Thursday, November 13, 2014

AFI FEST '14: Interview with Mia Hansen-Løve about 'Eden'

Mia Hansen-Løve’s fourth feature, EDEN, chronicles two decades in the Parisian club scene, starting in the early 1990s. Following aspiring young DJ, Paul (Félix de Givry), from his early gigs at house parties to a life of international travel and then through the waning popularity of garage music in the mid-2000s, the film is filled with both passion and melancholy. Hansen-Løve discusses her inspirations for the film, the importance of staying true to the authenticity of her experiences, and how Daft Punk became a vital part of the story.

AFI: What inspired you to tell this story?

MHL: I had written three films that were all very personal, but I felt like I was at the end of that inspiration. Even though EDEN is inherently a very personal film, I thought I had to explore a new territory. At the same time, I asked myself [how] the film would be about my generation and what it meant to me. That is something I asked myself when I watched Olivier Assayas’ SOMETHING IN THE AIR, because that was about his generation in the 1970s. I realized the music, especially electronic music, was the one thing that was defining for my generation. I had been talking with my brother, Sven – who had been involved in the music scene for 20 years since becoming a DJ at the age of 18 – about making a film about his story. I thought his pathway was very relevant as a way to talk about [our] generation, and its ideals, inspiration and fragility, too.

(read the rest of the interview at AFI)