I understand this film is based on a story that really resonated with you?
Sergey Loznitsa: The film is based on a story by Georgy Demidov, who was arrested in 1938 and spent nearly fourteen years in prison camps.


I understand this film is based on a story that really resonated with you?
Sergey Loznitsa: The film is based on a story by Georgy Demidov, who was arrested in 1938 and spent nearly fourteen years in prison camps.

That dance number was incredible! What was it like to direct a big dance number?
Maggie Gyllenhaal: That dance number was a very specific tightrope walk. The way we shot it and the way we choreographed it took a lot of care, forethought, and then a lot of work.

What keeps you interested in these characters? Because ultimately it’s the same premise every time: just trying to book a show at the Rivoli, right?
Jay McCarrol: Well, Matt and I have been channeling these pseudo-real versions of ourselves since we met each other, and it’s sort of been giving us the same thing our whole lives.

I love what you said about how the book never judges its characters, despite their actions. How did that inform you as you began to adapt the book?
Emerald Fennell: I think everyone in this book is kind of deeply troubling. That’s what makes it such a masterpiece, you know? The sum of its parts and the sum of their parts are so much more.

Albrecht, you said rehearsal was the most challenging of your career. Why?
Albrecht Schuch: It was, without question, the hardest preparation I’ve ever faced. At first, I couldn’t find the center of the character. He felt like someone without emotions, almost as if he were absent from his own life.