BFI FUTURE FILM FESTIVAL 2025
Saskia Steinberg
type of rain
FESTIVAL SCREENING
Friday 21 February 2025 15:00
FEB, 17, 2025
'Type of Rain' is a 10 minute drama about Millie, who in the wake of her close school friend's death, searches for a new ally: cold water.
Hi Saskia, how does it feel to be premiering your second short film Type of Rain at the BFI Future Film Festival this month?
It’s really exciting! I’ve been attending the BFI Future Film Festival for years, dreaming of one day being selected. The BFI is one of my favourite places so to be premiering Type of Rain there feels surreal.
Your debut short film Danced (2024) had its world premiere at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. What did it mean to you to get this type of recognition for your film?
That was a really fantastic experience. I made Danced when I was 23 years old and used it in part, to find and develop my style and voice. To premiere at a respected, Oscar-qualifying festival like Rhode Island gave me a lot of confidence to keep experimenting and creating new work.
How important are festivals like BFI Future Film Festival, in creating a platform for short films and filmmakers?
They are absolutely essential! Being able to see on the big screen what people are creating is so inspiring and motivating. The BFI Future Film Festival especially champions young people who are starting out, which is super encouraging as an emerging filmmaker. That’s what originally drew me to the festival - it shows you what’s possible.
Short films are a vital medium in the film industry, yet there are few opportunities for the public, outside of festivals, to see them. What more can be done to make short films more visible and accessible to the wider cinema audiences?
More screenings and larger streaming platforms accommodating short films. There is certainly an increased interest in shorter form content so it would be cool to see independent cinemas and big platforms accommodating this!
Can you tell me a little bit about how Type of Rain came about?
I wrote the initial draft of Type of Rain whilst studying at university in Dublin. I had got really into swimming in the Irish sea and loved the catharsis I felt when getting into the water. I knew I wanted to write a short film script exploring the release of getting into a freezing cold sea coupled with something more personal and not spoken enough about: adolescent grief from losing a friend.
I approached my close friend, Maddy, with the idea. We had both lost a close friend whilst at school together and I wanted to develop the story with her. We created Millie, an 18 year old girl who embodied what it feels like to be a teenager. It’s a confusing time, with your social identity at school often defined by your friends. Losing a school friend throws even more unsettlement into the mix. We wanted to verbalise this feeling in our film, whilst also tackling elements of mental health.
We went through many iterations and eventually landed on Millie getting into a cold bath instead of a sea (for budget reasons!). In part, it makes the film even more effective because it shows the audience how accessible cold water therapy can be.
Did you have any apprehensions about making a film that comes from such a personal place?
Certainly, it was a really daunting process for me because it meant addressing my own feelings of grief and opening up conversations I hadn’t spoken about before. I found that extremely liberating though and it gave me the confidence as to why I wanted to make this film - to encourage conversations about grief and the complexities of harbouring and attempting to obstruct the grief process.
Was it cathartic in a way co-writing Type of Rain with Madison Hookway?
It was undoubtedly a cathartic experience. Co-writing a script rather than writing alone forced us to ask each other difficult questions - something we might never have delved into, even after 13 years of friendship.
What were the biggest challenges you faced making Type of Rain, and what was the message you wanted to convey with this film?
Time, for sure. Maddy and I worked with the majority of our crew on respective feature films that were shooting during the week. So, in order to film Type of Rain, we worked around everyone’s schedules to shoot for a total of one day, split across two half days on the weekend. It was fantastic challenge though because it forced us to be incredibly organised with our shoot.
We were working on a micro-budget so ended up calling in a lot of favours including being kindly gifted 16mm film! With just a few rolls of film, we had to be intentional with every shot which also left us with not much room for error.
The final scene of the film before the credits was the last take we did. When the scene ends - that’s when our camera really did cut out. I love that - it feels very special. These types of challenges are so rewarding!
As for the message, we wanted to demonstrate the rawness of grief. There is no hierarchy in grief - it can be nonsensical and complex. You don’t need to justify your feelings based on how well you knew someone - your emotions are valid.
