Red Carpet Interview: All Of Us Strangers Andrew Haigh, Sarah Harvey, Graham Broadbent
The highly anticipated film “All of Us Strangers” from director Andrew Haigh had its BFI London Film Festival (LFF) premiere this evening. The supernatural drama is an adaptation of the beloved Japanese novel “Strangers” by Sakyo Komatsu. In interviews on the red carpet, Haig and producers Sara Harvey and Graham Broadbent discussed the journey to bring this story to the screen.
When asked what made him choose this film, Harvey and Graham who worked together on In Bruges said they were always looking for a ghost story. Harvey added: “I read 20 years ago and the concept of it just stayed with us and so we tracked it and then nabbed it.”
On what gave them the courage to adapt the story, producer Sara Harvey said “In its heart it’s about love and loss and redemption and I think lots of people have their own feelings about those things and it just felt very universal.” Haig echoed this sentiment, saying the film incorporates ideas of “how do we take care of each other, how do we feel less alone in the world.”
On assembling the cast and crew, Broadbent remarked “Once we had Andrew Haigh, he knew who he wanted and lots of actors really want to work with him and we really got our dream cast.” The cast included Paul Mescal, Andrew Scott, Claire Foy and Jamie Bell. Haig praised the cast, saying “it was beautiful to work with them, they were all fantastic.”
It’s a multidimensional piece of cinema. When asked what the film is about, Haig said “I think it’s all of those things – dealing with grief, coming out, dealing with childhood trauma, finding love.” He wanted the film to touch on specificity but also “be something wider.”
The premiere was held at the BFI Southbank and Haigh was in great spirits anticipating the audience reception. “It’s always nerve-wracking but I’m just happy that we’re here and people are coming to see it,” remarked Haigh. The film blends together fantasy and reality which the director approached by “setting the film slightly a skew so it exists in a kind of like Lial space that is that is not a dream but that could be a dream and it feels like it’s separate from reality.”
With positive reactions coming in from the festival circuit, it seems that Haig, Harvey, and Broadbent have successfully brought this beloved story to life in a way that resonates emotionally with audiences. “All of Us Strangers” promises to be a moving cinematic experience.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
