Quotes

[on A War (2015)] With A Hijacking (2012) we started to move toward the atmosphere and honesty in a film that I was looking for. But I didn't feel that we took it all the way. So, with the cinematographer and the editor, we tried to find places where we could elevate our film language. The point was for the two films would be related; our hope that we could take all the best stuff from "A Hijacking," and just tell the rest a little better. [2016]

[on Danish cinema] When Babette's Feast (1987) and Pelle the Conqueror (1987) won the Oscars in the 1980s, and when Lars von Trier started to do his films - we're a very small country, so when certain individuals go out and make extraordinary things, it kind of makes you believe that you can do it. And everybody there is watching each other's films. The community is strong. And I do believe what we're seeing now is a generation that was brought up with Dogma 95. We're doing something very different, but we're on the shoulders of that movement: We know that the story needs to come first, and that we're unable to compete with others on budget anyway. [2016]

[on cinematic influences for A War (2015)] The closest one would be The Deer Hunter (1978), which describes the lives before, during and after the war. I learned a lot from watching that. How can we identify with these soldiers? How can we humanize them? How can we give them something that's more than just being a soldier? And it's not from the '70s, but The Hurt Locker (2008) meant a lot to me as well. It's such a strong, honest film. And then there's the American documentary Restrepo (2010), which helped with the logic of where to put the camera and how we could stay close to the soldiers. [2016]