When Valerie Buhagiar was offered the job to direct The Dogs, she knew instantly the responsibility that came with that opportunity. The adapted novel written by Allan Stratton follows Katherine and her son Cameron as they flee her abusive husband from city to city. They live in fear as they are relentlessly hunted by him until they find a nice farmhouse to rent in a small town. Katherine lives in fear but Cameron is experiencing severe PTSD that is preyed on by an unexplained ghostly entity that only he can see and hear.
Directing a film about domestic violence requires a deep sense of sensitivity and authenticity – two elements that can contradict each other if not aligned well. However, Buhagiar is known for her holistic and artistic approach to storytelling, a method that encompasses her very being. Speaking with Buhagiar was like speaking with a Wisdom, her essence is ethereal and calming – she possesses an energy that makes you feel instantly safe. That is, of course, by design and many years of spiritual practice on and off the stage. Buhagiar who grew up in a working class, immigrant, Catholic family discovered her love for storytelling in grade 3, her teacher asked her what do you want to be when you grow up that will help people, a child with a penchant for writing stories and directing little plays, had a clear vision of her future.
“I didn’t know the term actor so I told her movie star.” She laughs. “My teacher said a movie star doesn’t really help people so I said teacher. For the longest time it was just a hobby until high school where I had this great theatre arts teacher and she taught me so much but I was also great at Maths and Physics, I loved figuring things out. But I remember at the end of high school I realised that if I didn’t try this actor/theatre thing I would be really upset with myself when i’m 30, so I had to try it.
Her decision paid off because she has starred in over 58 on-screen productions and has worked behind the camera as a director 12 times, but it is her second feature film The Dogs where Buhagiar’s years of practice and intentional creativity prepared her for what might be her most impactful project yet. It was a no-brainer that she had to make this movie, when she read the script knew she had what it took to elicit its haunting atmosphere while respecting its heavy themes. “I read the screenplay a few times over and the book. Domestic violence is an important story to tell and it’s constant. The haunting events of witnessing violence were all in the script and then you have this ghost story, I just thought it was brilliant”
The book was inspired by Allan Stratton’s real-life experience with his father. He was very abusive in his childhood to him and his mother and it was his stepfather who helped him heal from the trauma. In many cases, especially in Hollywood, it is the director who assumes all the glory for a feature film and the writer’s contribution is rarely celebrated, but that is not how Buhagiar operates, The script which had existed for about five years before she joined the production was perfect on arrival, she was determined to honour the writer’s vision. “I tend to come in with a huge bag of tricks which some producers like and some don’t, but I thought we can some stuff and if they don’t like it we will cut it. Especially if it’s not my script; this was my first film directing where it’s not my script, I really wanted to honour the writer’s wishes.”
A sentiment that she would repeat often in our interview, was that she wanted to honour the beauty and brilliance of the screenplay. She is a storyteller first and understands the power of collaboration thanks to her many years of acting in theatre. After high school, she listened to her instinct and attended theatre school which taught her where to pull her art form and how mindfulness is essential to creation. “The best directors I’ve worked with are theatre directors because in that medium there is a lot more collaborations between actor and director. There are so many good ones who will really work with you to make you feel safe to in front of an audience and give your all.” A strategy she had used personally and creatively. “I work really hard to make myself as strong and open as possible through meditation, authentic movement, stuff like that to tell the truth. And I want everyone who works with me to feel they can do the same.”
The Dogs is riddled with scenes that are violent and require her gentle approach; one in particular that is also my favourite from the film is when Cameron (Donovan Colan) is being possessed by the unknown entity that is preying on his grief. We are pulled between his self-harm and flashbacks to the past that show us Frank (Steven McCarthy) brutally beating his wife, Evelyn (Andréa Grant) while their son, Jacky (Asher Grayson) watches in fear. The scene gets progressively worse and features a disturbing moment where Cameron is punching himself repeatedly. Buhagiar was fearless in crafting this raw yet truthful scene that demonstrates domestic violence is not something you can represent falsely. It is ugly and often results in the demise of both woman and child. Films with this sort of content are not something Buhagiar traditionally gravitates to, but she knew she had a moral obligation to tell the truth, no matter how challenging filming it was.
“That was really complicated [filming the flashback scene] because in the script Cameron and Jackie travel between timelines in different locations. So I mapped it out visually with the cinematographer and production designer on a cell phone. I wanted to make sure the writers and producers knew I understood what they meant because you can interpret a script so many ways and I truly wanted to honour their vision.” Beyond crafting the scene, she also made sure to mentally support and prepare her actors for these moments. “We had wonderful cast members in these roles and none of them wanted to hurt anyone in these violent scenes so I wanted to take care of them [Donovan, Steven and Andréa] and say hey – we are safe here, so I helped choreograph the beating. We had a wonderful fight coach and then I realised no, no we can’t becareful, we’ve got to tell the truth here.
But sometimes the reminder wasn’t enough, understandably so. For actors to step into such vicious roles can wreak havoc on their spirit. Playing something that is the antithesis to who they are, especially someone who hits women and children can take a toll on their mental health. And despite the short window of filming time (18 days) Buhagiar gave all the time they needed to talk and practice scenes, even if that took a few hours for them to safely step into their characters. “I do what I usually do when an actor is struggling with a particular scene – I take them for a long walk an talk and talk and talk. For Cameron and Steven it was about reminding them their scenes were about where their intentions were. We know you are not an asshole or a crazy, violent beast. I know you’re not and I am here to hold you, don’t worry.”
And it’s not just the actors who got her signature caregiving treatment, so did the other star of the film, the haunted house. For Buhagiar, the house was a character of its own and she wanted to feel that way from start to the films resolution. Her approach to bringing this set to life is one uses all the time when visually treating her sets- a skill she pulls from her other artistic mediums. “I look at paintings for the colors and gave them to the production designer and cinematographer so they had an idea of the world I was looking at. I pulled inspiration from paintings by Andrew Wyeth and American painter who uses a lot of browns and golds. To me it had a melancholy heaviness to it that I wanted in present day. For the flashbacks, I wanted to go complete opposite, for that I pulled from Norman Rockwell which are 1950’s happy paintings. So my designer took these colours and created an atmosphere of an eerie run down house.”
This film was very much a collaborative process for Buhagiar and her production team and that is exactly what she wanted it to be. It is rare to hear about such an approach to making a film but as an interviewer and consumer of many films and many genres it is refreshing to meet a director and artist that treats the making of a film like a community practice. But even as a seasoned artist she is not above experience the plight of the filmmaker- constantly wonder if they are helping the world and making an impact, but she tells me “every once in a while i’ll get an email from someone telling me my film moved them and it’s a nice affirmation that work does have impact.”
The Dogs is now available on Hollywood Suite and On Demand.
