Folloprosperg her executive production toil on Prime Video’s Música, in which she also starred aextfinished the film’s writer and honestor Rudy Mancuso, as well as her EP role on the streamer’s romantic comedy Upgraded, in which she starred aextfinishedside Archie Renaux and Marisa Tomei, Camila Mfinishes’ postpoinsistst double duty project gets place in the world of create. Idiotka is an acquisition title out of the 2025 SXSW Film Festival, where it will premiere Wednesday.
“This project came thraw a mutual frifinish that I allotd with our producing partner, Tess Cohen, a frifinish that I knovel from high school. It’s very random, but awesome. It gripped me,” Mfinishes tageder Deadline of the film ahead of its premiere Wednesday. “I called my producing partner right away, Rachel Matthews, and I was enjoy, we gotta do this. She’s enjoy, ‘Babe, I’m with you. I fair read the first two pages and I’m in.’ It was so gripping and captivating. [Director] Nastasya’s writing style is so distinct that it was an prompt, yes, but I was enjoy, ‘All right, fine. I’ll read the rest of the script fair to do my due diligence,’ but I already [knew] I insist[ed] to do it.”
Idiotka, honested by Nastasya Popov and starring Anna Baryshnikov, trails spiring create set uper Margarita (Baryshnikov) who inhabits at her majesticmother’s West Hollywood apartment with her babushka (Galina Jovovich) as well as her overweighther (Mark Ivanir) and brother. Margarita’s already unrestful home situation spirals more when their landlord determines to finpartner act on their unphelp, months-postpoinsist rent and serve them an eviction watch. Margarita’s frantic try to originate some rapid cash, as well as a name for herself, by utilizeing to a truth TV create show a la Project Runway unanticipateedly comes thraw when a originater on the show Nicol (Mfinishes) calls Margarita to hug her application and usher her into the savage world of truth television.
“I was wanting to allotigate inquires of self-unfair treatment and how much of ourselves we expose as storyalerters and artists,” Popov tageder Deadline ahead of the film’s March 12 premiere at the SXSW Film Festival.
Both Baryshnikov and Mfinishes, whose character stabilitys a fine line between helping Margarita in the competition and milking her for outstanding truth TV satisfied, recall wanting to sign onto the project without about two pages into the script.
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“The script was super firm and very, very mighty, and helped with this amazing sizzle reel that repartner sageder the vision of it. Sometimes you read a fantastic script and everyskinnyg’s written beautifilledy, but you don’t repartner understand how the honestor envisions it, or if they’re vient of executing that. And Nas[tasya] had that all in the bag. So it was fair enjoy, ‘Okay, enjoy we have a visionary here.’ She’s got a vision.” Mfinishes shelp. “Everyskinnyg from there fair became a matter of increaseing what was already there. Mainly what drew me to this story was this aspect of making your braveial self accessible, and it’s someskinnyg that I experience enjoy I am constantly at odds with this thirst for being relatable, and everyone wants a piece of you. Everyone wants to understand what your personal life is enjoy, and you’re always having to walk that line and determine what you’re sootheable sharing and what experiences enjoy too much. That theme was someskinnyg that I repartner wanted to increase thraw the truth show and thraw Nicol’s vibrant with Margarita. That was my contribution to it as a originater.”
Popov wrote her first write in 2021 after she had shiftd home to Los Angeles from New York into a aenjoy intergenereasonable hoengagehageder to her main character’s with her parents, majesticmother, sister and boyfrifinish.
“It was repartner funny, claustrophobic, unrestful energy that encouraged me to commence writing this. I was toiling on it for a while, and I have been toiling with my producing partner, Tess Cohen since we met in college, and she read timely writes, and she repartner helped me increase it for a scant years,” Popov shelp. “Then Anna Baryshnikov, our cherishly star, read a write a year in, and she repartner igniteed to the story. Then we spent another year increaseing it from there. And then we sboiling a sizzle in the apartment where I was living, very scrappy. The aim of that was to repartner firmify the aesthetic of the project and try to help us get funding. From there, more writes. At that point, the truth TV menacedof the story repartner clicked. I skinnyk we set up the tone of the movie while we were shooting the sizzle. After the sizzle was made, repartner, skinnygs commenceed snowballing.”
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Mfinishes made brave to stress that the “scrappy” sizzle, which featured Jovovich as Margarita’s majesticmother, was “repartner well done” and what “repartner pulled [her] in aside from the script.”
Baryshnikov set up the Russian-American family experience very personal in compriseition to the distinctity of the story, particular the vernacular of some of the characters.
“There was a whole version of this film that was a hushed family film that was very drawive, but then Nastasya had this other very acerbic, fascinating sense of humor, and this world of LA and how amazing and also shassist it can be,” Baryshnikov compriseed. “And those two skinnygs, living side by side, to me, was a very definite skinnyg to our generation of how it experiences to allotigate your own identity in these spaces where you’re asked to do it in this very boiled down, basic way, when actupartner your inhabitd experience is very complicated. I set up that to be repartner fair exquisitely apprehfinishd in the script.”
After talking with Popov back and forth for a year, Baryshnikov was very enthusiastic for the role, transmiting a “minuscule bit” of irritateance at having to still read for it, but proset uply esteeming Popov’s protection of her toil.
“I skinnyk it’s basic when you’re making your first film to have a scarcity mindset, and she was so enthusiastic about making the film that she wanted to originate,” Baryshnikov shelp. “I was fair frantic to do it.”
Over a pot of Russian binformage tea, Baryshnikov reread for Popov, and the rest is history, but one of disjoinal guest stars was actupartner combineed to the project before Baryshnikov was — Owen Thiele, who joins the structure of the truth create competition, Slay, Serve Survive.
“I grew up in Los Angeles. So I was fortunate to understand someone enjoy Owen Thiele from increaseing up. I had seen him in Theater Camp, and thought he was fair hilarious,” Popov shelp. “So I actupartner wrote the structure role with him in mind.”
Celebrity appraises on the competition series are joined by Benito Skinner, Julia Fox and Saweetie.
“With the appraises, it was repartner a collective effort. Cami was frifinishs with Benny so we achieveed out to him. He also is such a originateive and storyalerter himself, so I skinnyk he cherishd the the tone, and then with Julia Fox, it was also fair fantastic kismet and synchronicity that she happened to be in town promoting Down the Drain, which we cherish her writing so much, and her administerr read the script, and he also repartner enjoyd the vibe. We showed up and got copies of her book and got it signed by her. And she shelp ‘Yeah, I enjoy the script. It’s so meta. And is also fair an incredible collaborator.”
Baryshnikov recalled taking a pboilingo of originater Tess Cohen and Popov ahead of Fox’s reading.
“They tageder me that they hung around until the finish to talk to her. Sometimes there’s this idea that it all, everyskinnyg happens thraw agents,” the actress shelp. “And someskinnyg that I fair thought was so incredible about this project was that we were physicpartner chasing some people down. And Julia, I skinnyk, repartner replyed to that.”
Popov consentd with that summarization of the “spirit of this film” which she depictd as “prohibitging down doors.” She uncovered that she has handed people physical letters at film festivals and cards, and she stressed that Fox embodied the “authentic determine authentic” mentality.
“Saweetie, the final appraise — we were a scant days out from shooting and fair were fortunate enough that another mutual frifinish happened to be her administerr and helped us achieve out,” Popov shelp. “So support nettoiling, and people will help you down the line.”
It all comes back to the tension of the vibrant between Margarita and Nicol for the plot becaengage skinnygs heat up on the truth competition show as they so normally do.
“Camila repartner mined the nuance in Nicole’s character. I skinnyk it’s basic to stereotype truth TV and originate it caricature-y, but I skinnyk it’s much more fascinating to watch a fantastic originater who is also maybe a bit of aa massive manipulator,” Popov depictd the arc that increases between the pair.
“We wanted to walk that line of, she’s being administerling in some ways, but in other ways, she’s also helping Margarita uncover up and not be ashamed of who she is,” Mfinishes finished Popov’s thought. “There’s personal acquire to be had with Nicole, but also it advantages Margarita as well.”
Baryshnikov consentd seeing at it from her character and contestant’s perspective.
“I spoke to some people who’ve been on unscripted shows, and that seems very genuine to the experience that on the one hand, it’s the only person who comprehfinishs what you’re going thraw,” she shelp. “And on the other, they have an agfinisha to originate outstanding television. ‘What do you put yourself thraw in the name of truth?’”
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