Yahoo Lifestyle Hailey Gates Debuts Satirical ‘Atropia’ at Sundance, Starring Alia Shawkat and Produced by Luca Guadagnino
Name: Hailey Gates
Sundance project: Gates is the writer and director of “Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny and Tim Heidecker. The movie, which is produced by Luca Guadagnino, is a feature adaptation of Gates’ 2019 short film “Shako Mako,” which was part of Miu Miu’s “Women’s Tales” film program. The story is set in Atropia, a fictional country that is host to war simulations for U.S. military trainees, staffed by actors playing various roles of Iraqis (the film is set in 2006). Gates was familiar with the film set-like war simulation campuses from growing up in Southern California, where many are based. Much of the Sundance premiere audience was shocked to learn such places are real.
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Notable past credits: As an actor, Gates has appeared in films like “Challengers” — which is how she connected with Guadagnino — and “Uncut Gems.” She hosted the Viceland series “States of Undress,” which examined fashion in various countries like Pakistan and Venezuela.
When she left Vice, Gates had what she describes as a “bit part acting career,” which sparked her interest in finding acting roles that weren’t film roles.
“I became really obsessed with these training facilities and thought it would be really interesting to shoot a documentary as an actor on one of them,” Gates says.
The military wasn’t thrilled about giving her access to do so, at which point she pivoted from a documentary to a satirical short film.
Gates and Shawkat, who is Iraqi, have long been friends, and after doing the short together were both in “frustrated moments in our artistic lives” when they decided to pursue a feature-length version.
“We went out to the desert. [Alia] was trying to make a television show about her family because her dad owned a strip club, and I was like, ‘let’s just go shoot something.’ So we went out there with a friend, a camera and sound, and we shot two days and we made this little thing and we sort of looked at each other. We were like, ‘why aren’t we doing this? Why aren’t we making something together?’” Gates recalls.
Shortly after, while on the set of “Challengers,” Guadagnino challenged her to write a script and send it to him.
At the film’s premiere on Saturday, it was obvious from the audience’s constant laughter that the film had found a groove.
“I hope it makes people laugh. I hope it makes them think,” Gates says. “I hope it is a portrait of how flimsy the American Empire is.”
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