Without a doubt, he’s one of the best documentarians alive.
In terms of a director that seems perfectly in sync with the current media climate, it’s arguable that Asif Kapadia is one of the most versatile and talented filmmakers around.
Can he direct a feature-length film? Yep, his big screen debut, The Warrior, was nominated for a BAFTA and he followed this up with The Return and the critically-acclaimed Far North.
What about TV? Well, the Londoner was picked by David Fincher to helm two episodes of the outstanding Mindhunter on Netflix.
Documentaries? Well, if you haven’t seen any of his work in that genre, you’re in for a treat because Kapadia made his name with the superb Senna and the Oscar-winning Amy.
Thankfully, his latest feature on the life of Diego Maradona is just as good as his previous work in the genre.
Right now, the director seems like he has his choice of projects but during a recent interview with JOE, he discussed what his next subject might be.
After exploring the topics of sport and celebrity culture, it appears that the talented director is interested in examining the murky world of modern politics.
“Right now, I don’t have a subject in mind. At present, my gut feeling is that the state of politics around the world and what’s going on (would be his next topic). I just think that there’s something going on right now. If I could focus on that and try to show the connections between these people around the world and the terms, language, and how these people are trying to separate us and make things worse because it’s in their interests. If I’m going to do something now, I’ve a feeling that it will have to do with politics.”
In many ways, the box-office successes of Senna and Amy helped to revitalise the documentary genre and spread it to a wider audience. Of course, this coincided with the explosion of interest in the features that Netflix and HBO were also making.
Given the fact that a lot of streaming giants are currently interested in making long-form documentary features, we were curious if this was a route that Kapadia ever wanted to pursue?
While he does acknowledge the shift towards long-form storytelling on streaming platforms, he’s not yet ready to make a six/eight/ten-part documentary series,
“I think it’s happening, you know it’s going everywhere. I think in the future, that will be the go-to place but that’s why I thought of this film (Diego Maradona) as being the third part of a trilogy because it was made for the cinema. The idea was to make the tough challenge of condensing his life into those two hours.
“The easy thing for me is to say ‘it’s going to be ten-parts’ because you get loads of money to do it. I know that I’d never watch it. So I want to make things that I – as an audience member – would go to watch in the cinema. I often watch TV shows and I never get to the ending. I’m watching stuff and I’m like ‘this is great, but it doesn’t have to be that long'”. I’m not the greatest viewer on my own sofa but at the cinema, I turn off my phone and I pay attention. I’m hoping that we can extend that feeling a bit longer,” he added.
If you’re looking for something to watch, Diego Maradona is currently available to watch in Irish cinemas.
Take a look at what’s in store.
Clip via Altitude Films
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