When working on a short like this how much flexibility do you allow yourself and your cast with your script. Is there much flexibility with the text once you start shooting or do you prefer to stick to what you’ve written?
It really depends on the project. I love a collaborative process and being able to workshop ideas with the cast and crew. I generally believe that my shooting script will never be my final script, so having flexibility to play around is always great fun.
Type of Rain was a bit different because we had to be more structured due to time, budget constraints and the little film we had. The script also had very little dialogue which was mostly stuck to during filming. I always like to leave the movement of the character in my scripts more open and flexible, encouraging actors to bring their own instincts into how they navigate a scene.
To maximise time, we marked out our scenes but even within that framework, Parker Lapaine, who played Millie brought this lovely spontaneity to the film. Her instinctive choices when we called action added a layer of unpredictability and rawness that were completely different to the rehearsals. I really value that kind of spontaneity and it’s something I look forward to encouraging even more in my future work.
What was the most valuable lesson you discovered about yourself as a filmmaker during the making of Type of Rain?
I learnt the value of seeking inspiration from a variety of art forms and unexpected places! Instagram stories like my friend posting the quote: “everyone is just a different type of mourner standing in their own type of rain” became the foundation for the film. Music that Millie would listen to, performance artists like Marina Abramović and even strangers immersing themselves in cold water.
I guess the lesson there was to lean into those in-between and unexpected spaces.
Have you always had a passion for filmmaking?
It sounds cliché, but yes! I used to make videos on my iPod when I was younger. I have 3 younger siblings which I used as actors in my videos - whether that’s being a director or a bossy older sister, I don’t know!
"During the making of Type of Rain, speaking to our crew about grief and their own personal stories helped shape the film’s emotional depth."
You’re an alumnus of Screenskill's Trainee Finder Program, what has your experience of the program been and would this be something you would recommend to someone wanting to get their foot in the film industry?
Absolutely! The program gave me that stepping stone to get into the film industry, working on feature films I had aspired to work on.
As a production trainee, I learnt so much about the production side of filmmaking. I’m someone who learns through example so being able to observe people more senior than me was invaluable in learning how to produce my own short films.
A lot of the people I made Danced and Type of Rain with, I met through the films I worked on!
What would you say have been the biggest changes to your filmmaking style since your debut short?
One of the changes is being more intentional with my filmmaking - asking myself how does it contribute to the overall story. Before, I wanted to fit every idea I had in a single film, but I’ve learnt that honing in on what really serves the story has allowed me to have a more deliberate approach - with room for creativity.
Moving forward, what themes and subjects are you looking to explore with future films?
At the moment, I love exploring complex female-led stories, whether that be through a female protagonist or narrative. I’m hoping to keep developing that in future films!
Who are some of the filmmakers that have inspired you?
Joanna Hogg, Michael Haneke and Chantal Akerman are big inspirations for me. I love complex female protagonists and themes of self-doubt and existentialism. In particular, the boldness of long, static wide shots is both therapeutic and intriguing to me. That style inspires me and is something that influences my filmmaking style.
It is certainly something I hope to expand on as I progress into longer length films.
Is there any advice you wish you had been given when you started your filmmaking journey?
I think it’s surrounding yourself with a great team. I love a collaborative filmmaking process - so being able to spitball with Maddy, or Scarlett ( DP) or Sofia (production designer) created a more cohesive story.
Hearing different perspectives and opening up conversation has been really important to me. During the making of Type of Rain, speaking to our crew about grief and their own personal stories helped shape the film’s emotional depth. We asked our crew to send in pictures of those they had “loved and lost”, which we included in the credits scene. That openness was such a special addition to the film!
And finally, what message would you want your audiences to take away from Type of Rain?
There is hope. Millie’s release at the end of the film demonstrates that there is light ahead. And sometimes, by doing something small like getting into a cold bath - can have a surprisingly profound effect on you!