SEATTLE — In Eliza Flug's eyes, women can learn their toughest, and most valuable, lessons in the quietest of moments.
It's that very sentiment that guided Flug, a Seattle local, to work with director Megan Griffiths to create "Year of the Fox," a film that premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) on Saturday evening.
Griffiths, a Seattle local that has lived in the area for over two decades, described the film's debut at the SIFF Cinema Egyptian as a fitting opening.
"It was a beautiful premier," Griffiths said. "We had so many of our cast and crew there. So many people in the audience. It felt like a warm hug - the premier. The reactions since then have just been really positive. Everyone who I've spoken to has been really moved by it and felt the themes were really resonant to them. It was a magical weekend."
"Year of the Fox" centers around a teenage girl named Ivy Reid (played by Sarah Jeffery) confronting her role in 1990s society as a bi-racial woman that was adopted by two white parents.
The 17-year-old Reid is navigating her parent's divorce and spending time with her father in Aspen, Colorado and her mother in Seattle.
"There's so much in the film to take away from it," Jeffery said. "For me, the biggest blessing of this film was exploring otherness. For me being bi-racial, I hope that anyone who feels different and other and they don't fit in is able to connect with it."
Year of the Fox premiers at SIFF 2023
Through Layla (played by Lexi Simonsen), the film's protagonist sees the underbelly of the world and how it can negatively influence young women.
Ivy and Layla have been lifelong best friends at the start of the film, but as the threads that bind the young women slowly start unspooling, we start to see the many diverging paths they can take in their lives.
"It was very, very cool to bring this friendship into it," Simonsen said. "We connected super, super quick and it was just a different exploration of female relationships and friendships. We were honest and truthful about it, but it wasn't rose-colored glasses. It's very real."
Flug said the Seattle-based film aims to highlight the difficulty for young women navigating a world rife with privilege, misogyny and intense scrutiny.
"The writing was pretty intentional and it was talking about a theme of misogyny which is what I experienced as a young girl growing up," Flug said. "Every woman can relate, and men, and we all find our ways where we are pigeonholed into an identity that is thrust upon us. This character, the protagonist, Ivy, is looking for a way to make her own decisions and develop her own taste and judgment on what she wants to do with her life. Which is definitely something I experienced. Megan (Griffiths) found a great way to put it on screen."
WATCH: Griffiths and Flug discuss the new SIFF film "Year of the Fox"
Once there was enough time to reflect on her personal life, Flug teamed up with Griffiths to realize her vision into what later became the "Year of the Fox."
"I felt it was relatable just because of the climate we are in now," Flug said. "There have been several films that have come out that have discussed it in very broad strokes - things that go boom, lots of nudity, lots of visceral subject matter- but I felt like the quiet moments often go overlooked about decisions we are making. Whether it's a sports coach, or a teacher, or a pastor, or it's your father, and you can be led into this subject matter as a female where you have to decide, 'how are you going to react?' It's your introduction to becoming a woman and really the theme of the film is about that. This is what it's like being a woman? Really? And it's going to get worse? I better get ready."
The biggest surprise of the premier, Griffiths said, is the support from men championing the messaging behind a film centered around the women's experience.
"Something for me that was unexpected and that's been really lovely is the reaction from older men that have been watching the film, including our actors, and how it lands with that demographic," Griffiths said. "I've had a couple of people thank me for it. It's sort of shifting perspective maybe because the film is told through the eyes of a young girl going through the experience it's broadening empathy. It's really been a lovely surprise because you never know who your film is going to touch."
"Year of the Fox" was shot exclusively in Seattle. Griffiths said the state's diversity in landscape - from deserts to rainforests to mountains to oceans - allowed the crew to portray the parts of the film in Aspen, Colorado all from the comfort of Washington state.
The new film is an embodiment of a Seattle film industry looking to grow in future years.
"I've seen this industry grow and shift since living here," Griffiths said. "I'm really optimistic right now. Our incentives increased. We have a film commission that was just formed and we have a sound stage that is being developed. These are all things that our community has been wanting and needing for a long time. The direction we are going in right now is amazing. I'm very excited about it."
Griffiths said her new film has not been picked up by a distributor yet, but she is excited to bring "Year of the Fox" to a wider audience.
SIFF 2023 concludes on May 21.