How Sindre Haram crafted a poignant tale of childhood isolation

This is the most heartbreaking story; can you tell us a bit about the development of the script?

So the script for Latchkey Kids is actually loosely based on something in my father's childhood. When it was time for me to make my bachelor's degree film at Westerdals, I already knew I wanted to tell his story. As for the writing process, I originally wanted to stay as close as possible to my father’s experience. 

I wanted to depict how children can be forced to grow up during a divorce, as parents become incapable of caring for their children while process the split.

But after a couple of drafts, I realised it was better to detach from it, it made it easier for me to mould the story to narrative structures without feeling I had misrepresented his life. And for my father's sake he got to see his story told without having to be the face of it, so to speak.

The film seems to be about the isolation of children trying to deal with adult scenarios. Is that the theme you wanted to highlight?

It was exactly that – the isolation children can feel in such a situation. It’s also a story of innocence lost. I wanted to depict how children can be forced to grow up during a divorce, as parents become incapable of caring for their children while process the split. 

 I haven't worked a lot with child actors, and so I must admit I was blown away by their emotional awareness. 

I also wanted to highlight the irony of Erik's parents thinking that they were right to give him the decision [about which parent would leave the family home] – not realising they put him through great emotional distress instead. They also considered it great news that the father was moving back in, not realising the implications that had for Erik.

How did you garner such amazing performances from the child actors, particularly Erik?

Due to external factors, I actually ended up having minimal prep-time with the actors. We had little to no rehearsals before showing up on set, which meant that I had to change my original approach somewhat. The most important part was to establish a language together and make sure we understood each other fully, especially when it came to more emotionally complex scenes.

 If the story was set in today’s time, there would be many resources for Erik to seek help from, such as the internet.

I also found that mimicry worked really well for less complex actions and emotions. I haven't worked a lot with child actors, and so I must admit I was blown away by their emotional awareness. Oliver, who played Erik, had a very mature approach to his acting, and he sort of lead the charge for the other kids throughout. But I think for the most part, the most important step was to make sure we understood each other fully. That is of course important on every production, but it sort of felt extra important in this setting because of the lack of preparation and familiarity with each other.

It a strong story told with great subtlety and naturalism, what was your process while working with the actors?

I am fond of naturalistic acting and storytelling – I feel it’s effective in engaging the audience emotionally. A method I found generally achieves my desired result, is through loose improvisation. I talk over the scene with the actors and highlight the key points that need to happen, and then I usually let the actors connect these points in a way they see fit. This can come at a slight expense to the consistency and continuity during the editing, but I feel that the quality it gives to the performances often make it more than worth it. 

Can you tell us about the choice of location and the retro styling and setting?

The idea of setting the story in the late 1960s originally came from the idea of trying to be as true to my father's story as possible. Even after I decided to step back from that approach later in the creative process, I still really wanted to set the story in the past. One major factor was that at that time, divorce was more uncommon and there was a stigma around it. That is also where the title of the film comes from – it’s essentially a derogatory term about children of divorce used at that time. I felt that placing the film in this time also really adds to the theme of isolation. If the story was set in today’s time, there would be many resources for Erik to seek help from, such as the internet.

 I woke up to a call that our AD had food poisoning, both our producer and camera operator had severe migraines and our head of lighting needed treatment for an infected wisdom tooth. 

As for the remote island location we chose, it also came from the idea of the isolation we wanted to convey in a more literal sense. My DP Edvin and I both felt that the Norwegian coastal family aesthetic gave the film a unique texture and reinforced the film’s themes. 

What were the highs and lows during the making of the film?

The highs for me came at the end of each day when I kept getting the feeling we were getting the footage I wanted to get. It was a morale boost for me and my DP Edvin. I also felt in general that our team, despite being very small, cooperated in such a great way. And we were able to overcome pretty much any obstacle thrown at us, which also felt pretty great.

 I pretty much decided within the first six months that I wanted to continue studying film. 

As far as lows go, on the fifth day (our halfway point in the filming) I woke up to a call that our AD had food poisoning, both our producer and camera operator had severe migraines and our head of lighting needed treatment for an infected wisdom tooth. Luckily we got through the day – but I was deflated after that call.

Can you tell us about how you got into directing and who/what are your influences?

I always loved watching films when I was young and I then studied film sciences at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The plan was to do one year while I figured out what my career should really be. But I pretty much decided within the first six months that I wanted to continue studying film. So I did a bachelors degree, then another BA at Westerdals Department of Film and Media at Kristiania University in Oslo, as I had an increasing desire to make films myself.

When I started out my career I had never envisioned ever receiving an award of any kind, and I was honestly so honoured to just be a part of it at all.

As for my influences, there are several people I’d blame for my obsession. Both my parents had a lot of VHS and DVDs and Blu-Rays at home, so I lived in very film-rich environment. As for other directors who’ve inspired me – Stanley Kubrick, Edward Yang, Akira Kurosawa, Alfonso Cuarón and Bong Joon-Ho. Particularly Yang, who’s humanism and naturalism was my main influence for Latchkey Kids.