“But I don’t regret it. I think it’s important to speak up and fight against discrimination in all forms,” Lowe says. “And I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can inspire other women to do the same.”
As she continues to push boundaries and challenge expectations in her work, Lowe remains a powerful voice in the industry. Timestalker is just another example of her unique and daring storytelling, blending genres and exploring complex themes with a darkly humorous touch.
“I want to continue making films that challenge and provoke audiences,” Lowe says. “I want to create a space for women in the industry and show that we have just as much to offer as our male counterparts. And if that means taking risks and facing obstacles along the way, then so be it. It’s all part of the journey.” “They made me feel like I was a mad, difficult woman, but what I was saying was completely rational: you can’t say that women aren’t funny on a comedy show. You shouldn’t be in charge if you think that.”
Lowe appeared in many celebrated 00s comedies, including The Mighty Boosh and Hot Fuzz, but also began making her own short films. She realised that being across every element of a project – from idea to aesthetic to sound – brought a satisfaction she’d been missing.
“I’m scared of famous people,” says Lowe. Now, she brings that devised theatre philosophy to her sets, inviting improvisation and playfulness. “I don’t like to formalise too much what I do, because I get scared that it will actually get worse,” she says. And, as a director, she says “the atmosphere you create is going to dictate how people are treated. Why shouldn’t people be having fun doing it? People make a load of sacrifices. It’s a very antisocial job.”
She says film funding bodies can get “freaked out” when a writer-director wants to star in their own film: “They’re like, ‘Oh, we assumed you’d want Kristen Stewart at this stage.’ Well I sort of do, because I love Kristen Stewart, but also I’m scared of Kristen Stewart; I’m scared of famous people.”
Now, as writer, director and star, she’s able to execute her creative vision without compromise. “I read something recently saying we need to get rid of the auteur, it’s patriarchal and damaging. But can’t women just have a go though, before we get rid of it?” she laughs. “With hundreds of people contributing, you’re operating by what wins the most votes. Everything becomes the same. If you don’t have an auteur, how do we protect against being bland?”
Lowe likes the idea of being “a maverick … a berserker” amid the footsoldiers of the film industry. “I’ve got an anti-authoritarian streak, for sure,” she says. That manifests in her films, where she’s drawn to “flawed heroines”. Yet she’s exasperated by the tendency to read characters like Agnes, or Ruth from Prevenge, as moral endorsement. “Agnes is not self-aware. She’s karmically naive. If you can’t let a woman be that character, that’s really sad. She’s just one character. It’s not instructions.”
There is a particular pressure on female directors, who are vastly underrepresented in the industry, with only 22% of key creative positions held by women in UK film. “You get to this point of like: you are carrying the message of womankind on your shoulders, you have the responsibility to tell us what it is to be a woman. And I’m just like: I don’t want to,” Lowe says. “I’m literally going to do the opposite of what you’re expecting me to do now.”
Timestalker is in cinemas from 11 October.