Interviews

Nikolaus Geyrhalter confronts “Homo Sapiens”

Nikolaus Geyrhalter confronts “Homo Sapiens”

There was some judgment in some way by the choice of the locations. By the facts we wanted to stress in our narration. None of the locations were there just for fun, they should all tell something for those who want to read between the lines, so there is some criticism of mankind. But besides that it’s true, the audience is very much invited to basically see their own film.

RIDM 2015: Trials of Style

RIDM 2015: Trials of Style

“Sometimes I’m watching what I’ve shot and I’m like, ‘I could have never written that dialogue.’ People are really good actors in documentary,” said Montreal-based filmmaker Jean-François Lesage about making his doc, A Summer Love. Lesage and four other filmmakers with work screening at the 2015 RIDM Film Festival sat down with The Independent’s Patrick Pearce to talk elements of film style.

Agnès Varda Reflects on “Jane B. by Agnès V.” and “Kung-Fu Master!”

Agnès Varda Reflects on “Jane B. by Agnès V.” and “Kung-Fu Master!”

Upon the digital restoration and US release of Jane B. by Agnès V. and Kung-Fu Master! the ever-iconic Agnès Varda tells The Independent: “A lot of people love my films but I don’t know if they are commercial. That’s why I always say, ‘I don’t have a career, I just made films.’ I am marginal and I am happy to be marginal because I’m very well known in these marginal circles of cinephiles.”

a screengrab from the movie with a group of people in a village

Radu Jude’s “Aferim!” is Miles Away From Minimalism

Director Radu Jude talks to The Independent about how his latest, Aferim!, may seem Shakespearian but actually uses language discovered in archival literary texts and other documents. And if you’re wondering where he’s headed next, it’s into an adaptation of work by novelist Max Blecher, sometimes called Romania’s Kafka.

NYFF 2015: Yorgos Pirpassopoulos Talks “Chevalier”

NYFF 2015: Yorgos Pirpassopoulos Talks “Chevalier”

“The whole process from rehearsing to shooting was really fascinating, enjoyable, challenging and difficult,” Chevalier actor, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, told The Independent at NYFF 2015. They rehearsed on location and brought their own ideas on character and improvisation. “I had a feeling that everything could change at any moment and that added a lot to film,” he said.

A concentration camp prisoner in "Son of Saul"

NYFF 2015: Laszlo Nemes on Recreating Auschwitz

“Yes, it’s a portrait,” explains Laszlo Nemes about his debut feature Son of Saul. “It’s a very reduced scope of an image and it actually corresponds to the limitations of a human being: you see very little, you know very little in a concentration camp. And the human experience, with hindsight, is different but the people who were there knew much less. I wanted to convey how limited we could be in this kind of situation.”