Interviews

In the time of COVID, “to be reminded of our common humanity has got to be a really, really good thing,” Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald tells Business Doc Europe ahead of his Life In A Day 2020 world-premiere at Sundance 2021.

“I guess I have prepared myself to make this film…for my whole life,” is how Finnish director Virpi Suutari describes the many years of work and reflection that have fed into Aalto, her documentary about the legendary architect and design guru Alvar Aalto (1898-1976), screening in Göteborg in early February.

What do you do if you’re running a global theatrical distribution company and all the cinemas close down suddenly during a pandemic? For Piece of Magic’s Caspar Nadaud, as for all distributors, pulling a rabbit out of the hat was never going to be straightforward.

We may live in an era of fake news and rapidly declining trust in media sources but Writing With Fire (sold internationally by Autlook and in the US by Submarine) reminds us of just how vital journalism can be in protecting democracy and human rights. Co-directors Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh talk to BDE.

It’s summer in New York, a time of mild respite from the COVID crisis. Across the city, young and old alike are looking for romance, companionship or sex. And they’re all using online dating apps in the hope of connecting with the perfect match.

Director Hogir Hirori talks to Business Doc Europe about the genesis of his latest doc Sabaya, the abduction of Yazidi women and girls for exploitation as sex slaves, and the stoic local heroes who work tirelessly to free them from captivity.

“There is someone with a gun, but Gianfranco doesn’t want to stop shooting, so please call him,” was just one of the demands that producer Donatella Palermo had to consider when producing Gianfranco Rosi’s Notturno, the Italian candidate for the International Oscar. Palermo tells more to BDE.

If there is one filmmaker who can cope with lockdown, it is Victor Kossakovsky. Put it to the director of porcine-themed Gunda that you could put him in a shoebox and he’d be able to make a documentary, and he readily agrees. Kossakovsky gets cosy with Business Doc Europe.

Swedish directors Kristina Lindström and Kristian Petri profile the troubled actor Björn Andrésen, who found early fame as the 15-year old muse (and object of both fascination and desire) for Dirk Bogarde in Visconti’s classic adaptation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice.

“What a year to launch a new entity…but it has been a really rewarding process and we have learned a lot.” DAE (Documentary Association of Europe) co-directors Brigid O’Shea and Marion Schmidt open up to BDE about the fledgling organisation’s first year in business, and assess the year to come.