Short interview: Thomas Wangsmo

How long did it take to make your short?
Amor was shot in three days and spent about half a year in post production, as I edited it alongside my school work during my Master’s degree. The script was already written a year earlier, over several weeks, if I remember correctly.

Was it difficult to get financing?
No, the film’s camera operator Henning Høifødt had already received about €4000 for another, similar project, but then decided to make Amor with Daniel producing and myself directing instead. That was the entire budget, so for Daniel and me, it came fairly easily. It was all a lucky accident, you might say, that the film was made at all.

Which thoughts come to mind concerning a “European cinema community”?
Something that doesn’t quite exist in the way I, and I believe many others, would like it to do. There have definitely been some good co-productions between European countries, but rarely do projects fully explore and exploit the opportunities inherent in the different European countries and cultures, even during co-productions.

If you owned a theatre for one night, which films would you screen?
McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Taxi Driver, Days of Heaven and Apocalypse Now! Four of the best films of the 70s – the greatest decade for films, from four of the greatest directors, all representing high points in their careers. And of course a panel discussion with all four directors following the screenings (we’d have to get Robert Altman on a long distance conference call from heaven, I guess).

What is your next project?
I’m shooting a short film for children about a young boy who meets a strange creature in the woods in September, a mid-length drama about a severe traffic accident that occurs in a suburban neighbourhood and its consequences in October/November, and I’m currently finishing the third draft of my first feature length project, hopefully moving into pre-production this winter, while editing the two aforementioned films.

Courtesy of European Film Academy, 2011.