We sat down with first-time writer/director Eva Vives to discuss her Tribeca 2018 hit: the provocative love story All About Nina (interview below). Vives subverts the rom-com model with a deeply personal film that unfolds like a slow-motion train wreck. You’ll both laugh and cringe. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars as tortured stand-up comic Nina, who—despite a talent for uninhibited onstage ribaldry—can’t exorcise her offstage demons. Despite a non-existent background in comedy, Winstead kills; she’s also very convincing as her own worst enemy. Meanwhile, Common plays Rafe, her sensitive, goofy love interest—an ideal male companion with toxic masculinity dialed all the way down to zero. He’s a fully fleshed-out Disney ‘Prince Charming’ with real world flaws and eccentricities. Sure to stir the pot of typical ‘boy-meets-girl’ stories, this challenging film may even incite audiences to question the kind of entertainment they’ve previously been fed.
Vives grew up in Spain, then moved to NYC to study film and make shorts. She first received recognition as a screenwriter for Raising Victor Vargas, when she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and a Humanitas Prize. She’s also the first female writer/director to earn the Sundance trifecta: participating in both Screenwriting and Director’s labs in the same year, as well as having a film in the festival. All About Nina marks Vives as a filmmaker-to-watch.
