Navalny: Producer Odessa Rae on High Stakes Filmmaking

Explicit content warning

03/03/23 • 43 min

Odessa Rae is the producer of the Oscar-nominated film ‘Navalny’, a powerful, fly-on-the-wall thriller documentary about the Russian politician who dared to speak out against Putin and survived a targeted assassination attempt as a result.

Odessa's belief in telling stories that need to be heard and her conviction in following her intuition is remarkable. A multi-lingual actor, writer and producer, Odessa and director Daniel Roher travelled to the Black Forest to film with Navalny and his team, sometimes for up to 20 hours a day, in the hopes of providing an intimate glimpse into his inspiring journey.

They also aimed to answer the question, ‘who tried to kill Navalny?’ Eventually, they captured an extraordinary conversation on camera, which went viral overnight and forms the heart of the documentary itself, which is both thrilling and harrowing in equal measure.

‘Navalny’, which has been described as ‘stunning’ (The Guardian) and containing ‘perhaps the most jaw-dropping phone call in the history of cinema’ (Filmspotting) premiered at Sundance in 2022, where it won ‘Best of Fest’ and the coveted ‘Audience Award’ for the US documentary competition.

In this episode Odessa tells us about

following your intuition and taking risks
navigating personal safety and security on a high stakes project

In sharing how she put everything on the line for this documentary, Odessa demonstrates the power of risk taking and trusting your gut in the creative process.

Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode

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Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.

Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson

Production Manager - Hannah Alexander

Post Production - Matt McGuinness

Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]

Music - PremiumBeat.com

Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson

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Social Media:

Twitter @singerstudiosuk

Instagram @singerstudiosuk

Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk

Odessa Rae:

Instagram: @odxssarae @navalnydoc

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Odessa tells us about

following your intuition and taking risks
navigating personal safety and security on a high stakes project

In sharing how she put everything on the line for this documentary, Odessa demonstrates the power of risk taking and trusting your gut in the creative process.

Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode

—

Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.

Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson

Production Manager - Hannah Alexander

Post Production - Matt McGuinness

Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]

Music - PremiumBeat.com

Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson

–

Social Media:

Twitter @singerstudiosuk

Instagram @singerstudiosuk

Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk

Odessa Rae:

Instagram: @odxssarae @navalnydoc

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

All That Breathes: Editor Charlotte Munch Bengtsen on Finding Your Creative Voice

Multi-award winner Charlotte Munch Bengtsen is the editor of ‘All That Breathes’, a remarkable documentary that tells the story of two brothers who run a bird hospital for black kites in New Delhi, India. It has broken records, being the first film to ever win Best Documentary at both Cannes and Sundance. In addition, it was nominated for a BAFTA and Academy Award, while Charlotte won a coveted International Documentary Association (IDA) award for Best Editing.

However, Charlotte’s path to becoming an editor was a surprising one. Originally a professional contemporary dancer, upon first walking into an editing suite, Charlotte was, in her words, ‘struck by lightning’. This encounter catalysed a new lifelong passion, so in her early 30s, Charlotte made the seismic decision to leave dancing behind and learn how to edit films at the National Film & Television School.

Her decision paid off: with titles such as ‘The Act of Killing’ and ‘The Truffle Hunting’ already under her belt, Charlotte’s latest film, ‘All That Breathes’, has struck audiences across the world both because of its intimate feeling and universal themes, all of which is fully realised through Charlotte’s masterful editing.

In this episode Charlotte shares her advice on how to:

challenge anxiety about your creative work
overcome feelings of loneliness and build a powerful team around you.

In sharing her journey from dancer to editor, Charlotte reminds us of the power of leaning into your other skills to enhance your creative work.

Please note that there may be some spoilers relating to the film in this episode

–

Women Behind the Scenes is hosted by Eloise Singer and produced by Ben Weaver-Hincks for Singer Studios.

Executive Producers - Eloise Singer and Cathy Anderson

Production Manager - Hannah Alexander

Post Production - Matt McGuinness

Editing, Mixing and Mastering - Tom Fred Bradshaw [iGame.Audio]

Music - PremiumBeat.com

Production Assistant - Lucy Davidson

Special thanks to The Dorchester for hosting us for this episode.

–

Social Media:

Twitter @singerstudiosuk

Instagram @singerstudiosuk

Website: www.singerstudios.co.uk

Charlotte Munch Bengtsen

https://monami.dk/talent/charlotte-munch-bengtsen

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

The Swimmers: Director and Co-Writer Sally El Hosaini on Discovering Your Directing Style

Welsh-Egyptian director and writer Sally El Hosaini is the director and co-writer of BAFTA nominated ‘The Swimmers’, a moving biographical drama that follows two teenage Syrian refugees who swim alongside a sinking dinghy full of refugees, guiding it to safety.

As a writer and director of Welsh and Egyptian heritage, Sally didn’t know she wanted to work in film until, as an Arabic Language and Middle Eastern Studies university student, she realised that she wanted to pursue a career that combined ‘images, words and people’.

She started out as a ‘do-it-all’ self-shooting AP, an experience she describes as ‘film school’, and ended up coming on board as a co-writer with Jack Thorne on ‘The Swimmers’ because she wanted to help create a genuine story for her teenage self.

However, ‘The Swimmers’ nearly didn’t come to fruition. Its production hampered by the pandemic, it was in part because of Sally’s ability to keep the faith and rally those around her that it finally hit our screens in 2022.

In this episode, Sally talks about the process of learning to let go of her expectations, and the beautiful, spontaneous discoveries that she made as a result of trusting that her path would find her.

In this episode Sally shares her advice on: