were out there at 6AM — which is a really special time. In these early mornings in the park, you would see a crane walk by. I'm a long-time San Francisco resident and it really reinvigorated a sense of magic in the city for me. It's a love letter to San Francisco.
JP: The director of photography, Dan — he does a good job.
Erin: This was the first time I've acted in Golden Gate Park. It's now my favorite place. (laughs)
How personal was this film for both of you?
JP: Well, this was very personal. For every film that I make, I want to make personal, local films – to press on with issues that we're dealing with at the time. I came to San Francisco about 30 years ago. San Francisco is known for its constant change, but it feels like it's been under attack within the last few years. There's a sense for me that we need to hold onto who we are — the vibrant burst where we all fit in. More specifically, my friends were being evicted from their apartment homes. From my window, I frequently see people living in their cars, like in the film. It's just part of my day-to-day life.
Erin: There were aspects to [Joni] that just aren't mentioned in the script — you don't know too much about her past, so I imagine what brought her to this moment. I imagine her as emotionally guarded, as someone who has experienced some loss. This isn't really discussed in the film, but I think that this feeling of difficulty in making a connection with people is something that I could find in myself. She's contained and she's tough, and I could bring my own experiences to that.
This film also reminded me of two others I've seen in 2019. The first, “The Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (Celine Sciamma) is notable for its queer themes; the second, and perhaps more thematically relevant, is “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” (Joe Talbot). They are each charged with queer and racial tension respectively; did this reflect in your own work at all?
Erin: I saw both films; they're both so beautiful. “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” made me see the city in a different light. We have all these cities laid on top of each other. Kim and I are who we are, and our histories – our racial identities – they're there, we just bring it with us. I identify as bisexual, and I kind of decided that [Joni] would be, too. I never think I'm telling a type of story — I think more of how I individually relate to this person.
JP: I haven't seen either of these two films, but I'm more inspired by looking at places that I'm planning to shoot, and imagining the scenes in an actual environment. Once we had cast Erin and Kim, we could become highly specific about the people in that world.
Erin: Talking about the environment makes so much sense. The city and the park are characters in this film. It's so visual – there are a lot of scenes without dialogue, that unfold slowly – the way that those visuals tell the story of space tell a lot of the character's story. There are outer containers enveloping the internal story.
JP: As a filmmaker, I'm always making a decision to determine what elements are dominant in this piece. Our first film, “Coffee and Language'” is almost entirely dialogue. As this is our tenth film, I wanted to minimize language. The first time we have dialogue is twelve minutes or so into the film.
The quietness of “Girl in Golden Gate Park” really struck me – especially in comparison to the usual hustle-and-bustle seen in urban scenes. What was your rationale? How did you choose your locations?
JP: It's really inspired by what's behind me, Golden Gate Park. We just happen to be in that world, and we want to bring the audience into that world to understand it. This place has its own true character. I found the locations by just walking through the park hundreds of times – and thinking about not just the locations themselves, but how they would be seen. For example, there's a scene where Jean and Joni come together for the first time, and they're walking beside a pond. When I was scouting, I could just see their reflections in the water. There's a moment of coming together, of mirroring their experiences with one another.
The attention to the visual is evident in the wardrobe choice as well.
JP: We were so conscious of that — the coats were such a big deal for us. Cathy Montosa brought her own coats for Joni to wear. We had a specific meaning for each coat she wore; the red coat marked the beginning of her relationship, for example — and in the context of the park, we wanted to have something just stand out [in all the green]. And Jean too – she always wears black since this refers to her film noir vibe.
The clothes seem to also remark upon their socioeconomic status.
JP: We tried to show a hierarchy of homelessness. When Jean gives a homeless person on the street a granola bar, that's one level. But Jean lives in a car; that's another level. And Joni, who lives in a house above, but still is in this precarious situation — that's another level. We imagined Jean to have been a bartender in Haight-Ashbury, that she's already familiar with the area.
And Jean's character- we're rooting for her, but she's still this vengeful spirit. Where is this coming from?
JP: Jean is a nuanced character. She is a little surprising in that you root for her cause, but she's somewhat unreliable in what she says. You never know about the status of her parents, how far she might be manipulating Joni, so it's definitely a mix of light and dark. We wanted to create a noir-like vibe. In the ending, we worked really hard to make it balanced, so it'll have some humor, some revenge, some love – it's a blend.
I know we've just talked about representation, but I'm also curious that everyone in the film is a woman. I sensed an added layer of vulnerability, but was there anything else you were thinking about in your script?
JP: When I worked on the script and talked to the producer, Cathy Montosa, we thought it just would be more interesting if everyone was a woman. It wasn't necessarily any kind of statement; they were just more powerful characters that way. Once we did that, it all seemed to fit properly. There are moments in the film where we wanted to have it be fully vulnerable.
And if you could be vulnerable just for a minute – what were some challenges in working with this film?
JP: We filmed for a year and three months. We absolutely had to account for the seasons — we were always looking at the trees to check for continuity. It was best to film during the winter. But compared to our other works, this was probably one of our easier films. [laughs]
And favorite moments?
JP: I love when [Elysia Oliquiano] enters the film, since she just changes the method of the film. It becomes more of a magic realism. I laugh every time I see the scene of Jean and Joni running together, too. When Joni walks around looking for Jean in the latter part of the film, that originally was a dialogue scene – and we decided to just take it out.
And finally: how do you feel about your premiere online?
JP: I'm a huge fan of SF Indie Fest — I've supported them before. It's an odd time to not premiere in a live theater, but I guess this is just what we do now. I'm excited for change and to go back to the theaters, but I guess this is cool – you've got to hand it to the festivals for figuring this all out during COVID.
[I just want to add that] I'm proud and congratulate each person involved in this piece. There are seven women, seven singer/songwriters; and the score was also done by our friend John Dole. I just want to express appreciation for the people in the cast/crew. It's made on the goodwill of so many people, so I just want to acknowledge the efforts that go into the film, and into SF Indie Fest.
I enjoyed this film and was surprised at the nuances of unreliable truth. Loved the settings and art behind it.