by Tim Gordon
Recently, I had the opportunity to revisit a film at the Middleburg Film Festival that I saw earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. The feature-film directorial debut of Maggie Betts, Novitiate is a coming-of-age period story of a young girl’s journey to become a nun.
The daughter of an agnostic mother (Julianne Nicholson), Cathleen (Margaret Qualley) falls for the Savior HARD as she encounters several obstacles, most notably an old-school disciplinarian Mother Superior (the brilliant Melissa Leo).
Betts’ introduction to this story notably occurred when she read Mother Theresa’s autobiography, Come Be My Life, while on a flight. The gripping story immediately resonated with Betts who spent three years researching and writing what would become her latest film.
Betts was a special guest of the Middleburg Film Festival, introducing her film, participating in a Women in Film panel and talking to the press about her work.
I sat down with the former-socialite-turned-filmmaker and for twenty minutes, Betts passionately regaled me with stories of her film, feminism in Hollywood as well as being a part of a sisterhood that is changing the way film industry continues to evolve.
Check out the interview, below:
Betts discusses the theme that connects her work and the renaissance of Women Filmmakers (Part One)
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Betts address whether a divide exists between minority women vs non-minority women in Hollywood (Part Two)
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Betts discusses the genesis for the story (Part Three)
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Betts addresses the relevancy of her period film in 2017 (Part 4)
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