What was the starting point or the initial idea for this film?
I am interested in the cross-pollination between fiction and documentary. I am a fiction director fascinated by reality.
When I visited Kosovo for the first time in 2006 the hidden and unseen quality of the place drew me in. And then there were the faces of the children. I wanted an audience to be confronted by the reality and humanity of these children by focusing on what is not seen - their memory and stories of desire, loss and fear.
Can you share an important/funny/moving/surprising anecdote of the making-of this film?
I think that there are films that you make that leave you after they are done and then there are films that stay with you. This is a film that will stay with me for a very long time. At the same time making it has the quality of a very private and intimate experience.
What do you do when not making films?
I have been fortunate enough for a while to only make films.
What would you like to say to your audience before seeing your film?
Keep your eyes and ears open.
What project(s) are you working on this year?
I am preparing to shoot my first feature film this March. It is a multi-plot film that takes place in a hotel with a script by the Danish screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson and an international cast. I am also developing another feature which is a modern take on Strindberg's play Miss Julie. I have developed this script with the Danish dramatist Peter Asmussen (Breaking the Waves), who also wrote the monologues performed by the kids in Out of Love.