One of the most inspiring movies of 2020 involves a woman turning to porn as an outlet for the sexuality that had been long-repressed during her marriage. If that sounds like a surprise, imagine how I felt in watching Isabel Peppard and Josie Hess’s documentary, “Morgana”, which is part of the “On Demand” line-up at this year’s virtual Fantasia Fest. The film dives head-long into the life of Morgana Muses, a middle-aged housewife from Australia whose marriage has dissolved, and she has a great deal of pent-up sexuality she’s wanting to experience after years of not having sex after her children are born. Depressed, and overweight, she enlists a male escort for one night of passion before she ends it all. What happens that night changes the trajectory of her life forever.
“Morgana” shows us a lot of Muses’s work in the adult film industry in graphic fashion, so it’d be understandable if that makes the film a difficult watch for you. But what resonated so strongly about the film was Muses’s personal journey, in her own words, and even her films she’s made. One thing that is crystal clear in watching the clips of her films we see in the doc is that she expresses herself fully in her films. It’s not just about sex; it’s about being openly herself, and saying this her previous life had left her wanting to say. The film is not just a rags to riches story, though; Morgana has some struggles, even after her work as a pornstar finds an audience. In the end, however, she has found a semblance of peace within herself, and we cannot help but applaud her for having done so.
After watching the film, I had the chance to send some questions off to directors Isabel Peppard and Josie Hess, as well as Morgana Muses herself, and their answers are below. I hope you enjoy!
For Isabel and Josie
1) What was the main inspiration for making the film?
JH: This project sort of evolved naturally, so it wasn’t like an instant spark or certain idea that originally inspired us to make the film. We originally began filming Morgana as a short film, to get to the heart of her decision to go from housewife to pornstar at the age of 50, and her story on got wilder from there so we kept filming.
IP: I think for me I was inspired by Morgana as a character and the extreme and transformative nature of her personal journey. I also felt like I hadn’t seen a protagonist like her in a film before, a middle aged woman whose sexuality is front and centre in a radical and highly visible way.
2) Were you concerned that the amount of graphic nudity involved in showing Morgana’s work would turn audiences off to the film?
JH: I think with a film like “Morgana,” the nudity isn’t gratuitous (not that there is anything wrong with that); it’s intrinsic to the story, so we didn’t consider making it less graphic. Of course, we knew it would be challenging to promote a film like this but we were very fortunate to work independently on this project so we didn’t have anyone telling us to make it more mainstream or less pornographic. We also had a great producer, Karina Astrup, who supported our creative decisions.
IP: I think we just made the film we wanted to make and part of the reason we were attracted to the material was its graphic nature. One of the comments we have had is that the film doesn’t feel that pornographic and I think that is partly because the sexuality is so intertwined with Morgana’s human journey that it feels less shocking and more an intrinsic part of her personal development and evolution.
3) Was there anything that surprised you as you embarked on making this documentary?
JH. Oh for sure it’s Morgana herself. Every time we thought we were getting at the heart of what she was all about, she would pivot and go somewhere totally different. She constantly surprised us.
IP: We were constantly surprised by Morgana as a character and I think coming to understand in a complete way, who she was, what her history was and how this all fed in to her continuing evolution was one of the things that really kept us interested in working on the project for the 5+ years that we followed her. I think the other thing that surprised me was how we would all creatively feed each other in the sense that the work Morgana and Josie did in erotica would feed back into what I did with the miniatures and then what me and Josie did with the film. It truly ended up being like a creative call and response between three women and that was not a process that I was expecting, but it was quite wonderful!
For Morgana
1) What was your first reaction to the idea of making a documentary about your life?
MM: As Josie and Isabel initially pitched the idea as a short film, I didn’t think too much about it except that it should be something fun to be a part of. It wasn’t until they told me that “Morgana” will be a feature documentary and that they had big plans for it that I became just a little nervous. Mainly anxious about what the worldwide audiences will think of me as a person.
2) One of the things that is so striking about your work is how personal it appears to be. Was it intimidating for you to express yourself, including your biggest emotional struggles, here, or did it feel natural to do so?
MM: I’m quite an open person when it comes to discussing any aspects of my life so it felt quite natural to do so for the documentary. I had the love and support of Josie and Isabel, whom I trust unconditionally, and they provided me with the aftercare during filming of the more difficult sections of the documentary.
3) What is the one thing you would like for viewers to take away from this film?
MM: Firstly I’d like the viewers to think the documentary was an interesting and enjoyable piece of art. Judging by the feedback worldwide, many viewers find the documentary inspiring and if I can inspire people to believe in themselves because it’s never too late to make changes in your life and that there is no expiry date in exploring your sexuality, I believe my job as a subject is done.
I want to thank Isabel, Josie and Morgana for taking the time to answer my questions. If you’re able to check out “Morgana” during Fantasia Fest, it will be available “On Demand” from August 20-September 2.
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival: The Reviews
“Smiley Death Face”
“You Cannot Kill David Arquette” (Review on 8/24)
“Crazy Samurai Musashi”
“A Mermaid in Paris” (Review on 8/27)
“Diabla”
“Labyrinth of Cinema” (Review on 8/25)
“Monster Seafood Wars”
“Sleep”
“The Oak Room” (Review on 8/25)
“Hail to the Deadites”
“Sanzaru” (Review of 8/29)
“For the Sake of Vicious” (Review on 9/1)
“Morgana”
“PVT Chat”
“Fried Barry”
“The Columnist”
“Tezuka’s Barbara” (Review on 8/25)
“Clapboard Jungle”
“Special Actors”
“Undergods” (Review on 8/30)
“Don’t Text Back!”
“Bleed With Me” (Review on 8/26)
“Minor Premise” (Review on 8/30)
“Detention” (Review on 8/24))
“Feels Good Man”
“Kriya” (Review on 8/26)
“Fugitive Dreams” (Review on 8/30)
“The Paper Tigers” (Review on 8/30)
“Climate of the Hunter”
“Cosmic Candy”
“The Prophet and the Alien”
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival
The Announcement
Preparations
What to Watch
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
