I used to work in TV and quit the job because I couldn't do it any more. I quite like taking my time over a film, five years is how long it takes me to work something out. And when you just do quick turnover, turnaround, I'm literally this is driving me mad, I want to find another living. I'll just have to find a creative way to tell the story.

Asif Kapadia

Categorized in : Long Creative Mad

My interest in filmmaking was always very much the visuals and images.

images always filmmaking interest

Weirdly enough, I live in London - was born there and have lived there all my life - but I hadn't made a film in London for a long time. I hadn't found the right subject. I liked going away, to some far flung place.

my-life time life long

There's this great TV show we have called 'Later... with Jools Holland', a live-music show on Friday nights. Anyone and everyone's been on it.

show everyone great friday

I never know going in if I've even got a movie to make. Once you start making a film, you hope there's going to be enough material! My job as a director is always to push for more.

job start you hope

A lot of the time when I'm working, I'm abroad.

abroad working lot time

My family didn't film anything. But then you look deeper and realize, maybe there are photographs, there are things. It's also context: You give something a context, and suddenly it becomes really deep or meaningful footage.

deep look you family

The Tour de France would make a great movie. Drugs, corruption, political chicanery, guys risking their lives - everything you need for a great sports drama.

great you corruption sports

I wanted to make a film that wouldn't just appeal to Formula One fans. That's what the great sports documentaries do - 'Hoop Dreams,' 'When We Were Kings' - they're human dramas first, sport second, if at all.

dreams great fans sports

My films often have a spiritual dimension which comes from my Muslim background, and I'm happy to tackle that in cinema.

background cinema spiritual happy

As a kid, I thought movies were boring. My parents would hire VHS recorders for the weekend and watch Bollywood movies. I'd get bored and go out to Stoke Newington common to play football.

movies parents boring football

I lived in Camden, Primrose Hill and Kentish Town for 10 years.

lived town hill years

The subjects have to come with questions for me. I don't make films where I'm a massive fan.

make questions where me

On 'Senna,' it got to the point where there was so much footage that our first editor had the wild suggestion that we only use the archive.

wild point only first

I worked in TV for a short time and couldn't stand the fact that we'd always be filming someone talking, just giving information.

short stand someone time

We were working on 'Senna' for a long time before we were fully financed, so we didn't actually have an editor for a while.

working long-time time long