Interview: Annabelle Attanasio – Mickey and the Bear

How does free will exist when moral responsibility, opportunity and happenstance constantly impede on an individual’s further actions? Blending themes of attachment, addiction and trauma, actress turned filmmaker Annabelle Attanasio crafts an intimate portrait on the search of identity when a patriarchal social system and complicated father (a versatile James Badge Dale) -daughter relationship steers the burgeoning gutsy young adult (Never Goin’ Back‘s Camila Morrone) to an unknown future crossroads. Mickey and the Bear looks at role assignment, tackles the lingering effects of PSTD through the spectrum of imprints and describes what is missing from the family portrait in nuanced touches. A SXSW competition selection that has traveled to Cannes’ ACID section, Deauville, and Marrakech later this month, I had a sit down with Annabelle at the 2019 Festival du nouveau cinéma and discuss her choice in location, writing process and some of the non-film reference ideas included in her debut. Utopia release the film this week.