ilf Varvill (Directing)
What training have you received?
I have had no formal training in film directing at all. But I spent two years working in the industry in London as a producer’s assistant and as an acquisitions intern at a studio, which I think helped me form my views on what people want to see.
What kind of projects attract you?
I’m attracted first and foremost to strong concepts. By concept I mean ideas, worlds, marketability… It’s more to do with feel or mood and is quite difficult to explain and very subjective. For me, concept is linked with things that I and other people could consider to be cool and interesting. I write and produce my projects, so I always think of a concept, or a world, and work it through in terms of mood, scope, feel, music, etc. After that, narrative and characters are secondary elements that can be inserted. Recently I’ve been influenced a lot by news and current affairs, having been inspired by a news story to make LONDONGRAD, and the same goes for some new things I’m working on. The news is an inexhaustible resource for inspiration I think, and I like the moment when specific moods arise from current affairs. I’m interested in the notion that cinema can take something that is real and current, and elevate it to a level of super-reality. But I’m also quite attracted to the extreme aspect of filmmaking, in terms of physicality, so generally I am attracted to making any tricky, ambitious films as long as they adhere to my rule of concept. I’m also attracted to films that have an element of destruction in them. Whether it may be psychological and to do with people, or the destruction of things/nature. I like films that are about destruction and adversity for the sake of progress. The areas of film that I am most attracted to are psychological drama, suspense, and tragedy. Don’t ask why.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given as a director?
I genuinely can’t remember ever being given any…
Most significant moment in your career so far?
Having a pint with Mikkel Gaup in Cannes!
You’ll die happy when…
Let’s face it, I probably won’t die happy. ■
