Moral Dilemma Director Leigh Addresses Issue of Abortion With ëVera Drakeí by Ky N. Nguyen Lauded British filmmaker Mike Leigh was awarded the prestigious Order of the British Empire in 1993. At the Cannes Film Festival, Leigh has won the Palme díor at Cannes for ìSecrets and Liesî and Best Director for ìNaked.î His latest film, ìVera Drake,î was rejected by Cannes this year but recently won the coveted Golden Lion award at Venice. Venice also gave British veteran Imelda Staunton the Best Actress award for her remarkable portrayal of Vera. Leigh said, ìImelda just seemed very right to do this job. With these films that I make, I collaborate with each actor to create a character. Obviously, this is no exception. Thatís how I make films. Thereís no formal script in the conventional sense, but there never is.î In the film, Vera performs abortions in 1950, when the procedure is still illegal in England (before the Abortion Act of 1967). ìIt is a serious matter. Itís not for me to explain the film or the character,î Leigh said. ìWhat is absolutely for sure is that she does not perceive what she does as being in any way wrong. We know that there have always been women, mostly women, in all societies everywher e who have been the people who knew how to deal with the problem.î The director continued, ìIt goes without saying, as far as Iím concerned, this is a film for now. I constructed it more by presenting you with a dilemma than with declaring a black-and-white position because itís not a black-and-white issue. It seemed non-negotiable that I had to do what I suppose I always try to do, which is make a film that expresses how I feel about it. ìHow I feel about it, personally, is of course ambivalent,î he added. ìIím sure at some point, you have to look at it from the American perspective. If they change the law and revert to a situation where [abortion is] illegal, then you get situations like the film. You would go back to that. Itís non-negotiable that the number of babies born since the beginning of this conversation in the world probably wouldnít fit into this whole ground floor of this building. The number of unwanted babies born into this chaotic world is unacceptable. ìOn the other hand, we know that a termination is destroying life. There is a moral dilemma. Itís not a kind of intellectual choice on my part to choose not to make a didactic film. Itís an inevitable function of how I feel about it. Thatís to intellectualize something thatís more a matter of passionate conviction than cerebral pondering.î Money for ëMachinistí At the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown, in a stunning conference room made out of the old incineratorís landmark smokestack, American director Brad Anderson reminisces: ìI love D.C. I lived here briefly. I worked as an editor on Haile Gerimaís ëSankofa.í Heíd pick me up, and Iíd go to the editing suite in Arlington, [Va.]. I helped out. Heís a really cool guy.î Andersonís breakthrough came with 1998ís romantic comedy ìNext Stop Wonderland,î referring to a bar in Boston. I mentioned to him that a bar named Wonderland recently opened in Washington. Like Howard University professor Gerima, Anderson has sought financing for his films from around the world. To make the supernatural thriller ìThe Machinist,î he turned to Spanish money, following the trend set by other recent English-language works such as ìThe Othersî and ìMy Life Without Me.î Anderson explained, ìMy film ëSession 9í had done so well over there in Spain, and thereís a company in Barcelona that knew who I was.î There, he said, backers agreed to finance his film, but only if it was shot in Barcelona. ìAt first, my reaction was like, ëHow am I going to do that?í I canít transform Barcelona into Orange County or something. I donít want to have the GaudÌ Cathedral in the back of every shot. We had to go to the dodgy parts of Barcelona, the parts the tourists donít go to,î Anderson recalled. ìThe producers gave me a pretty free reign to make the film I wanted to make. In the States, I donít think I would have had as much creative control of the process.î He continued, ìBy having the Spaniards give me suggestions, it allowed me to create something more unusual. We werenít using the usual suspects in terms of directors of photography, composers.î The Spanish crewís limited English actually improved Andersonís directions: ìThe advantage in some ways was that since I had to speak very slowly and deliberately to them, I was much more precise in what I wanted. It made me more decisive somehow.î Not knowing Spanish had another plus: ìYou donít understand when some producer is freaking out on the sidelines, screaming at somebody. Youíre not privy to the politicking. You just go on with making the movie.î Ky N. Nguyen is the film reviewer for The Washington Diplomat.