Filmmaker Andrew Haigh has been a critical darling since his 2011 breakthrough directorial achievement with Weekend. He’s won dozens and dozens of awards from film festivals and critics groups over the years for a filmography that also includes such highly praised films as 45 Years and Lean on Pete, the HBO series Looking and more.
That streak has continued for his latest film, All of Us Strangers, which recently swept the British Independent Film Awards, winning for Haigh as producer, director and writer. He is also nominated for Indie Spirit, Critics Choice and London Film Critics awards and recently won the screenplay award from the Los Angeles Film Critics. He still is looking for his first Oscar nomination, and many pundits suspect that this film, opening today from Searchlight, will do the trick.
All Of Us Strangers is based on a Japanese novel but significantly changed in some ways. It tells the story of a man (Andrew Scott) who lost his parents in a horrific crash and years later returns to his childhood home, where he finds that time has stopped and they are still living there. Paul Mescal, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell round out an exceptional cast in this intriguing film exploring grief, love and life in unexpected ways.
Haigh joins me for this week’s edition of my Deadline video series Behind the Lens to talk about why he wanted to take on this story, the changes he felt were important, the casting, working in a major studio environment with Disney-owned Searchlight and his previous films and his break in the business as an assistant editor on numerous Ridley Scott movies including Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and Kingdom of Heaven. He also shares his choices for favorite films of all time, including one he calls the best comedy ever.
To watch our conversation and to go “‘”behind the lens” with Andrew Haigh, just click on the link above.
Join me every Friday during Oscar season for another episode of Behind the Lens.