A TAKE ON A TRAGEDY

ON… WHY HE MADE THE FILM

“I was so close to what happened, being in Oslo at the time. We had a chance to go into this perpetrator’s ideas and quieten them down, but we didn’t. I wondered how I could bring the audience into the incident in a more truthful way.”

ON… FOCUSING ON THE KIDS

“The focus in the past has been almost totally on the terrorist — there’s nothing we don’t know about him. Of course we need to know who these people are, why they did it. But I wanted to tell the children’s story. To bring you into the heart of it.”

ON… SENSITIVITY TO VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS

“One mother was sceptical, she said, “If you put in sentimentality, I will never forgive you, because you will have made an entertaining movie about the killing of my daughter.” I felt she was trying to express that the only way to tell this is as truthful as possible, with respect and dignity.”

ON… FILMING IT IN ONE TAKE

“I realised early that I couldn’t allow any improvisation, so I needed to rehearse with actors for three months. And it is all one take. I had five days with an option of trying once a day. Because after one take, everyone was just totally exhausted.”

ON… PAUL GREENGRASS’ UTØYA FILM

“Paul Greengrass’ film is based on Åsne Seierstad’s book, which is basically about the perpetrator. Paul has asked me if I’m interested in having double screenings and discussions with audiences. But I need to see his movie first.”