Lead actress Kimberley Datnow channels aspects of her own life story into Henrietta, a fashionable, 20-something standup comedian who is struggling to come to terms with her father’s death in the feature comedy Daddy Issues.
By Lianna Albrizio for Winter Film Awards
See the NYC Premiere of “Daddy Issues” on Sunday Feb 23 @6:30pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival.
To the daddy’s girls out there who were fortunate enough to experience the unconditional love of a doting father and never having to go through life feeling inadequate, insecure or resentful … congratulations on growing up a bubbly, self-confident woman who would never settle for less than she deserves.
For the girls out there who lived through a precarious relationship with their patriarchal figure — the unfavorable experience which lingered into adulthood and had a domino effect on all other relationships in your lives, (particularly romantic) you have daddy issues and deserve to be celebrated too, because detangling the problems of complicated lives are just so much more fun than having any challenges to overcome. (OK, maybe not fun, but in the end, an invaluable learning experience that makes you all the more wiser and an undeniable character-builder. Who doesn’t adore a wise-beyond-her-years heroine whose life trials and tribulations shaped her superior intellect?!)
Such is the case in Laura Holliday’s romantic comedy Daddy Issues. Lead actress Kimberley Datnow channels aspects of her own life story into Henrietta, a fashionable, people-pleasing 20-something who is struggling to come to terms with her father’s death and regaining her prowess as a standup comic. Following his funeral (which she partly watched via Skype), she leaves her native UK for sunny LA to take over the family business to do what she feels her father would have wanted. In between trying to fit the mold of her late father’s career wishes for her life and navigating the dating world, her fragility becomes more apparent when her focus unwittingly strays from herself and onto bending to the will of others, which leads to the inevitable heartbreak and rage. Backyard pink flamingos and Henrietta’s own grace do not come through this very well.
While Henrietta deals with her own problems in love, her friends are also going through their own shenanigans and relational setbacks. While exploring the complexities of iffy relationships and the neediness that encompasses them, the endearing and hysterical Daddy Issues aims to find the love even in the most broken of places. That is, after all, how the light gets in.
Lianna Albrizio: With a film title like Daddy Issues, I’m sure there are many young women out there who can relate. I like how you tie the issues with a patriarchal figure to the relationships developed with the opposite sex. You co-wrote and starred in the film. Tell me about how you wove in aspects of your own life story into the making of the movie.
Kimberley Datnow: It’s me and my sister’s production company. Our father passed away, that’s when we wanted to do the project to raise awareness of kids whose parents passed away; the messes they get into and the grieving process, which takes a long time. We thought that we would make a film looking at the funny side of this quite serious issue.
Lianna: Apart from Henrietta coming to terms with the loss of her father with whom she had unresolved issues, she’s trying to regain her mojo as both a standup comedian and a suitable prospect for the right guy. She’s clearly very fragile, which I think a lot of girls can relate to. Tell me about your own personality, and how you incorporated aspects of your real-life persona into your character?
Kimberley: At one time, I was dating somebody and he turned out to have a girlfriend. I was really into him and I thought he was the one. We went on a few dates. He wasn’t replying to my messages and you don’t want to double text but you want to get their attention. I saw on social media he was with someone else. I confronted him about it and he said it’s not anything. People can be so misunderstood and so the rest of it was what would you want to do to someone who did that to you? The idea of what I wanted to do to him .. the only way to deal with them is to make the revenge in your imagination. Sometimes you don’t get the opportunity.
It’s a fall from grace. I thought the flamingo destruction scene was a turning point in the film. The character is quite uptight about certain things. She’s pining after a guy and he doesn’t want to see her. It’s magnified that this guy reminds her of her father who was absent. It’s quite poignant.
Lianna: Apart from Henrietta’s issues, her friends are also going through relationship problems. You’ve got Nolan, whose relationship with his girlfriend isn’t going where he would like it to go, and another friend who experiments with being a sugar baby. It just seems like this dynamic of friends all share one thing in common — they’re all lacking in certain areas of their lives and even perhaps in dependent relationships. Was this film a kind of gift to other young people out there struggling to come to terms with adulthood and understanding who they are to find true love and grasp the world around them?
Kimberley: I think that it’s exactly what it is. It was something that we were all coming to terms with when we made this film. It’s definitely trying to understand that you’re not alone with your struggles. Absent fathers is a recurring theme. This is very much a film for millennials. I think it’s more a film that can last three generations because I think in terms of the way people are now, people tend to move back home. People can’t afford to move out. There’s no support, no training giving… of how to live and be an adult.
Lianna: How would you say this film helps young women out there struggling with so-called daddy issues or relationship issues cope with them and find strength and enlightenment to overcome them?
Kimberley: I think it’s a feel good film that tries to make light of something that’s really dark. I think that ultimately the film shows that Henrietta gets through it. We’re here for a certain period of time on this earth, you might as well try to do things you enjoy. I think that hopefully viewers can see the journey that she takes to becoming secure with who she is – an adult with her life on track. I think anyone can do it.
Lianna: Did you learn anything about yourself making the film?
Kimberley: It helped me get over my father’s death. I feel I made something that he would be proud of, and I wish he would be here to see it. As a homage to him, I learned that he’s always there in spirit and he’s still part of me and he would have done the same thing. I also learned ways to deal with that and put something out there for other girls to know that they’re not alone.
Lianna Albrizio
Lianna Albrizio is a seasoned journalist and editor passionate about covering all facets of the arts from film to books, music and food. She loves interviewing people and spreading the word about their amazing work for all to enjoy.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 9th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 20-29 2020. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 79 fantastic films in all genres from 27 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
