Everyone tells filmmakers to constitute what they know, truthful Nina Conti wrote a movie astir a female who can’t extremity pretending to beryllium a monkey.

If you cognize overmuch astir ventriloquism, Conti’s sanction should beryllium instantly acquainted to you. The character and comedian, a fixture successful nan worlds of unrecorded theatre and drama for nan past 4th century, is champion known for her signature Monkey puppet, whose saccharine and unexpressive look masks an unfiltered, cynical personality. She’s performed pinch Monkey successful a assortment of shape shows, and incorporated it into a capacity successful predominant collaborator Christopher Guest’s 2006 film “For Your Consideration.”

Now, she’s adding a caller occupation to her monkey-centric resume: filmmaker. Conti directs and stars successful nan caller movie “Sunlight,” which she co-wrote pinch comedian Shenoah Allen, who stars alongside her. The movie follows a suicidal man who befriends a female who refuses to return disconnected a full-body monkey suit arsenic they squad up to excavation up his dormant begetter and waste nan watch he was buried in.

The pitch-black drama explores deeper ideas astir intelligence wellness and quality connection, but it stems from a elemental place: Conti’s lifelong enslaved pinch her Monkey characteristic and her gradual realization that she felt astir for illustration herself erstwhile speaking done nan puppet. During a caller speech pinch IndieWire, she explained nan chaotic travel that led to her debut film.

“I started doing [the Monkey character] astir about 2001. Which is benignant of cool because of nan monkeys successful nan movie ‘2001.’  I started doing ventriloquism pinch him backmost past and very instantly recovered different sound coming retired of maine that I hadn’t had antecedently and it was very liberating. And complete nan years, that grew stronger and stronger and stronger, and I felt for illustration this is really a much truthful type of who I americium than nan 1 I coming socially,” Conti said, adding that her mini domiciled successful “Solo: A Star Wars Story” that was yet trim led to her realizing that nan monkey could activity arsenic a full-body costume. “And erstwhile I met nan animal section of ‘Star Wars’ and they told maine that he could beryllium arsenic large arsenic Chewbacca and look precisely nan same, I commissioned it consecutive distant and conscionable went successful and truthful really went wrong a characteristic that I’d been doing for years, but abruptly had nan correct exterior.”

Conti soon began teaming up pinch Allen for a bid of improvised drama gigs that saw her performing successful nan afloat monkey suit. The characteristic was nan same, but she nary longer had to look alongside nan puppet arsenic a abstracted character. That removed a imaginative information net, but it created endless opportunities for moreover wilder behaviour for illustration crowd surfing successful mini drama clubs.

“We ne'er had material,” Allen said of nan gigs. “We were improvising these gigs and it was wholly unpredictable and I could ne'er show what was really going connected nether nan mask, for illustration really Nina was emotion aliases what nan existent look connected her look was. I conscionable had to effort my champion to publication nan business looking astatine Monkey’s blank stare.”

Conti suggested, “You want to constitute a emotion communicative astir a female who doesn’t want to travel retired of a monkey suit?” And nan remainder was history.

In galore ways, “Sunlight” is simply a buddy drama astir 2 surgery group who find each different astatine nan correct clip successful their lives. But it’s besides a emotion missive to a characteristic that has defined overmuch of Conti’s career. She explained that nan juxtaposition betwixt Monkey’s blank look and her ain unpredictable thoughts represented nan halfway of her comedic persona, and “Sunlight” gave her an opportunity to show it disconnected connected nan biggest canvas of her career.

“I’ve ever loved that face,” she said. “I’ve ever recovered it very wry, very dry. Looks for illustration he’s reasoning aliases not, astatine all. He’s either having a large thought aliases nary thought. It’s truthful reliable, comedically, because it’s not needy. Whereas I ever find pinch my ain face, nan needy worldly seeps retired and I can’t do thing astir it. But that look is simply a suit of armor.”

That suit of armor made nan logistical acquisition of shooting nan mostly of a characteristic movie wrong of a hot, dense monkey suit successful New Mexico worthwhile. While showing maine photos of her looking astatine a camera show dressed successful nan suit, Conti explained that she wouldn’t person wanted to beryllium anyplace other — moreover if her adjacent directorial effort apt won’t impact animal costumes of immoderate kind.

“There’s a batch astir that suit that was very difficult,” she said. “There’s small oxygen. It’s very hot, very heavy, very constricted visibility. And yet erstwhile I was successful it, I thought, ‘This is benignant of my happy place, this hellhole underneath nan fur. I’m emotion incredibly anonymous and free.'”

A Vertigo release, “Sunlight” is now playing successful prime theaters.