Timur Bekmambetov, in recent years, is a name synonymous with the filmmaking technology Screenlife. The Russian filmmaker has been at the forefront with experimenting with this new tool that allows for films to be told using only computer screens, as seen in his new film “Profile.”
Recently, Bekmambetov joined The Playlist Podcast to talk about “Profile” and how he utilized Screenlife to tell a story that he feels could only be told this way. The film follows the story of a white journalist in the UK that goes undercover as a recent Muslim convert on Facebook to befriend and embed herself with a terrorist that is based in Syria.
“This story could be told only in this way,” he said. “The drama, confrontation, and romance—a weird romance—happens in the digital space, not in physical space. There’s nothing to shoot…it’s not entertaining. But when you see the screens of the characters, it is entertaining. It’s captivating.”
For Bekmambetov, Screenlife isn’t a gimmick, a new genre, or just a technology. It’s an entirely new filmmaking language.
“It’s a language and a technology at the same time,” the filmmaker explained. “We find ourselves living half of our lives not in physical space anymore. We’re falling in love, meeting friends, finding old ones, developing ideas, and expressing ourselves on the internet. It’s happening in the digital world.”
He continued, “There’s no way to understand ourselves without showing our screens, without telling stories through our screens. We’ve never had this before. It’s is a new language. It’s a new media.”
And of course, you can’t talk to Bekmambetov without mentioning his breakout filmmaking hit, “Wanted” from 2008. That action film, starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, really introduced his style to the world and became a blockbuster hit for Universal. But more than a decade later, surprisingly, there hasn’t been a sequel. And for that to happen, the filmmaker thinks “Wanted” creator Mark Millar has to get involved.
“It’s all on Mark Millar’s end,” said the filmmaker. “Because Universal would be happy to do it, and I’d be happy to do it. I think it’s all Mark Millar. He needs to say, ‘I have an idea.’ And I guarantee you it would happen immediately.”
“Profile” arrives in theaters on May 14. You can hear our full discussion below:
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