International filmmakers hit the Opening Night red carpet at the Palm Springs film festival

Friday's Opening Night at the Palm Springs International Film Festival was another jam-packed red carpet event with filmmakers from around the world coming together to celebrate their true love: cinema.

The creative minds gathered at the Richards Center for the Arts at Palm Springs High School for the U.S. premiere of Thea Sharrock's naughty comedy "Wicked Little Letters," starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley. The director was in town, excited to share her film with everyone, and she let audience members know that Colman was a driving force in bringing up the risqué language in the film.

In "Wicked Little Letters," Colman plays Edith, a conservative, religious, well-mannered woman who begins receiving hilariously disturbing letters full of profanities and insults. No one is sure who could be sending them, but all signs seem to point to Irish migrant Rose (Buckley), who is rowdy and causes quite a stir in the seaside town of Littlehampton. Suspecting that something is amiss, police officer Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) decides to investigate the case further.

Sharrock said working with Colman and Buckley was "a pleasure."

"This was the second time they'd worked together, but they're also great friends, so they have immediate generosity and respect for each other, as well as being a little bit naughty. So the combination is perfect on the set," Sharrock said. "They led it with style, they led it with professionalism, but they kept everything light. They're both incredibly hardworking, but never in a way that sort of drags anything down. They're there to support everybody, so the temperature on set was like a warm bath."

Other than channeling their wicked sides, the cast and crew also got to step back in time to the 1920s. Sharrock said it was fascinating to explore how much everything changes when you dive into the past, including costumes, homes, streets and how people carry themselves.

Here's what other filmmakers said during opening night.

'Being a monster is really cool'

Many filmmakers from other projects also attended Opening Night.

"Tiger Stripes" director and writer Amanda Nell Eu has shared her film at festivals all around the world, and she will have three screenings at the Palm Springs festival.

In the film, a young girl is carefree and living life on her own terms until she begins experiencing puberty and horrifying changes happening to her body. The film was selected as the Malaysian entry for the best international feature film category at the Academy Awards.

"It was really inspired by the folklore in Malaysia and using all these folkloric elements to tell a story about how a lot of young girls grew up feeling like they're a monster, being labeled as monsters, being labeled as hideous or bad words, and kind of twisting it on its head and embracing those words," Nell Eu said. "Actually, being a monster is really cool."

'The Performance' team out in full force

Sibling filmmakers Jeremy and Shira Piven are looking forward to the U.S. premiere of their film, "The Performance." The film follows an American Jewish tap dancer who chases his big break with his troupe, which ends up leading them to Nazi Germany. He has to make a decision: Does he run, or does he stay, fully knowing the risks?

Both will be in attendance for post-screening Q&As on Jan. 7 and 12, which they're looking forward to.

"I'm really excited about the Q&A because it's a chance for everyone in the room to get an experience that no one else gets to have. That's Shira and I telling our story and how this all came to be because I think the film is one thing, but how we got here is a totally different story," Jeremy said. "I think it really celebrates independent filmmaking, and if it can inspire anyone to make a film, then that's a beautiful thing."

Shira added she's excited to share the experience with "sophisticated filmgoers."

"I'm excited for people in Palm Springs to see it. People who love film, people who are getting all kinds of different film experiences. I'm just really excited to hear their reactions to the film and for them to experience the story. It's why you do it," she said.

And if filmgoers need any convincing, Jeremy joked that he's not afraid to bust out his dance moves and give attendees a one-man-show.

Producer Daniel Finkelman said the film is being released at a critical and important time in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war.

"People have to make very hard decisions, just like the character of Harold May, between their career and their identity. It's just like everything else. I see it as literally a division between good and evil, there's no middle," Finkelman said. "I couldn't ask for a better time than right now."

More: 'The Performance' was a long time coming for sibling filmmakers Shira, Jeremy Piven

'The Teachers' Lounge' director, star share memories

Germany's Oscar submission to the Academy Award's best international feature film category is "The Teachers' Lounge," directed by Ilker Çatak. The film stars Leonie Benesch as a teacher who gets involved in a tricky situation when one of her students is suspected of theft.

The two filmmakers shared their favorite memories from the production on the red carpet.

"She read the script, we went on a walk to talk about the screenplay, and you said to me, 'All my friends laughed at me.' I said, 'Why?' She said, 'Because they know I don't like children,'" Çatak laughed. "Turns out she does."

Benesch had nothing but praise for the children involved in the film.

"They were wonderful, they were on time, they knew their lines, they were great to work with, they were curious, they were actually really interesting and interested," she said.

The most memorable, and most anxious, aspect of shooting involved a Rubik's Cube, which plays a part in the film. "I know nothing about it, but I'm supposed to," Benesch laughed.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: 'Wicked Little Letters' opens Palm Springs International Film Festival