Director Atom Egoyan tells The Globe and Mail which shows and movies he’s binge-watching at home.
Director Atom Egoyan says he's been watching Israeli series, Fauda and Ozark, among other shows.Tina Rowden/Supplied
I find myself in this strange disassociation between two realities. On one hand, we don’t know how the [film production] industry is going to reorganize after this. Many productions are delayed – and may not be reconstructed – and thousands are out of work. On the other hand, here we are – myself included – voraciously consuming the fruits of our labour, binge-watching all these shows that come from an industry that has closed down.
Arsinée [Khanjian] and I have been watching this Israeli series, Fauda, which is incredibly intense, and I got caught up on Ozark. I also rewatched Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, which is set during the bubonic plague, as well as live productions of Peter Sellars’ St. Matthew Passion and The Ring Cycle from the MET. You go down these rabbit holes because you have the time and they lead you some place else.
All the things I had on a list, I can finally indulge in and not feel like I’m playing hooky, because we’re all playing hooky. I’m still working on a script but, like everything else in my life at the moment, it somehow feels like I’ve been given extra time because the society I live in has come to a standstill.
Thankfully I wasn’t shooting, but [COVID-19] has affected my film [Guest of Honour], which was set for theatrical release this spring. It has been put on hold and I don’t know if it will be released because there’s such a backlog. But in Sweden it [went] ahead with subtitles on April 19. It seems surreal and reckless but it’s happening. And I’m grateful.
– As told to Gayle MacDonald
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