Ishana Shyamalan, the daughter of director M. Night Shyamalan, unveils her first feature film, the thriller “The Watchers”. Led by Dakota Fanning, the film can be seen in theaters this Wednesday, June 12.
In the Shyamalan family, we would like the youngest daughter Ishana! Father of three daughters, the famous director of Sixth Sense, Unbreakable and Split is releasing his new film Trap this summer. But before him, his daughter Ishana unveils her first feature film as a director: Les Guetteurs.
Two films presented by Warner Bros under the banner of “The Summer of Shyamalan”. Asked by AlloCiné during the launch of the trailers for their respective feature films, M.Night Shyamalan told us: “Having our two films coming out at almost the same time is truly a coincidence. We wanted the best release dates for both films. It just so happened that both were ready for the summer, so Warner suggested that we release them one after the other. one after the other, hence the marketing approach: “The Summer of Shyamalan”.”
Bestimage M. Night & Ishana Shyamalan
A childhood on film sets
The latter then told us that he had always secretly dreamed of Ishana becoming a director. “I had the hope that Ishana would become a director because she has a real gift for this profession and all her skills converge in the same direction when she directs. At home we focus on the artistic creation that drives us. With us everything is Art, you can listen to music, paint, make pottery, everything is in place to stimulate your creativity. I think all of this allows you to truly find yourself. Ishana has always been talented, whether as a dancer or in painting or in writing captivating poems.”.
I had hope that Ishana would become a director because she has a real gift.
From an early age, Ishana Shyamalan and his sisters accompanied their father on the sets. Behind the camera, they watched the teams hustle, creating magic and the actors, led by their father, bringing to life the characters they had first discovered while reading the scripts.
The director explains to our microphone during the promotion of Guetteurs: “I don’t remember the first filming I went to with my dad. I think my sisters and I were brought to the set. We were babies, so those were the films made early in his career. But the first shoot I really remember is that of The Water Maiden, and it was magical for me to see this story, which started as a tale that my father told us, become this gigantic and magnificent world. The idea that an artist could imagine something and make it a reality seemed magical to me.“
Warner Bros.
The Watchers
And so it was quite natural that she moved towards directing. Writer and episode director of her father’s series Servant, Ishana Shyamalan adds: “It happened quite naturally. I think I always loved playing with different mediums and learning to express myself in different forms. I discovered different forms of art in my childhood and adolescence and that inspired me. was fun. Then, when I got older, around 16, and started to think more seriously about what I wanted to do, I felt like the answer presented itself to me in the form of a film. I felt like I could do anything I wanted. I felt like being a director was an infinite way to express myself and act. started doing it, I didn’t want to stop.“
The thriller as a means of understanding the darkest emotions
For her first film, Ishana Shyamalan chose to adapt the novel by AM Shine because for her it is about “an incredibly rich and fascinating literary work“. The filmmaker adds “JI felt myself completely disappear while reading it. And I thought it would be a real pleasure, as a spectator, to have the same experience in a cinema and to share it with other people.”
Like her father, the young woman has a pronounced taste for suspense thrillers. The latter tells us: “I have always felt very connected to suspense and thrillers. I think it’s a way for me to understand darker emotions and learn how to deal with them by watching this genre or expressing myself in this genre.“
Warner Bros.
The Watchers
In The Watchers, Mina finds herself lost in the middle of the forest. The young woman finds refuge in a house already occupied by three people. She will then discover the rules of this very secret place: every night, the inhabitants must allow themselves to be observed by the mysterious occupants of this forest. They can’t see them, but they watch everything.
The film stars Dakota Fanning, Georgina Campbell (Barbarian), Olwen Fouéré (Halo) and Oliver Finnegan. Throughout the film, there is a real synergy between these four actors. However, these were all cast separately from each other. The director declares: “The remarkable thing is that we chose them one by one. We only had one reading of the script via Zoom, and then some time for a dress rehearsal all together.
It’s quite amazing how everything went so well with a group of actors who had never met before, until this rehearsal, just a few days before filming began. In fact, I think that when Mina, played by Dakota Fanning, meets the group of “missing”, it’s fantastic to see that she is naturally hesitant with them, since as an actress, she has never had only a short time to familiarize yourself with them. She really finds herself facing strangers, it’s not cinema at all.”
Warner Bros.
The Watchers
A parallel between actor and director
In the feature film, Dakota Fanning and his friends must, every evening, appear in front of a clear mirror so that the watchers can observe them. An interesting parallel between the career of Dakota Fanning, who began in front of the cameras at the age of 5, and that ofIshana Shyamalan who grew up on a film set but behind the camera.
For Ishana Shyamalan, this parallel between their childhood allowed the two young women to understand each other almost intuitively. “It’s an interesting parallel. I think we had this intuitive connection from the beginning, when I first met her. It’s wonderful that we can communicate about what that means. Dakota had a life much more active than mine in the industry so I was always very interested, I talked to her about it and we discussed the impact it had on her.
We all wonder what privacy is.
Dakota Fanning for her part also makes the link with society in general and social networks: “I really liked this parallel and this metaphor in the film, not only as a star, but I think in general we all face this. People put their lives online on social media.
I myself watch the morning routines of people I don’t even know on Instagram. So I think we all wonder about what privacy is and whether it exists, what we look at and what is shown of us… So I felt concerned by this idea. Of course, I’ve had a particular version of this throughout my life. But I think everyone has a version of it in the times we live in.”
The Watchers can be seen at the cinema from this Wednesday, June 12.
