Denis Villeneuve interviewed by Brett Goldstein

Director, writer and producer Denis Villeneuve talks to actor, writer and podcaster Brett Goldstein about his career, which includes films like Dune, Enemy, Sicario and Blade Runner 2049.

A filmmaker renowned for exploring the subtleties of human relationships within the wider canvas of large-scale, visually stunning epic narratives, Denis Villeneuve brings rare intelligence to a cinema that is both kinetic and emotionally affecting. His early, award-winning Canadian features, August 32nd on Earth (1998), Maelström (2000), Polytechnique (2009) and the Oscar-nominated Incendies (2010) had already revealed a director who was uncompromising in his vision as he explored the darker side of humanity, yet always leavened by the possibility of hope.

Villeneuve made his English-language debut with the knife-edge procedural drama Prisoners, followed by the surreal doppelganger drama Enemy (both 2013). The striking cross-border crime thriller Sicario (2015) was the filmmaker’s major international breakthrough. Like his previous work, it reveals a fascination with language – spoken, visual, emotional. That element was taken further with the richly rewarding Arrival (2016).

Villeneuve remained on Earth for another take on sci-fi with the hugely anticipated and critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049 (2017), before jettisoning beyond the stratosphere – narratively, critically and commercially – with his stellar, visually intoxicating two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s epic Dune (2021-24). We welcome Denis Villeneuve to the BFI London Film Festival to talk about his extraordinary career.

BFI