Some politicians and media outlets would like us to think that the world outside of one’s own country is made up of people who are unkind, have bad intentions and are nothing like ‘us’. The deeply troubling rise of intolerance and far right populism speaks to this.
This is one of the reasons we really wanted to turn
@pkmahanandia and Lotta Von Schedvin’s story into a film.
One of the privileges of being a documentary filmmaker is meeting people from all over the world. My personal experience, shaped over decades, has been that the vast vast majority of humans we encounter day to day are good-natured people who are kind, generous and warm, and want the same things as everyone else - love, security and purpose.
In 1977 PK managed to cycle thousands of miles across Asia powered by love and his incredible resilience, but also the kindness of strangers. Everywhere he went, from Iran and Afghanistan, to Turkey and Austria, people helped him, inspired by his story and his open heart.
To capture this aspect of the narrative, together with PK himself and the very talented actor
@chiraglobo2911 , we followed parts of PK’s original route and met ordinary people along the way who shared their stories of love, hopes and dreams. They shared their own truths, entirely in their own words.
Some of my favourite moments within the film are these interactions and it was astounding to see PK’s story transcend time and boundaries as people showed the same warmth and kindness today, that PK had experienced on the road 50 years previously.
You’ll have to watch the film to see the creative form this takes, but our film takes inspiration from directors like
@chloezhao ,
@ross_bros ,
@unadosa , Michael Winterbottom and Jonas Poher Rasmussen, to name a few.
I’m really looking forward to more people getting to know not only PK and Lotta, but also all the kind-hearted people from India, Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Australia, Cuba, Ukraine and the UK that we encountered while making it.
THE CYCLE OF LOVE screens at
@cphdox in Copenhagen this evening, and launches globally later this year…
#thecycleoflove
