1. What is your favourite movie and why?
I’ve never had just one. I love films for different reasons and many of my favourites are very different from each other so it is difficult to pick one over the other.
Some of my more contemporary favourites include Melancholia, American History X, Shame, Mulholland Drive, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Prestige and The Fountain.
As for classics there are too many to list.
2. What drives you as a film maker?
It’s the stylistic elements that drive me the most. Any good film will always start with a great story and script, but the stylistic choices whether music, colour, camera work, etc. are what allow that story to flourish into something greater than the words on the page. What I love about film is that it’s the only medium that can simultaneously showcase every single art form in existence. For example a piece of music can be listened to and enjoyed on its own, but when integrated into a film it may become more powerful. The same goes for any other art form that is present in a film: Costume design, camera, art work, etc. On their own, each of these pieces of art can stand alone but when put together in a stylistic way, the sum is greater than the parts. Film is the only medium capable of fusing together so many art forms.