DIVA spoke to the director about this sensual debut feature starring Fiona Shaw and Emma Mackey
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY MUBI
Hot Milk is a hypnotic, sun-drenched tale of desire and liberation. As anthropologist Sofia tends to her enigmatic, domineering mother in a Spanish seaside town, she’s drawn into a passionate affair with the alluring Ingrid. Starring Emma Mackey, Fiona Shaw, and Vicky Krieps, this sensuous drama pulses with tension, longing, and self-discovery.
DIVA spoke to director Rebecca Lenkiewicz – also known for films like Colette, Disobedience, and She Said – ahead of its screening at BFI Flare.
Was there a specific moment or reference point which inspired your film?
Reading Deborah Levy’s novel, I felt the heat and the sea and the elements of the landscape. I kept picturing the main character Sofia under the water. The act of being submerged which can be both liberating and suffocating. When overwhelmed I usually ache to be in water. So, these moments under the sea where jellyfish roam were interesting.
If you had to describe your film in three words, what would they be?
Sensual, romantic and muscular.
What was the most unexpected lesson you learned while making this film?
I was moved by how deeply collaborative the process was. I had written before but never directed and I was incredibly inspired by everyone’s beautiful and detailed ideas either from the cast and creative team or the crew. People had said it’s very lonely directing and it was intense, but I felt like I was very much a part of a team rather than outside of it.
How does it feel to have your film showcased at BFI Flare?
It’s such a fantastic festival and always has had such an incredible array of work. I’m deeply excited that our film is in the programme. I’m jubilant and proud to be part of BFI Flare.
BFI Flare is a celebration of LGBTQIA storytelling. What do you hope LGBTQIA audiences at BFI Flare take away after watching your film?
I hope that there is some sense of connection with the story which is very much about love and loss and finding one’s self. Who are you allowed to love? How difficult can it be to love when you have been brought up with constraints and haven’t been taught in some ways how to love freely? Film for me is about the experience of sitting in the dark together, a celluloid communion. That beauty of every individual being so different to each other but sharing an experience together. Film is incredible for empathy and debate so I hope some of that comes out by the Thames River afterwards.
Why do you think LGBTQIA filmmaking is so important in 2025?
The world is in a terrifying and dangerous place right now. The far right is rearing its ugly head and sexual freedom is going backwards in many countries. In America and globally it is becoming harder to love who you choose and to be who you want to be. The LGBTQIA fight has been so long and hard fought but the worst of homophobia which felt like a thing of the past is returning. Hard fought for rights are fast disappearing. I keep thinking of the parallels between now and Germany in the 1930s which makes it all the more important that LGBTQIA stories are made and seen and celebrated. Art at its best takes you somewhere else, and it can be a beautiful and rallying call.
This year’s Flare is split into the themes of Hearts, Bodies, and Minds. Do you have an LGBTQIA film which affected your heart, body, or mind?
I was always fascinated by Dorothy Arzner’s films which were mind, body and heart. The amazing speech by Maureen O’Hara about the male gaze in Dance Girl Dance, Katherine Hepburn talking about loneliness in Christopher Strong, amazing performances by Clara Bow and Claudette Colbert. Arzner’s brave and bold place in a very male-dominated film industry was incredible. Her work was groundbreaking and she was open about her sexuality a century ago.
What was the best piece of advice you received while working on this film, and what advice would you give to emerging queer filmmakers?
I struggled in the edit and found it the most challenging process of them all. A director friend told me you just have to keep working and working and working on it until it feels like the right rhythm and vision. I’d say be prepared for much joy but also many battles in film making. Follow your instincts and stand by your emotional truth. Remember that you have had this film inside you, it’s yours, be collaborative but ultimately it belongs to you.
What’s the one question you wish more people would ask about your film?
It’s not a question but there’s one detail which gives me joy, of a man in the distance in the sea going underwater. I hope someone notices him one day and how we married the music to his disappearance in the distance.
HOT MILK screens as part of the 39th BFI Flare: London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival on Tuesday 25 March, Thursday 27 March and Saturday 29 March. For more details / tickets here
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