So what I got was exactly that - great actors who came out and really showed up and were able to deal with the rough and tumble of a very fast thirty day shoot.
- Malin Akerman is one of very few main female characters in the movie so what were you looking for in the character of Robin when you cast this role?
Robin describes herself as the tough but caring kind of mother hen - these were her guys and she was the sort of den mother.
She was one the one hand there boss but in another sense cared for them enormously so I needed someone who could carry both of those things at the same time.
- I read that you shot in the exact locations where events took place - why did you make that decision?
For one I thought that it would help with the authenticity of the film and it would help recreating those moments - I had access to photographs and news footage and I was able to really create that imagery in shooting those scenes.
It meant that it was also practical so when I storyboared the film I could storyboard into the exact locations so when we arrived on set the entire production knew exactly how we were going to shoot that day.
One of the main benefits though was that the extras in the scenes came from the communities that we were working in - those extras that you see, which are a real strength of the film and who helped make those scenes compelling and visceral, are not actors they are people from those communities.
And as such they are not acting they are remembering.
- Well that touches on my next question really how keen were they to be involved and remember those events?
What we found was the people were very enthusiastic in both us shooting the film and playing a role in it - I think for many people it was a chance to participate in a telling of their stories.
And so each day we had many people who were very keen to play any role that they could on set.
- This was your first feature length movie yes, so how did you find stepping away from documentaries and TV?
I found my history as a documentary filmmaker surprisingly less useful than I thought that it would be in directing a dramatic film so it was a very steep learning curve.
But I had a lot of help as I had great producers, great DOP and a really great editor and they were able to paper over my many shortcomings.
- How have you found the reaction to the movie?
It has been predominately positive, each country has been a little bit different; the press in the U.S. was surprisingly polarised with some people loving the film and others really not liking it.
So I was quite surprised at both how widely reviewed it has been and how much attention that it has got but also how it has split down the middle with strong feelings on either. It has been surprisingly controversial and I didn't expect that.
- Finally what's next for you?
I have another film, it's a sort of drug smuggling film, with Aaron Eckhart to do and so we hope to shoot that early next year.
The Bang Bang Club is out on DVD & Blu-Ray now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw