‘Part of my upbringing as a director was watching Satyajit Ray’
Danish filmmaker Ole Bornedal has helmed several engaging thrillers in Hollywood such IAm Dina (2002) and The Possession (2012), and he credits late Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray’s layered narrative style for turning him into the storyteller he is.
“I know a lot about Bollywood, and I respect it a lot. Indian filmmakers are highly skilled in doing beautifully choreographed movies,” says Bornedal, whose latest film, Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever, was screened at the Red Lorry Film Festival earlier this month.
While themes in Bollywood films can get “nostalgic and banal” sometimes, Bornedal admits that “it’s still beautiful filmmaking and I would love to work there [in India]”. “Part of my upbringing as a director was watching Satyajit Ray’s masterpieces,” he shares.
Ask him if there’s any part of India he’d like to explore through filmmaking and the 64-year-old says, “Everything”! “I’ve never been to India but I would explore the beauty,” he adds.
Bornedal, who hails from the Danish town of Norresundby, made his debut as a filmmaker with Nightwatch in 1994 and received international acclaim for it. Now, he is excited that Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever* has reached a global audience.
“It’s always exciting when you realise that your work is reaching a large audience. The first film was perhaps one of the first examples of what has since become known as Nordic noir. And the sequel follows that spirit — that demons can reach as far as, say, India,” he muses.
After being in the industry for decades, Bornedal knows that international festivals are of great importance to cinema. “That’s where diverse cultural expressions meet,” he ends.