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INTERVIEWS

Cannes Interview: Agora Director Alejandro Amenábar

by Alex Billington
May 26, 2009

When I stepped out of Agora at Cannes last week, I knew I needed to talk with director Alejandro Amenabar. While the performances were great, it was the production design and the directing that was really one of the best parts of Agora. I had so much to ask him regarding taking on such an ambitious project, how much research and work went into it, and more. Luckily I was given the chance to sit down with Amenabar for 15 or so minutes on the Croisette in Cannes to talk about Agora. Not only did we cover a lot of ground, but a special guests shows up at the very end to put a cap on it all. Watch and enjoy!

Watch my interview with Agora writer/director Alejandro Amenábar:

This interview was shot using my Flip Mino camera. You might have noticed that there was a moment where some music starts and it later cuts and there is no music - that's because Alejandro actually went out and yelled at them (but you didn't need to see that). And the interview ended right after Rachel Weisz showed up anyway, so there's not much after. Anyway, keep on the look out for Agora, which should be picked up soon and will probably be in theaters by the end of the year. It's obvious that Amenabar is highly influence by sci-fi, as he mentions at the end, which is why this has an astronomy based plot. Stay tuned!

Filed under Cannes 09, Interview

From around the web:

Tabatha

Having see "Agora", i think it was the performances that kept the movie afloat, not the the production design or the directing. Don't get me wrong, the production design is flawless and the directing is good but its the performances (mostly Rachel Weisz, who i think is Oscar worthy) that stood out for me, even when the script had major issues and the movie just went on A little too long. Good interview by the way. One question, why was Rachel leaving?
http://www.andreascliment.com Andreas

Really enjoyed the interview. Interesting to hear Alejandro talk about how he tries to avoid using CGI for unrealistic shots. It would be great if you got an external mic for better sound in future interviews. The music they started playing was pretty odd, haha.
MgbPeregrine

Was one of the more interesting interviews - he really shared some personal insights. Nicely done. While the interruption was distracting, it did add a note realism to a on the spot interview.
http://www.goldenrule.com Masters packages

I heard that this movie got pretty good reviews.
http://www.goldenrule.com Golden rule

It was a good interview. Although it the way it was taped was a little jumpy, overall he did a pretty good job.