Film + (Virtual) Travel

Danish director Lars von Trier’s fear of flying gets nearly as much ink as his filmography. So when Dave Itzkoff, a reporter from the New York Times wanted to schedule an interview about ‘The Antichrist‘ star Willem Dafoe, the director suggested a decidedly 21st century way of meeting face-to-face — internet phone service Skype.
Looking at each other from across an ocean was, as Itzkoff put it on the paper’s ArtsBeat blog, more like an interrogation than a conversation. “Inherent weirdness” aside, he dug up some good stuff; we can’t wait to see the finished article:

He said that it was his preference whenever possible to do his interviews this way. “Not everybody has a camera,” he told me, “but I think it’s much easier when you can see the person you’re talking to.” Needless to say, the rules of his Dogme 95 filmmaking manifesto do not apply in these settings. For one thing, Mr. von Trier said, “We have a fixed camera.”

 
Photo by Christian Geisnaes / ‘The Antichrist’ is an IFC Films release