The Brains Behind ‘The Substance:’ How Coralie Fargeat Stayed True to Her Gutsy Vision: ‘Everyone Wanted Me to Make It Less Violent, Less Excessive’

variety.com:

Coralie Fargeat, the director of “The Substance,” satwith her laptop in her tiny one-bedroom flat in Paris’ bohemian 20th arrondissement, watching as this year’s contenders were revealed.

It was afternoon in France when her name was called among the best director nominees (she was the only woman among them), and an overjoyed Fargeat leaped in the airbefore collapsing back onto her red vintage couch.

A few minutes later, she watched as “The Substance”became the first body-horror film ever to be nominated for best picture. It landed five nominations inall, an astonishing feat for any independent movie, let alone one told in a genre not typically embraced byOscar voters. “When I make a film, I make it to be at Cannes, to be at the Oscars,” Fargeat, 48, says triumphantly. “I have this faith that this is what I want to do.

I believe in the impossible.” But a year ago, Fargeat wasn’t thinking about drafting an Oscar speech. In fact, she was worryingthat audiences might never see “The Substance,” her gory sendup of Hollywood sexism and ageism thatstars Demi Moore as a washed-up actress turned fitness guru.