FEATURE film director Mehdi Avaz has found his niche with harrowing dramas.
Avaz’s first film While We Live, which he co-directed with his brother Milad, follows four people in Northern Denmark and how their fates intertwine in a tragic accident, and screens as part of the Scandinavian Film Festival this month.
His next film Kollision which is scheduled to begin filming in November, is about a custody battle between a mother and father over their 10-year-old daughter.
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READ NOW“It is even more devastating (than While We Live),” Avaz said.
“I like drama; I love working with actors and it is best to work with people on scenes and characters in drama.
“The only movie I would direct outside of drama is a James Bond movie.”
Avaz said he will go into his next project with more confidence than his first, in which he felt a lot of pressure.
“My first feature budget was low, it was shot in 20 days; it usually takes seven weeks,” he said.
“I was very stressed every day; in the mornings I threw up, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing.
“We made it with money from private investors, so you promise everyone an awesome movie and that it will sell tickets.
“(Now that is has been well-received) I have a lot of confidence now.”
Avaz said the tragic accident in While We Live was based on a real event in his home town.
“One evening my brother called me and told me a class mate was in an accident; we were 18 years old, we were youngsters,” he said.
“It was the first time something like this had happened in this small town; it was two well-known guys, one was a pro skater and everyone liked them both.
“Everyone was moved (but) I only used the accident (in the film) and built the story around it.”
The Scandinavian Film Festival is on from July 19 to August 1.