A filmmaker who eschews archetypal and misleading female-driven narratives, Nat Gee’s short film Buried carves out distinctly uncomfortable territory. Gee, previously featured on the pages of DN with Waves – a passionate short which addresses a woman’s intense relationship between mind and body, and likewise stars Lily Baldwin who joined us last week in her directorial role for boundary-pushing doc Ecstasie – now brings us a female protagonist in the form of dedicated new winemaker Eva, whose world is becoming increasingly unstable due to the multitude of pressing issues surrounding her. The film operates as both a character study and a sensory experience for the audience, refusing to provide a clear delineation as to what constitutes reality versus perception. Gee’s approach to filmmaking is notably tactile and immersive, and her decision to shoot on 16mm film wasn’t merely aesthetic; the grain and texture serve as extensions of Eva’s psychological state, creating an unpolished rawness that mirrors her internal fragmentation. Buried’s compelling achievement is its maintenance of ambiguity. Gee constructed a narrative that deliberately walks the line between external threat and internal breakdown and demonstrates how contemporary filmmakers can explore complex female psychology without resorting to histrionic tropes. Instead, Gee creates a viewing experience that immerses audiences in Eva’s uncertainty, making her subjective reality the film’s primary truth while questioning the very nature of that reality. DN took a beat with Gee and some of the team behind Buried as the film continues its festival journey, to speak about centering the narrative on Gee’s own experiences of feeling ignored by those supposed to help, playing around with the visual representation of the little tricks the mind can play and the complex females she relishes in portraying.
I can only imagine a very involved script-writing process for this film.
Nat Gee: I was working on it right up until the shoot, and of course, on set new ideas always brewed and organically sprouted through collaboration or in order to overcome any unforeseen obstacles. I think the pressure of a shoot day/schedule adds an intensity to the life of a script and fresh ideas appear or solidify what you have. I think you just know when it feels like it’s working, when others like your actors, DP, and costume designer are all having creative conversations around the script and it’s resonating with your team.
We wanted to make sure the storytelling was tactile, physical and felt organic.
How did you then move into production with this very collaborative approach?
NG: Lily Baldwin, who plays Eva, and I had a lot of conversations and shared a lot of stories around our health and our bodies and how we wanted the character of Eva to physically be in this world. We visited the winery and Matthew Tobin taught us everything that Lily had to do with the machinery and wine. We wanted to make sure the storytelling was tactile, physical and felt organic. That’s why it was key to shoot on 16mm, it’s unpolished and raw.
Buried houses such a female-centred story of being ignored and made to think it’s all in our heads – did lots of research go into this?
NG: Most of it actually came from my own personal experience. The doctor’s line “We’re all tired” was said to me by my doctor at the time when I was struggling with pain and fatigue and I just felt very ignored. Conversations with Lily also validated mine and her experience in this area, and books like Dr. Sarno’s The Mindbody Prescription were like a lightbulb moment for me.
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Lily, as this is such an intimate character depiction, how did you inhabit the role of Eva?
Lily Baldwin: Climbing inside of Eva was a potent challenge. She is a version of me – one who I wrestle with, deeply admire and who also breaks my heart. For me, Buried is as much a portrait of a stunningly, at times barbarically committed – perhaps possessed? – woman, as it is a portrait of society’s propensity to underestimate and diminish hard working independent women – particularly those going against the grain.
I entered Eva through the intensity of her physical focus. It felt essential to have a real relationship with the land and the winemaking techniques, which I wanted to imbue with fierce essentialism, this ‘every detail means the world’ kind of drive. Eva tired me out! It took me a couple days to shed her weight after shooting.
I feel like cinema needs to feature more complicated female heroines without falling into tropey renditions of the maniacal woman. This is my second film with Nat, who is one of my favorite directors to work with: her value of subtlety and how she prioritizes the space (in pre-production and on set) to authentically mine physical and emotional truth. Our trusting relationship enabled me to let go of Lily and find Eva’s singularity.
Nat, I really resonated with those flashback nightmare sequences as doubt is coursing through her.
NG: It’s interesting how the mind plays with you under stress and how that’s invisible to those around you, so I wanted her internal struggle to not always be clear to the other characters. That stress can be so debilitating, regardless of what’s real or not. Lindsey Nadolski did an amazing job of weaving those subtle moments into her work as these little tricks of the mind. We played around with what to show, what’s in her subconscious, how does the land and her work seep into her insecurities.
I wanted her internal struggle to not always be clear to the other characters.
I also felt so engaged with your changes in pace and camera movements when she starts to act out at the tasting.
NG: Wow, thank you! Lindsey knocked it out the park in the edit, and Alván Prado our DP and our first AC Pablo Pascual were so in tune with capturing the tension of that scene. That scene was the hardest scene to shoot because we wanted to capture so many things: everyone’s reactions, the breaking of the glass, the shock and stillness against Eva’s breakdown, the push. We rehearsed on the day with everyone hoping to not over block and just went for it and shot it in a few hours. I think that scene is really sad.
Alván Prado: Buried is a sensory, atmospheric short film, designed to immerse the viewer in the protagonist’s emotional state. From the start, we wanted the imagery to reflect Eva’s ongoing anxiety, visually amplifying the internal tension that slowly consumes her. We chose to shoot on 16mm to capture that emotional weight. The grain of the film gives a tactile quality, enhancing the vulnerability of the characters and the heaviness of their environment. The color palette, with vivid greens and open skies, adds to an unsettling feeling, rather than offering relief.
For the night scenes, we played with deep contrast and shadows, trapping Eva in her own isolation. The light in these moments isn’t comforting but restrictive, highlighting her emotional fragmentation. As the story progresses, the camera movement shifts from controlled compositions to a more unstable, handheld approach, mirroring her psychological breakdown.
We had the opportunity to watch an earlier cut of Buried last year. How do you feel this edit better serves the story as compared to that previous version of the film?
NG: I worked with my editor Lindsey Nadolski to cut out around 4 minutes from the original cut. We focused more on Eva and removed scenes with other characters that we loved but felt weren’t really adding anything new to what Eva was going through. I think staying with Eva more helps build that line of doubt and uncertainty because you become more connected with her and get sucked into her perspective of what’s happening. Her own truth is a bit blurry, and that felt more powerful, to just stay with her in that bubble.
Lindsey Nadolski: Nat really wanted to walk that line of uncertainty in Eva’s reality – is she being tormented externally or is it all in her head? And my job was to constantly keep that narrative in check while editing the film, ensuring we never verified things for the viewer. Sometimes slipping down the slope a little in either direction in order to add further intrigue, but never straying too far from that line.
There were certain scenes that I worked on with great care, but then we realized they no longer served Eva’s story.
Buried is now our second collaboration and I think one of the biggest components in bringing this film to life for me was being able to let go. There were certain scenes that I worked on with great care, but then we realized they no longer served Eva’s story. A lot of the work is deprogramming in order to see things in a new light. And this film was certainly served by stepping away and then coming back with the willingness to do just that.
I know how important it is to see complex, female characters on screen and really appreciate who you have brought to us with Buried.
NG: I’m really intrigued by female characters that go against the grain and why that is so unnerving to others! Why do people bristle at a woman doing something unusual or out of left field? What are they afraid of and how can women remain in their power when judged for it? It’s exhausting for us, but it’s very exciting to explore these characters because it drags up a lot of baggage and shame, but also wild, unapologetic behaviour.
What is next for you?
NG: I’m writing the feature version of Buried! This was never the original plan, but I’ve become so close to Eva that I want to expand her story, her courage, her vulnerability and I have the first draft written. I’m so excited to be back writing and exploring this world of hers!
