© 2024 TIFF
Bury Your Dead: Director Interview
By Sachiko Motomura
– How’s the experience and response from the Japanese audience?
Marco Dutra (Director): I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited. The experience has been very good. The screening was great, it was sold out, and the stage Q&A was amazing. It’s been so special to hear from the people and how they are relating to the movie.
– There’s a certain visual approach or role of cinematography that builds up the atmosphere.
Marco Dutra (Director): I’m also getting reactions to the texture of the film, the colors, and a specific shot I like very much that’s connected to the experience. I’m very happy that people here are asking about those elements and connecting with them. Form and content are an integrated dialogue in my head. It’s a language and a part of what I’m trying to say.
– What are the central themes or ideas you are exploring?
Marco Dutra (Director): There is a heaviness to the theme—death, decadence, and the relationship to death. What exactly is an apocalypse? Is it the end of the existence of all things? People are interacting with these subjects, and that is important. I’m not sure if there is a particular message I’m trying to convey; I’ll leave that open to interpretation.
– Filmmaking process and shooting under COVID:
Marco Dutra (Director): Shooting was hard with very heavy safety protocols. It was very intense. Actors, crew, cinematographer, and production designer—we all held hands in the process. We wanted to establish a melancholic feeling of doom and death. We lost people during the pandemic, so we brought that pain into the film to connect with the people.
– Shooting a horror film is fun.
Marco Dutra (Director): It’s a paradox. Even though horror movies are bloody and dark, they also come with a sense of fun. When we shoot horror scenes, we have a lot of fun. There is fake blood, animal props made for the films, including the horse, and three people inside the horse moving the legs and making it breathe.
– Edgar Wilson must confront his inner demons and reconcile with his past.
Marco Dutra (Director): One of the first scenes by the road shows a sign that says “wake up.” Everybody is telling him to wake up all the time. By the end, the world around him has become such a nightmare that he has to tell himself to wake up from it. The movie ends before you know if it’s all a nightmare or real.
– What kind of layers were you hoping the audience would pick up?
Marco Dutra (Director): Edgar is someone who has an extremely violent past but is bad at communicating with other people. Thomas, the priest, talks a lot and is addicted to making people confess. Edgar always wants to get away from him but is also attracted to him. The movie is complicated, with a cosmic narrative about the end of things, cults, the end of the world, and a very intimate narrative about personal guilt and trauma. But that was the most fun for me while writing.
– Upcoming plans:
Marco Dutra (Director): Next, I’m going to Goa, India, for the film festival, and next year there will be a commercial release. We already had an Asian premiere, a European premiere, and a South American premiere. Now, I hope the North American premiere will come soon.
Watch Video: ‘Bury Your Dead’ Asia Premiere during Tokyo Film Festival 2024 – Interview with Director Marco Dutra
https://youtu.be/szmz8Fj5H8M?si=s_EU6aNm060IQWkf
