Karina Ripper Embraces the Gray Area When it Comes to the Catholic Church

Karina Ripper's "There's a Devil Inside Me," begins with lead character Teresa, living out her rebellious teens with a bumbling boy in the car, smoking weed, fooling around, and pushing the envelope of her parents' expectations. Ending up at confirmation class, Teresa's curiosity leads her to play dress-up with a nun's habit. Shortly, she's mistaken for a nun herself, and is handed the collections plate from the church. Suddenly in possession of a basket full of cash, the viewer follows Teresa as she decides what to do with it.

Ripper herself grew up in Dallas, Texas. As the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, the importance of going to church was ingrained in her from an early age. Finding freedom in film, and representation in storytelling as she grew up "There's a Devil Inside Me," pulls from Ripper's own experiences in the Catholic church as a woman, offering commentary on the pressure to be a saint as a young girl, and some of the unsavoury things that happen when it comes to wealth, and the church.

On this episode of the VIFF Podcast, Shorts Programmer Casey Wei talks with Ripper on the beauty of a curveball in a plot, covering dark topics with lightness, and living in the gray area.

This podcast is brought to you by the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Presented on the traditional and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) nations.