A date with emerging indie filmmaker Arabella Sharkey
Inside the mind of a local film festival darling.
My painfully expensive journalistic training is telling me that I must preface this interview by mentioning that I went to high school with Arabella. This means that I’ve had the privilege of watching her grow tremendously, as a person and as an artist, all the way through to the end of college. That feels very special, and I’ve always wanted to interview her—she’s incredibly creatively attuned in a way that feels very rare.
Arabella Sharkey is a senior at NYU studying Film & Television with plenty of accolades under her belt. Her films have been shown at New York Shorts International Film Festival, Hollywood Independent Filmmaker Awards, Tokyo International Short Film Festival, and so on—so perhaps calling her a “local” film darling is a misnomer (but she’s local to me, and most of my readers are in New York, so who cares).
Now in her final semester, she’s culminating four years of film education by gearing up to shoot Truths from a Corporate Sellout—a psychological thriller about a woman breaking free from her stale corporate job.
Sharkey’s films are instantly recognizable for their distinct use of magical realism. Usually, it’s used to illustrate a person’s inner psyche as they grapple with some form of deep unhappiness. In Plant Baby, it visualizes a troubled man’s mental state as he struggles with drug addiction and relapse. In Mirror Stacy, it represents a woman retreating to her younger self in an attempt to rediscover joy. Sharkey explores the human condition through fantastical means, making each of her stories feel akin to a dark fable.
Last Thursday, over coffee and avocado toast (delicious but overpriced—that’s New York innit), I spoke with Sharkey about movies, filmmaking, and what it means to live true to yourself.
So, Arabella, what's the last film you saw—and did you like it?
I watched A Different Man, the new A24 film starring Sebastian Stan. I thought it was really interesting as a concept. It's about a guy who has an ugly face. He has surgery, and suddenly, his face is attractive, and he’s transformed into a completely different man. I feel like the ending was really interesting. It was one of those films where it feels very open-ended, and you don’t really know exactly what happened in the end but there’s a lot to think about after the end credits have rolled.
Can you talk a little bit about your upbringing and what exactly drew you to the world of filming?
I feel like I was artistically involved in many things as a kid. I was really interested in drawing and music—I used to play guitar, drums, and piano. Learning an artistic skill and being able to express myself through it is something I’ve always really enjoyed. I also did musical theater in high school, which was great because it gave me a glimpse into the world of acting and helped me understand how stories come together from an actor’s perspective.
In high school, I was part of the IB (International Baccalaureate) program, which offered a higher-level film course in the junior and senior years. Through this, I was introduced to the world of filmmaking and took on different key roles myself.
Is there a particular film that made you decide that filmmaking is what you wanted to do with your life?
One of the films I saw that made me fall in love with the art of filmmaking is Amelie. The cinematography and color palette made me feel like I was watching a watercolor painting come to life. The music, especially, stood out to me. It’s one of those films that truly transports you into another world and it has a whimsical perspective, making you realize how impactful storytelling and cinema can be.
You've spoken about magical realism as a major source of inspiration. Could you share how you first encountered it and why it resonates with you so deeply?
I was drawn to fairy tales as a child—imaginative, very colorful fantasy stories. I love to tell stories that are fantastical. I think there's something really beautiful about magical realism. You're able to explore issues, situations, and people in the real world, but you're also able to add surreal elements—sometimes as a metaphor in order to express a message or theme, and sometimes to influence how audiences can empathize with the characters.
For example, in Plant Baby, the magical realism element is a plant that comes to life. It mirrors the main character’s recovery journey—when he's getting better, the plant gets stronger. But when he starts to slip, the plant starts to wilt. The film is a reflection of learning how to take care of something and learning how to take care of yourself. Magical realism is interesting because it's a way to make things more relatable. It draws people in.
You focus on pretty heavy topics with your films. “Last Shot” is about a shooting, “Plant Baby” is about drug addiction, and “Mirror Stacy” is about depression and suicide. What draws you to these heavier themes, and can you talk about how you came to those ideas?
It’s definitely something that I didn't intend to be consistent throughout my filmmaking journey. I didn’t say, “Oh, I want to make a film about drug addiction or suicide.” I thought of the story and the larger elements—which often used magical realism—and then the themes came naturally. Mirror Stacy was based on the idea of meeting your younger self. I wanted it to happen during a time of real need, so the topic of suicide occurred to me.
I thought that for someone depressed and contemplating suicide, being able to see their younger self would be such a powerful moment in their journey—just realizing how much they've lived until now, and that their lifespan isn’t just this present moment and its difficulties, but also the past and the future. There’s hope, no matter what.
