We Strangers with Anu Valia and Janicza Bravo (Ep. 561)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Anu Valia discusses her new film, We Strangers, with fellow Director Janicza Bravo in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, she discusses using the story to explore themes of power, class and loving oneself, working with Actor Kirby Howell-Baptiste to flesh out the protagonist, and collaborating with her Cinematographer to discover opportunities for shots while on-set. The film tells the story of Rayelle, a rural housekeeper who takes on a new and enigmatic job for a therapist client. But after she impulsively claims she can speak to the dead, Rayelle finds herself in an odd position of power and an ever-deepening web of deceit.

Transcript

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0:00.0	There's the theme of how good it feels when you are in a room and you can read it perfectly.
0:07.2	That's like a super power.
0:09.0	And then the idea that you can use that to manipulate people and gain power in spaces that would never even look at you,
0:16.5	how good that feels until it feels kind of bad and tiring and all of that. But then I also,
0:23.0	you know, the idea that I think this might be a movie about like loving yourself and not having
0:29.7	to be something for other people.
0:31.5	Yeah. Hello, and welcome back to the Directors' Cut, brought to you by the Directors' Guild of America. In this episode, a woman claims she can back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.
0:55.8	In this episode, a woman claims she can speak to the dead and director Anuvalia's drama, We Strangers.
1:03.6	The film tells the story of Raelle, a rural housekeeper who takes on a new and enigmatic job for a therapist's client.
1:12.7	But after she impulsively claims she can speak to the dead, Rayal finds herself in an odd position of power and an ever-deepening
1:18.3	web of deceit. In addition to We Strangers, Balea's other directorial credits include the feature
1:25.7	film, Brooklyn Love Stories, and episodes of the series and Just Like That, The After Party, She-Hulk Attorney at Law, Never Have I Ever, Aquafina is Nora from Queens, and Mixedish.
1:41.8	Following a screening of the film at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,
1:45.7	Aaliyah spoke with director Janixa Bravo about filming We Strangers.
1:50.6	Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.
1:57.8	Woo! Hi. Hello. How's it going? I'm glad that we found our spots on this stage.
2:09.4	We were really confused about stage left and stage right, and that's really important, I know.
2:15.0	Thank you all so much for being here. We really appreciate you spending your
2:19.4	Saturday afternoon with us. I'm going to jump in. Well, hey, first, yeah? Congratulations.
2:25.9	Thank you so much. Let's jump in. So this is your first feature. I met you soon after your short film,
2:41.4	Lucia before and after. I wanted to make sure I got the title right. I met you soon after that.
2:45.7	You had won the jury prize at Sundance. This is around 2017. I'm curious if you can tell us a little bit about
	...

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