I began making films when I was fourteen years old. Ever since, filmmaking has defined my life. It has changed my perception of the world, it informed my development as a person. Creating and watching films have made me, me. And being a filmmaker became an inseperable part of my identity.
To me, filmmaking is the ultimate collaborative artform. The team enables me to make a film and as a director it is my responsibility to enable them to unfold their capabilities. I care about my crew and cast and emphasize creating an enjoyable yet focused atmosphere. There’s a balance to strike between challenging the team to go beyond what they believe is within their skillset and to be a foundation for them to fall back on. To that end I have been working on my leadership skills for over 10 years.
My stories often feature themes of death, loneliness, sleep as a negative, nature, a lack of communication and resulting misunderstandings. I am interested in characters in extreme situations, exploring how they will rise up to or fail the challenge. I explore aspects of the human condition I don’t understand, asking questions and presenting my findings rather than forcing myself to articulate a message.
I have a firm basis in drama, sometimes tragedy. I prefer to mix drama with different genres and specifically like period and science-fiction storyworlds. Over the course of a story my characters usually get stripped down to their basic human emotions as I believe that this is where all of us connect with each other. This is what we all share. I treat the world as an active character that takes part in the plot.
Stylistically speaking I have determined several reoccuring elements in my work. I prefer a slow pace, giving each edit more weight and creating a need for it in the audience. I use montages frequently.
I like for images to develop over time – either through movement of or within the frame. A camera move needs to be motivated. Many of my compositions feature negative space. Depth and layered compositions are important as well. I use blocking (spatial relationships) to communicate character/ interpersonal relationships, sometimes in contrast to the dialogue. Natural textures are very important to me, I like to emphasize details of natural phenomena, like Komorebi (jap.: sunlight filtering through trees). Many of my films feature a dominant color.
My films are rather quiet, I prefer for my characters to speak when they need to express something important. I prefer analogue instruments and I like for their sound to be textured. Music and sound design should complement each other to build a soundscape, to immerse an audience into the filmworld.
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