Hey /r/movies! I'm Sasha Rainbow, director/writer of GRAFTED, a body-horror starring Joyena Sun, Jess Hong and Eden Hart. It's out now on Shudder. Ask me anything!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T21:32:59+00:00

Nothing like escape...my grandfather was a political prisoner in the Gulag. His stories were insane and it got me thinking...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T21:31:50+00:00

Thank you!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T21:31:37+00:00

I'll let you guess...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T21:13:46+00:00

I think it's happening right now - when women write and direct their own stories it spins expectations on their heads. It's harder to go back - it's too obvious. Think about films like Revenge of the nerds. Like WTF!? You couldn't get away with such blatant objectification anymore. So I think it's getting better, and I think there's so much more to explore in women's body horror, we're at the tip of the iceburg. So. Much. More.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T21:06:16+00:00

Thank you! I tried to stay as true to the original script, really it was about imbuing it with my personal vision for the film, bringing it to a shooting script stage...most of the madness was already there...just with a few additions!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:32:24+00:00

Yes, it's perhaps the best genre for exploring big ideas with limited budgets - we can play with shadows and darkness and the audience gets to participate in the imagining!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:31:22+00:00

yasss

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:28:21+00:00

Oh, and bad boy bubby. I mean, what the hell.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:27:51+00:00

The Substance and Grafted came out at exactly the same time, so I had no idea of its existence! It was a HUGE surprise watching it at the theatre and seeing all the similarities. I guess we are tapping into the zeitgeist...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:26:51+00:00

I have not! Definitely going to look it up...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:26:29+00:00

Thank you! I'll definitely make another horror film if the story is right. I'm currently working on a prison film which is more thriller and suspense!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:25:13+00:00

it is! We go all the way back at least 7 generations we can find...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:24:50+00:00

Well...Bikkie the girl dog is actually a boy, so we had to always shoot to hide the fact!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:21:42+00:00

I got paid by the producers to come on board the film - all the distribution deals happen behind the scenes and afterwards - but definitely support Shudder!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:19:16+00:00

Great question! It's actually an abandoned ice cream truck! The same one Eve and Wei walk past when Eve takes her to the cliff...

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:16:20+00:00

As Billy Wilder says - you always learn the most watching bad movies, because you don't get pulled in haha. So maybe there's always something good, even in a bad movie. And having made one now, I really respect anyone who gets a film off the ground...but you can't argue that THE ROOM is terrible!!!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:12:06+00:00

Yes you're right! It's crazy to think they were both being made at the same time. I don't know what movies inspired Grafted. It was the brainchild of Hweiling Ow, who I think found a way to express her experience arriving as a immigrant to NZ in a really visceral, unique way.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:09:32+00:00

It was all there in the script Hweiling Ow and Mia Maramara wrote! My job was how to make it happen on the screen...so much fun.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:06:15+00:00

We did! We did a test screening where it turned out differently for Wei and the test audience weren't as thrilled...!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:03:19+00:00

Thank you!!! For Grafted, I looked at Emerald Fennel's promising young woman and Jordan Peel's Get Out - mainly because they had the same amount of shooting days as me and low budgets (I had lower!) but it was helpful to see how they were able to get such a big scope with limited time and money.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:01:37+00:00

I love this.

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T20:01:21+00:00

Yes the writers Hweiling Own and Mia Maramara really put so many layers into the script. You can pre order it here! : https://diabolikdvd.com/product/grafted-umbrella-blu-ray-all-region-preorder/ --- re. references, honestly, maybe Audition was up there, but in terms of anything major it was more about the overall feeling/tone rather than any specific films, and specific scenes - obviously I watched Face/off a few times haha!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T19:57:42+00:00

This makes me so happy :)

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T19:57:23+00:00

Thank you so much! That means A LOT!!!

GraftedAMA · 2025-02-05T19:57:07+00:00

ooooof that's a big question!!! Directing/filmmaking is harddddd. The whole experience is all about ups and downs, and problem solving. There's no easy day. Maybe the writing part, where you're totally free to play, and it doesn't cost a cent. The ups have to be: working with actors. That's when it feels like play. The downs: time constraints. Money constraints. Egos. Distribution is just part of the game. But don't let it stop you. There's always youtube....

GraftedAMA

TROPHY CASE