Tereza Hirsch is an award winning Writer, Director, Actress and Production Designer, best known for her political period piece "The Guilt List". She was born in Germany and grew up in the Czech Republic; currently her dreams are starting to come alive as she lives in Los Angeles. With her passion for writing and filmmaking, Tereza focused her career and educational background around this aspect.
Before we get into knowing more about Tereza, take a look at the trailer for her award winning short film "The Guilt List" below.
How did you get involved in the film industry? Did you always want to be a film director?
While I've always seen myself as a storyteller, I never thought I could be a good director. I started out as a journalist and writer. Later, I realized that if someone buys my book or my script and turns it into a movie, I have no say in what it's going to look like. It could be changed completely. As a screenwriter AND director, I can truly put the picture from my head onto the screen.
The guilt list was a film you wrote and directed. Can you give us a brief synopsis of the film?
"The Guilt List" takes place in California in 1953: Grace, a young American girl, falls in love with an immigrant from Czechoslovakia, Tommy. After introducing him to her parents, who are under the influence of the Red Scare, Tommy is being thrown out of the house. Grace soon realizes that a relationship with someone who is perceived as a Russian spy can be extremely difficult. Suddenly, she has to grow up and make adult decisions. Either in favor of her parents or in favor of love.
You’ve written and directed a couple of short films, but The Guilt List went on to win a bunch of awards at film festivals all over the world. Is that your proudest moment to date as a director?
There were two crucial moments this year that made me very happy and grateful. Winning an award for Outstanding Achievement in Film at the film festival in Princeton/NJ as well as "Best Short Film" and "Best Cinematography" at the Brazil International Film Festival. However, every little piece of recognition from anyone means a lot as it's important to me to get the message of acceptance between cultures out there.
To made the move to LA to really focus on the film industry. Describe your mental process when you decided to make the move. Were you nervous? Excited?
Of course I was both excited and nervous. To be honest though, my move was quite spontaneous and was meant to be only for a short period of time until I finish my Master's in film school. Then, however, I fell in love with the city and the industry, so I decided to stay after graduation. I was lucky to be able to work on set of various commercials, a music video reaching 2.2 million views and a film winning a Student Academy Award. Working on set is addictive!
Can you tell us about any upcoming projects you have in the pipeline?
My latest directorial work, a short drama about female insecurities, called "Blank Space", is just about to be finished. It features the talented Swedish actress Therese Lang as well as Los Angeles based actress Coty Nicoson. In addition, I am currently in Morocco, shooting a documentary, with the aim to explore the culture, traditions and religion. Living in a very divided world, I want to contribute to bringing people from different backgrounds together.
There are so many people that want to get into the same profession as you. People make mistakes along the way but it’s better to prevent them with help from people like you. If you have any advice for the younger generation what would it be?
There is a saying that I find quite useful and that I go by: "Tomorrow I will make better mistakes." Don't try to prevent them as it's not going to work. Instead, embrace them and turn them into advantages.
You can find her social media links below.
IG - @terezahirsch
facebook - The Guilt List
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