In Her Element: “When I felt out of place, stories were the place where I felt I belonged.””
Alumnee mentee Amalie Montaser (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
In Her Element is an editorial series of portraits – written and shot by Nicole M. Gomes – spotlighting women from our community.
This is the second portrait of former mentee Amalie Montaser. Read more and get behind-the-scenes view of what it looks like to be a 24 year old women working in screenwriting, filmmaking, acting and performing.
Tucked away in a quiet corner off the bustling Nørrebrogade is a residential space converted into a quirky collaborative office for artists and creatives. This is where I met with the brilliant, but unassuming young woman Amalie Montaser. Amalie is 23 years old and working in screenwriting, filmmaking, acting and performing, “a bit of everything” she says smiling. She’s currently developing a film so day to day she spends her time writing, searching for funding and taking meetings with producers and photographers. On top of this, she has two side jobs: freelance writing content for websites and working with children. Her voice and manner is soft and gentle in contrast to how hard she clearly works towards her goals:
“I like the diversity, maybe at one point if my work is more successful or more fulfilling in one area, then I might go more into that direction and leave some things behind, but right now I like to tell stories in all sorts of ways.”
Storytelling comes naturally to Amalie, even as a kid she would make and direct films with her friends in the break times at school. Reading and writing were her favourite subjects, “I was always a bit different in school as a kid. I was always a bit more introspective or observant or sensitive…but when I felt out of place, stories were the place where I felt I belonged.”
Born and raised in Denmark with a Danish mother and Egyptian father. She feels mostly Danish but says, “no matter what I do, I’m not perceived fully as Danish. People see the curls and other features but they don’t really see I’m Danish.” Taking her space and believing in herself has sometimes presented as a challenge, “sometimes you need to see people do something who look like yourself. I’ve seen very few female directors, female writers, few female people of colour.” Sadly her occasional feeling of “being a bit of the underdog” is not imagined. In film school her writing teacher exclusively referenced movies with white male leads and one day she politely asked if they could look at some more diverse references, “then he asked me, seriously as a question, why do we need to see a female lead? He asked why would we watch women or people of colour? I think I answered “Because we exist…” She was absolutely disappointed to witness this type of attitude from someone who still works in the industry and is in a position to lead the next generation.
Alumnee mentee Amalie Montaser (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
Now as an adult, she takes pride for overcoming hard experiences by using them and transforming them into something good. “It’s my outlet… with writing and telling stories, it comes from a feeling of being out of place or feeling like I’m shown or told that I’m less than or small in a way. And it’s like telling myself and then also other people in the process that actually I’m not, I’m everything and more. Everything I want to be.” She laughs, “it sounds very confident, but it doesn’t come from a place of ignorance, it’s more like we all get to choose the way we see things - the way we see ourselves and choose the stories we tell about ourselves.”
“Be brave. Have courage. It’s a lot about being seen and being heard and then choosing to persist to be seen and heard, even if you’re not in the first place”
With that same positive attitude, when Amalie saw The Soulful’s Dreamers and Doers mentorship offering help in the creative industries on social media, she thought “let’s just give it a shot” and applied. She was partnered with Christina Haugaard Siim, PR Director for Netflix Nordics, as her mentor. “It was very cool. We had some very nice conversations and I got to pitch for her colleague, who is the manager that green lights which screenplays get to be picked for series for production for Netflix. I even met some of her family members. I met up with her husband’s sister, who is also in industry, and it just created waves of people. They were all very supportive and I still have a lot of contacts from them that I haven’t used yet.” Judging by her mentor’s openness to introduce her to both professional and personal contacts, it’s clear that Christina sees a bright future ahead for Amalie, but she shares how “it also gave me a little bit of imposter syndrome because I was invited to these premieres and she would introduce me as a screenwriter, which is totally cool but I don’t feel like I’ve proven myself as a screenwriter. I think I would like to have written a script for a bigger production or something that won something or a series on tv. I haven’t earned it yet."
Her humility is surprising, especially after hearing that the Netflix manager she pitched to was very fond of her script. Later she did a mentorship with the Danish Film Institute, “they really liked my ideas and the way I articulated them, but when it came to the script they were kind of critical.” It’s easy to empathise with her, knowing all too well how criticism often rings louder in our minds than praise. “It’s challenging, especially when you are drawing from personal experiences as well. I was a bit kicked out of the process in a way…I focussed on other projects, on acting and I really used movement a lot, dancing, going for walks and seeing my friends.”
Alumnee mentee Amalie Montaser (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
After reflecting on the mixed feedback she knows “it can be very different depending on who reads it and you have to still then keep your vision of what you wanted to make and not just be like ‘oh that’s a professional, I need to do what they say.’” In the end, she decided “for me, creating is more important that performing, but performing is still part of me.” Amalie is working on making her script into a film, with plans to direct it by the end of summer - “it doesn’t really matter if it happens this year or next year because I know it’s a project I want to do. The steps on the way don’t matter as much as knowing I’ll get there at some point, so I’m flexible on how.”
I admire Amalie’s focus and determination and ask how she retains that in the long run, living in a world that moves so quickly from one thing to the next. She admits it isn’t easy, “I’ve been writing before for film school, and I’ve acted before and it was always so fast and small projects. But now going fully into it, it’s a long process and I’m not used to that, I’m not very good at committing for so long, so it’s practice! You have to keep doing it.” Despite this, she takes great joy in her work - “the film is very much about hope and about believing in yourself in a way. When I write about it or I’m in a developing process, I remember why I do other creative things or remember why I am the way I am.”
Her advice for others pursuing a similar career path echoes her own actions - “be brave. Have courage. It’s a lot about being seen and being heard and then choosing to persist to be seen and heard, even if you’re not in the first place. And I would say to have a purpose with it. Think about who you can inspire, whether it’s your mum or your friend, that it’s not just about you. I think moments where it feels like it’s fulfilling are those moments when somebody resonates and if people are touched by something you’ve written or something you’ve done.”