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
anyone car circles drove fan formula giant looked
Why make a movie about Ayrton Senna? Someone who drove around in circles at 200mph in a car that looked like a giant cigarette packet? Why would anyone who isn't already a fan of Formula 1 care?
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.
appeal dramas dreams formula great human sports
I wanted to make a film that wouldn't just appeal to Formula One fans. That's what the great sports documentaries do - 'Hoop Dreams,' 'When We Were Kings' - they're human dramas first, sport second, if at all.
drivers driving formula hour manual miles per streets technology ultimate
There are no drivers like Formula One drivers. They are engineers, in a way. They are driving manual cars one-handed at 200 miles per hour around streets in Monaco. These cars use the ultimate in technology.
formula lunchtime sports watched
I'm a sport fan. So, I have always watched everything, and I used to watch racing. Formula One was always on. The genius about it is that it's on at lunchtime on a Sunday.
films massive questions subjects
The subjects have to come with questions for me. I don't make films where I'm a massive fan.
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.
felt last million next watched
The worst thing ever for me is go see a movie, and the next day I go, 'What did I do last night? I have no memory of this $300 million movie I watched because I felt nothing.'
life
Real life is far more complicated than fiction.
people
People have always been recording what's going on around them in one form or another.
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.
people
The thing people don't get about Indian films is that the songs are the story.
Directing can be very lonely and quite intimidating.
blew levels saw
'Do the Right Thing' has been a big influence on me. I saw it when it first came out in 1989. I was about 18, and it blew me away on many levels - I had never seen anything like it before.