Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadia
Asif Kapadiais a British filmmaker. He directed several award-winning films, including The Sheep Thief, winner of the 2nd Prize Cinéfondation for Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival, The Warrior, the BAFTA Award for Best British Film 2003 and Senna, winner of the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary, the BAFTA Award for Best Editing and the World Cinema Audience Award Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival 2011 and Amywhich has become the highest grossing documentary of all time in the...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionDirector
boxing catch chance lucky tragedy underdog
Boxing is made for film - there is corruption, violence, tragedy and the chance that the underdog can catch the champion with one lucky punch.
audiences decided direct disliked engage formula given heard opportunity people race seen sports thrill work
When I was given the opportunity to direct 'Senna,' I decided the film had to work for audiences who disliked sport or had never seen a Formula One race in their lives. It had to thrill and emotionally engage people who had never heard of Ayrton Senna.
above allow background believe drawn elements layer sort
My background is Indian, so I believe in a spiritual idea that there is another level, another layer or layers, if you will, above us. I believe that there are elements that allow things to be drawn together, a sort of energy.
bollywood musical
My background is from India, and I always get asked, 'When are you going to do an Indian film, a musical or Bollywood film?'
becomes deeper family maybe suddenly
My family didn't film anything. But then you look deeper and realize, maybe there are photographs, there are things. It's also context: You give something a context, and suddenly it becomes really deep or meaningful footage.
visuals
My interest in filmmaking was always very much the visuals and images.
actual create footage heads life talking thrilling
My team and I used the actual footage to create a three-act story of the life of Ayrton Senna. There are no talking heads and no voiceover. Senna narrates his own epic, dramatic, thrilling journey.
editor footage
On 'Senna,' it got to the point where there was so much footage that our first editor had the wild suggestion that we only use the archive.
five took
'Senna' took five years, 'Amy' took three years. You try and say, 'Look, there's no deadline.' That's important. Just saying, 'We've got to make the film. And once the film's ready, it will be out there.'
dimension films happy muslim spiritual tackle
My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I'm happy to tackle that in cinema.
france great guys lives risking sports tour
The Tour de France would make a great movie. Drugs, corruption, political chicanery, guys risking their lives - everything you need for a great sports drama.
amazing ran
I used to live in Pillgwenlly, and there was this old Italian pizzeria that used to be there with a really amazing character who ran it.
films massive questions subjects
The subjects have to come with questions for me. I don't make films where I'm a massive fan.
life
Real life is far more complicated than fiction.