Is it a follow-up to I Am Yours, your first feature film, which was presented at Toronto in 2013?

It is more like a continuation. The intrigue is different. In I Am Yours, Mina, who is a single mother, feels unloved and is finding it difficult to face adversity. In What Will People Say, social pressure plays a more important role. The conflict between cultures, as well as generations, is in focus. My heroine, Nisha, who lives with her parents, wants to maintain good relations with them but also wants to live like young Norwegians her age. The traditions that her family cling to, however, do not allow her to blossom: In her environment, the what-will-people-say is key, and it is tiring and frustrating to have to respect rules imposed by others. Nisha ends up living a double life till the day she is caught in an act that severely violates her family’s values. A moment of crisis that threatens to have major consequences.

Tell us a little about the actors in What Will People Say.

Maria Mozhdah, who plays Nisha, is someone I found after many auditions. She had what I was looking for – besides talent, courage and determination. As her experience as an actor was limited, with worked together intensively. She gained confidence and invested fully in her role. Adil Hussain is a remarkable actor who we have seen in The Life of Pi, where he plays the father. He is surrounded by strong, talented women, actresses or otherwise.

Did you shoot in studio?

Not at all. All the outdoor and indoor scenes have been shot in Norway, Germany, Sweden and India. About three months of shooting with breaks. I really love India and after careful preparation, I went there a number of times on location scouting trips with the cinematographer Nadim Carlsen. I chose to shoot in the region of Rajasthan in the north-west of the country.

In a rural setting?

A world that was neither rural nor urban, simply a small traditional village. My film is intended to be as real as possible, and the actors with their performances and personalities have contributed to the veracity of the whole, coupled by the score that comes from two composers who did not know each other – the German Lorez Dangel and the Danish Martin Pedersen. They came on board at the very last stage of editing because I wanted to be sure of myself, to feel, to really know what music would best suit my film. On the other hand, the editors, the Danish Janus Billeskov Jansen and the Norwegian Anne Østerud knew each other well, having worked together often, most notably on I Am Yours and The Hunt by Thomas Vinterberg. I was with them through the entire process. Reducing raw footage of over three hours to a hundred and six minutes… I had to leave my heart out of it as you have to be strict with yourself and know where to draw the line.

The media has often talked about episodes that are similar to what Nisha goes through.

I wanted to show the internal aspects, the emotions, the experience as it is perceived intimately, without presenting things in black and white, like a sort of template. My generation is more willing to share their emotions than the previous one. It is important to me to talk openly about what is taboo, of what society forces us to keep quiet about, to make the voice of women heard, to dare to show things as they are – without filters and at the risk of displeasing some. Free thoughts, free voices – that was my motivation to make this film. The cause of women is close to my heart and I feel a sense of responsibility to tell my fellow sisters that they should not be afraid, that they should dare, should speak up and should help each other.

(Translated from French)

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WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY

by Iram Haq

synopsis

Sixteen year-old Nisha lives a double life. At home with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager. When her father catches her in bed with her boyfriend, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. To set an example, Nisha's parents decide to kidnap her and place her with relatives in Pakistan. Here, in a country she has never been to before, Nisha is forced to adapt to her parents' culture.