Ane Seşel
Ane Seşel | |
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| Born | 18 November 1978 Teşylmi, Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk, Gylias |
| Occupation | Actress |
Ane Seşel (born 18 November 1978) is a Gylian actress. She is famed for her "classical" style of film, influenced by the screwball comedy, telefoni bianchi, and orgone film genres, and is one of Gylias' most popular actresses.
Early life
Ane Seşel was born on 18 November 1978 in Teşylmi. She comes from a working class family of mixed Ŋej, Aðunese, and Eşari descent, and has two younger siblings.
She attended primary and secondary school in her hometown. She disliked academic work and often skipped classes by pretending to be sick, but was active in student life, playing football, badminton, and volleyball, and serving on the student council.
She began figure skating at the age of 4, and competed in skating events until the age of 18, winning regional awards. She continues to skate as a hobby.
She first became interested in performing when she was 7, and became involved in school stage productions. She frequently watched films, and became such a regular visitor at her neighbourhood cinémathèque that she knew the staff by name. She grew fascinated with older films, particularly telefoni bianchi and orgone films, partly as a reaction to the wretched decade.
Initially she hadn't considered pursuing an acting career, and worked for 3 years in a Kaho Kawase restaurant. She studied theatre at the University of Velouria, completing a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2001.
Career
Ane made her screen debut in 2001, in a regional ATV Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk production. She played various parts in films, television, and stage productions, usually smaller roles.
Breakthrough
Frustrated that seemingly few of her collaborators shared her tastes, she decided to start making her own films. She set up her own production company and attended screenwriting classes.
Her first self-produced film, Modern Dame, was released in 2005 to highly positive reviews and became a sleeper hit commercially. The film established the template for Ane's future roles, and had a great impact on her career. As she said in a 2007 interview:
"I used to have trouble trying to explain what I was going for to other people, and failing to get that across was really frustrating. Then I made Modern Dame, and suddenly it all fell into place. People understood where I was coming from. Directors, screenwriters, they now wanted a slice of the Ane magic."
The majority of her roles since have been in self-produced films, alternating with outside work in other projects. She has usually distributed her films through Imperial Films, citing the "cachet" of the name.
By the 2010s, she was recognised as one of Gylias' most successful film stars. Surface described her as "the queen of romantic comedies" in 2012.
Film style
Ane's film style has been described as "classical" and "retro" by various reviewers. Her films are strongly influenced by screwball comedy, telefoni bianchi, and orgone film, and she has been described as a "revivalist" of those genres at various points in her career, or a kindred spirit of the new old hat movement.
Many of her self-produced films put a humorous, postmodern spin on the genres, casting her heroines as "deliberate anachronisms" — characters whose personality and mannerisms are directly out of telefoni bianchi or orgone films, placed in a contemporary context. This aspect led Keie Nanei to analyse her oeuvre in Antichronos.
She has been praised for her facility with comedy, particularly of the verbal kind. Downtown referred to her as "easily one of Gylias' most charming actors" and praised her appealing screen presence.
She generally avoids dramatic roles, saying: "Bumming people out is easy. Cheering people up is harder, and more rewarding."
Influences
Ane states that "old films" have shaped her film style. She has named her biggest influences as Máiréad Ní Conmara, Alike Demetriou, Doris Duranti, Olivia Dafi, Susanne Petersson, Victoria Douglas, Brigitte Nyman, Anna Karina, Valeria Ó hAodha, Greta Thyssen, and Eleanor Henderson.
She told bavarde in 2008, "The greatest honour for me would be to be called 'today's Máiréad Ní Conmara', or 'the Gylic Máiréad Ní Conmara'. If I had to pick just one person who I've tried to model my career after, it would be Máiréad."
Personal life
She is in a long-term relationship and has a child.