#76: Eva Riley, Filmmaker

Welcome to Series 4 of Best Girl Grip!

My first guest of the series is the wonderful Eva Riley.

Eva is a Scottish director and screenwriter based in Brighton. She graduated from the National Film and Television School in 2015, whereupon her final year film Patriot premiered in competition at Cannes. In 2016, she was commissioned to write and direct Diagnosis by BBC Films and she was subsequently named a Screen International ‘Star of Tomorrow’.

Eva's first feature Perfect 10 was developed and produced through Creative England’s iFeatures programme and later premiered at LFF. It tells the story of a young gymnast, played by Frankie Box, whose already difficult life is disrupted by the appearance of a half-brother, played by Alfie Deegan, whose existence she was unaware of. It’s a dazzling debut, just really assured and sensitive filmmaking and performances and it’s rebellious, summery vibe is perfect for these cold winter months and you can currently watch it on BBC iPlayer.

I think Eva is a brilliant filmmaker, and she made for a wonderful interviewee. She didn’t sugarcoat any of her successes and I think she makes visible the hard work and effort it’s taken to arrive at this very well deserved moment. 

We talk about working with young actors, what her filmmaking instincts are, giving less fucks about asking for what she wants, the physical demands of directing, the realities of pre-production and what she learnt from making her first feature.