Sofia International Film Festival

Thure LindhartKamen Kalev’s second feature The Island, which tells the story of a young couple heading to a remote island in the Black Sea where their relationship is questioned, was invited to the Directors Fortnight section of the 64 Cannes International Film Festival, where it will be screened on May 16.   

The film was first pitched as a project during Sofia Meetings’04. The cast includes the French model and actress Laetitia Casta, the Danish actor Thure Lindhart and their Bulgarian fellow actors Boyka Velkova, Russi Chanev, Mihail Mutafov and others. The renowned French magazine Cahiers du cinema included The Island in his list of the most anticipated films of 2011.

Thure Lindhardt gave an online interview for the site of the Sofia International Film Festival.

- What is your role in The Island and what attracted you to participate in the film?

I'm playing Daneel, a successful businessman living in Paris with his beautiful girlfriend, living the good life in many ways, but something is missing, something inside. He feels stressed and empty inside, or you could say he doesn't live the life he wants too. He's a man who feels tormented, and he doesn't know why.

What attracted me to the script and the role was that here's a man who travels into the unknown, a man who gives up everything he is, to become free. I think that's a very fascinating travel, or story. To give up your identity, to become free, even though it's painful.  It's a dream for an actor to play a part like this.

You can read the whole interview on our festival's site www.siff.bg

13 May 2011