French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve has described cinema
as a tool to explore our shadows.
This comes through in his signature style,
which is marked by daunting premises and surrealist elements.
'I wanted to do science fiction since I'm ten years old,
you know it's like a genre,
that I feel has a lot of power and alot of
tools to explore our reality in a very
dynamic way.'
Villeneuve has made many short films in his career,
all of which are fantastic,
but it was Next Floor, his 2008 short that launched him
to international attention when it was nominated for
the Short Film Palm d’Or at Cannes Film Festival.
Villeneuve tells his stories through an objective eye,
allowing the audience to have their own interpretation and
thoughts about the events that are unfolding.
Such as in his 2009 feature Polytechnique
about the real life shooting that took place in Montreal.
'The more I've been in contact with people from
other cultures, the more I felt that
the world was complex
and there was no black and white.'
As a storyteller, Villeneuve explores ideas that scare him.
His films push his audience to the limit
– often asking questions but never giving answers
to the politically charged and violent undertones,
which run through the narrative.
His latest film Arrival has been nominated for eight Oscars,
including Best Director for Villeneuve.
'Denis Villeneuve is and extraordinary filmmaker
one of the most collaborative and kind filmmakers
that I've ever worked with.'
'At the end of the day, what is it
for a human being to approach an object that is
coming from space? What is our relationship
with the unknown, of mystery?
And I wanted to bring that fear and that excitement to the screen.'