Who do you cite as your biggest influences, maybe artistically or from a filmmaking perspective?
I feel like it's specific films that I tend to pull as references. It's not like I ever tried to replicate just one director, but there are directors that I really like the work of, like [David] Fincher and [Guillermo] del Toro. Del Toro also uses magical realism, but is a little heavier in his use of monsters and mythical worlds. When it comes to my films, I think of the overall theme or vibe for inspiration.
For my upcoming film, Truths from a Corporate Sellout, my inspirations are The Devil Wears Prada, Fight Club, and Adaptation. They're all contrasting in different ways, but they all have themes that resonate with the story in Truths from a Corporate Sellout. For example, in The Devil Wears Prada the antagonist is a demanding boss in a publishing house. Fight Club explores the idea of your subconscious creating a person that's not real.
Another influence is how I grew up reading fairy tales. I'm sure they’ve shaped me subconsciously. Music is also a big influence. I really like to have music on when I'm writing, screenwriting, and working—I just can't work in silence.
Can you talk a little bit about your upcoming film?
I’ll be shooting it in March. It's a psychological thriller with elements of surrealism and is about Ophelia, who’s a “Disastrous Dates” columnist with a magazine. She has aspirations to be an author and wants her oppressive boss, Janice, to publish an excerpt from her book. When Ophelia meets Lewis—a charming and mysterious man who encourages her to break the rules and stand up for herself—she loses her grip on reality and embraces chaos to break free.
Why do you think that's an important story to tell?
The lead character, Ophelia, feels trapped—in her life, in her corporate job, and within societal structures. She also feels emotionally repressed, and unable to express herself. I feel like this might resonate with a lot of people in our modern day—when they find they don’t listen to their heart or ignore their internal voice about what they truly want to do and pursue. I wanted to make a film that explores what can happen when you silence that inner voice for too long—it's a psychological exploration of that. The character Lewis—we don’t realize he isn't real until the end—mirrors her persona and is someone totally opposite to her, someone who’s willing to be honest with himself and go for what he wants. It's about finding personal freedom in life and realizing that we don't have to abide by societal structures.
Is that a message that's very personal to you?
Personally, I think it's very important to listen to your heart—and your intuition—but mainly your heart, for anything. It can be tough at times because there's other factors in life; whether it's relationships, pursuing your career, deciding what you want to do with your life, and who you want to be… I think it's important to not be influenced too much by society and those around you, and instead listen to your heart.
Can you talk about what you've learned from making each of your past films, and what you're bringing into your thesis project? What have you learned from making each one?
Oh, so many things—what area do you want me to start with?
Anything, anything!
I think it's important to have a really good team. Filmmaking is a very collaborative art form. It's very important to have a trustworthy and great team that you can be excited to work with, because ultimately, they're gonna be leading and taking charge of their own department. Like, your cinematographer—you’re gonna have to trust them to creatively take the lead with the camera on the day. Or the assistant director, who’ll keep you on track. Your producers will help organize the logistics. It can't be done without all those other people, it's really a group effort.
Starting early as well is important—you always need more time than you think. You should always over prepare until you feel like you can't prepare anymore, and only then you'll be prepared. If you feel half prepared, you're not gonna be prepared on the day. That's the best way to prevent things going wrong on the day—by preparing a lot.
Working well with actors is really important too. I really enjoy the rehearsal process and talking with actors, understanding what they see in the role, what their perspectives are, and exploring the history of each character so we can bring them to life. That's something I'm really excited to explore with my new film.
Another question I have—what's your favorite on set food?
Oh my God. I think, like, the gummies. What do you call them? There's like these fruit gummies that they always have on set—Welch’s, I think. Every set has them for some reason, I really like them. I like having them in my pocket. I can just eat one as we're doing stuff.
What's your favorite gummy flavor?
Strawberry. I don't know why, but red things—like red drinks, red gummies—just taste better.
That’s valid. For me, it’s blue stuff. I love anything that’s blue. Is there anything else that you want to say to end the interview?
It would be really great if anyone reading this can check out our Seed and Spark to learn more about Truths from a Corporate Sellout and make a small donation. Any amount will help. There's food for the cast and crew, transport, locations, there are a lot of elements. Any donation—big or small—would be amazing. It’ll all make a huge difference!
Chip in to support independent filmmaking!
Follow Arabella Sharkey on Instagram for more updates on her filmmaking journey.
Beautiful interview!