NYFF 2021: Joanna Hogg and Honor Swinton Byrne on The Souvenir Part II

This week we're reporting from the 59th New York Film Festival. One of the most anticipated films in this year's lineup is The Souvenir Part II—Joanna Hogg’s follow-up to her remarkable 2019 coming-of-age drama, The Souvenir. Following Honor Swinton Byrne’s Julie, a film student, in the aftermath of her boyfriend’s death-by-overdose, the new film deepens the predecessor’s exploration of the boundaries between art and life with tender reflection, wry humor, and some dazzling moments of meta-auto-fiction. We caught up with Joanna while she was in New York for the festival, while Honor joined the conversation from Edinburgh via Zoom. Our lively chat touched upon the film’s layered approach to autobiography, its precisely contrived naturalism, and how the film’s soundtrack draws from Hogg’s memories of youth.