How conscious is your bias?

Interview with Writer/Director/Animator Emily Morus-Jones

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

A combination of factors. This project arose out of conversations I had with people within the polyamorous community and the heated conversations I had with my family where people outside of the community (at best) didn't understand what polyamory was and (at worst) were massively opposed and outspoken against it. The world does not cater to polyamory at all so lots of polyamorous people end up leading a double life as they hide their other partners from their professional and family life.

Diomysus is my way of bringing the stigma they suffer into the limelight and the decision to use puppets was a very deliberate one as it would simultaneously give the polyamorous interviewees the freedom to be as candid as they wanted about their personal lives in the knowledge that their faces would not be seen on screen.

The thought experiment behind the film was that in giving the participants to be their authentic selves, and creating a visual feast to accompany their recorded stories, we might be able to make the audience more open to the ideas around polyamory in a way that might make them more accepting of it as a concept. This is in contrast to us simply filming the participants as themselves and putting them in a vulnerable position talking about intimate details of their lives whilst meanwhile letting the audience get caught up in judging their accounts based on how they came across as people rather than the stories themselves.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

No one has ever made a film like this. Media representation of polyamory is often very sensationalist and very lewd focusing on the more sexual aspects of it rather than the whole picture of what being polyamorous is. For example; they often confuse swinging with polyamory but the two are very different.

Other attempts at looking at polyamory in the media also never ever talk about the stigma that polyamorous people encounter on a day-to-day basis. Put simply: because it's never been done before.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

The personal themes for me are the fact that as a polyamorous person, I still find it impossible to be openly polyamorous in front of my family and work colleagues. I think that most people know what it feels like to be misunderstood and want their relationships to be accepted by the people around them no matter what form they take.

The more universal theme at work is love. Everyone wants to be loved and is deserving of love. The one-size-fits-all approach to romance we find in monogamy, the 'Disney Model' simply does not work for everyone for a myriad of different reasons and I think people are waking up to that.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

The scripted elements have been redone countless times just because of the amount of information I was trying to squeeze in over 5 minutes whilst keeping it engaging. Obviously, we have a wealth of audio material and whittling that down to figure out exactly what we needed to tell the story was a lengthy process - it was then a case of tailoring the script to fit these accounts as well as adding in comedic, physical elements to help utilise the puppetry in a more engaging way. Truth be told, we overshot massively and I didn't really know exactly how it was going to look until we had got all the jigsaw pieces together in the final edit!

What type of feedback have you received so far?

So far the reception to the film has been incredible and far beyond what I expected! I was most worried about how the polyamorous community would receive it and I'm so so so delighted and relieved that the reception has been positive and encouraging!

We've received 10 awards, 4 honourable mentions, been a finalist twice, 3 nominations and been a semi-finalist 4 times as well as being shown at over 25 film festivals - not bad for a first attempt!

Furthermore, the BBC saw fit to broadcast it on BBC3 which also has made it available on BBCiplayer. For a first-time filmmaker 5 minutes short, this is insane and I'm incredibly grateful to them for their support and encouragement of this project.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

No! It's only emboldened my point of view! It has also given me a massive confidence boost to carry on making more films.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

I hope that by having my film more visible on we are moving stories it will help support and encourage polyamorous people who are struggling with their own visibility - there are positive stories on this topic guys! I hope it will help educate as well as entertain people who are interested in polyamory. I also hope it will help open doors for puppetry in doing more of this kind of storytelling. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't hope it would boost my profile as a filmmaker as well.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

All of the above I guess. I'm very new to this filmmaking business so if I'm perfectly honest I don't really know!

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I want it to inspire, encourage and educate people with a side order of laughter added in for good measure.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

Why is monogamy the only relationship structure that our Western societies cater to?

Would you like to add anything else?

Thank you for having me.

What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?

Not a clue you'd have to ask them.

Interview: June 2023

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

Diomysus

How conscious is your bias?

Director: Emily Morus-Jones

Producer: Sara Allen

Writer: Emily Morus-Jones

About the writer, director and producer:

EMILY MORUS-JONES is a Welsh Puppeteer and Puppet maker for film, TV, theatre and live events. Emily began performing puppets on the BBC/Sesame Workshop production of The Furchester Hotel and has trained at the prestigious Curious School of Puppetry. Since then she has performed with puppets for high-profile clients in the music industry that include Ed Sheeran, Calvin Harris & Dua Lipa, Jam Baxter & Rag’N’Bone Man as well as shows for CBBC, Sky1, Netflix, and ITV. Emily has also worked on several short films and commercials including a Christmas campaign Corky for the Dogs’ Trust which was voted The Best Christmas Campaign of 2019 by The Drum. She has worked in multiple roles ranging from Assistant Puppeteer to Head of Department for creature/puppet design, build, performance and coordination. She hopes to build upon these experiences and pursue her ambitions to perform puppet and creature characters in film and TV and create new content using these mediums. Emily is also an experienced puppet builder having built puppets for clients that include; The Handspring Puppet Company (Little Amal); KneeHigh Theatre; John Lewis; Netflix; BBC; Cadburys and the band Iron Maiden. Her experience is broad reaching - she has built everything from muppet-style puppets to giant puppets to creature SFX. Emily is motivated by trying to find new stories and voices in puppetry. She passionately believes in creatures, monsters and puppets as important storytelling tools and hopes that Diomysus, as her first-ever film, will open doors that allow her to keep making new and exciting content that pushes the boundaries on social narratives and storytelling using monsters, puppets and practical FX as her medium for doing so.

SARA ALLEN, a TV and Radio Producer with documentary credits across Network, Regional and International TV. Sara’s TV credits include: Gareth Thomas, HIV & Me, Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience and Ugly Lovely Swansea, A Poet on the Estate with Benjamin Zephaniah, and All Sounds From Scratch.

Key cast: Ruby Rare (Lead Voice Actress), Laura Bacon (Puppeteer), Robbie Bellekom (Puppeteer), Emily Morus-Jones (Puppeteer)

Looking for: producers, journalists, buyers, film festival directors

Facebook: Diomysus

Twitter: @popuppalladium1

Instagram: @diomysusshortfilm

Hashtags used: #comedy #documentary #polyamory #puppetry #enm #puppeteers #ffilmcymru #bbcwales #bbciplayer #bbc3

Website: www.emilymorusjones.com

Other: IMDb

Made in association with: Ffilm Cymru & BBC Wales

Funders: Ffiom Cymru as part of the Ffolio Scheme

Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?

Brighton Rocks Film Festival, BBC iplayer (UK only), Kashish Mumbai International Queer Film Festival.