Co-director Nick Fenton speaks as tickets go sale at Bíó Paradís
Björk’s Biophilia tour went on for almost two years, scoring a huge hit with critics and audiences around the world due to it’s innovative, immersive production. After a long process of trying to fund a definitive concert film of the project, it came right down to the wire, with the final show at London’s cavernous Alexandria Palace becoming the subject of Biophilia Live.
BAFTA-award winning editor and filmmaker Nick Fenton, speaking of his experience as co-director, said: “We felt like security guards, in a little booth surrounded by screens and talking to sixteen cameramen and women. You couldn’t feel further away from what’s going on in the arena, from the intimacy of the crowd and the performance.”
Nick also worked on the Sigur Rós films Inni and Heima in an editing capacity, which gave him a valuable take on the filming process. “I think I was more aware than most of how precious every moment is,” he says. “The only thing I asked Peter Strickland, my co-director, to pass on to camera people was ‘never stray from your shot – keep the faith, and believe that every frame is crucial’.”
In keeping with Björk’s general approach, the creators employed imaginative effects and nature footage to make the film come to life. “We wanted to represent her music as truly as possible to the way she sees it,” says Nick. “So there’s humour, and surrealism – we used the nature and science footage in a very integrated way, so it actually feels like part of the environment of the concert – there are parts where there are jellyfish swimming around her, or the auditorium is adapted into different natural environments.”
The film’s world premiere happened at the Tribeca film festival in New York City this April, but its Icelandic premiere happens this weekend at Bíó Paradís, after which it will show from 6th-25th September.
Read the full interview with Nick Fenton in our next issue. Tickets are on for the Bíó Paradís screenings are on sale here. Those not in Reykjavík can see international screening dates and order film posters here.
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