WILLIAMSBURG — Rebecca Wahls is returning to her home state to share her film, “HIM,” at the Richmond International Film Festival on Sept. 24.
The 2011 Lafayette High School graduate’s introduction to film came by way of musical theater. After graduating from George Mason University with a BFA, Wahls went on to earn her MFA in Directing from Carnegie Mellon University. While studying for her MFA, the COVID-19 pandemic began, prompting the advisor for her program to reach out to a few Carnegie Mellon alums who started an online class about directing for television.
“That class totally blew my mind and made me want to try film at the very least. I remember thinking what an awesome medium it was and I thought I had the perfect story for it,” Wahls shared.
“HIM” is the story of the final five contestants on a reality dating show facing manipulative producers, the fear of being alone forever, and their suitor’s deceitful nature. After being taken to a private villa for their final nights of competition, the competitors must band together to assert their self-worth over their suitor and the show’s producers who manipulated them into falling in love.
Wahls and co-writer Tess Higgins wrote the script with a mindset of women empowerment.
“I think that as young women, there is a lot of pressure to fit yourself into a particular box, whether that’s to get a husband, like the women in the film, or to get a certain job or promotion. We change ourselves for people, that’s kind of what we grew up believing was right for those of us who came of age in that 2008 to 2012 time period. What our girls learn in this movie is that they are stronger together than they are when masquerading as people that they aren’t,” Wahls said.
While Wahls and her team have been attending various film festivals around the world, the visit to the Richmond International Film Festival will be a special one.
“We’ve had an incredible festival run throughout the midwest and New England, but this film is now finally coming to a community that I care so much about, which is the Richmond community. I have lived in Richmond off and on. I love Richmond, I love Williamsburg, I love Virginia. It’s really great to be able to have childhood friends who still live in the area be able to come see this, I even believe my high school theater teacher is coming to see the movie. To be presenting it so close to where I grew up is such a special honor,” Wahls said.
When the film has been shown at other festivals, Wahls said that the feedback from the public has been great. She was also fortunate enough to experience a special moment when the team was at the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival in Iowa.
“Tess and I had been invited to do a little pre-screening Q&A. These parents brought their young daughter. They had pulled her out of school because they saw that these two women made a movie and they were going to be talking about it. The parents wanted to bring her because she was in the arts and they really wanted her to meet us,” Wahls said. “I just remember telling her that she was so lucky to have parents who support her dreams of being in the arts, but also that there are going to be times where you are going to have to be really scrappy about putting your own work out there. It will truly be you and a hot glue gun against the world, and if you can make it through that, you can make it through anything.”
The movie will premiere during opening night at the Richmond International Film Festival on Sept. 24 at 9:30 p.m. The film will be screened at the Byrd Theater in downtown Richmond. Tickets for the screening remain on sale and are $10. After the film is over, Wahls and one of the film’s actresses, Kira Omans, will take part in a Q&A with the audience.
Wahls said she’d ultimately like to see the film land on a major streaming platform.
To order tickets for the screening of HIM, visit riff.eventive.org.
