The Salt of the Earth

Photography and film: how would you describe the advantages and limitations of either medium? And what did you find most interesting about bringing both disciplines together in your latest film?
For me, both media are more or less limitless, each in their own way. Every film is an opportunity to reinvent film-making, or at least aspects of it. Equally, every photograph is a new adventure. Allowing both languages to engage with one another, as is the case of The Salt of the Earth, was a very special journey of discovery. Of course, I was there in my capacity as film-maker, not as photographer, to show this extraordinary man’s work in a way that does it justice, within the brief, compacted time-span of a film.

The Salt of the Earth is centred around the famous reportage photographer Sebastião Salgado. What prompted you to make this film?
When something excites me, I have a desire to share it – to infect others with the same bug. So I must find the best way to communicate about the thing I’m excited about. In the case of Sebastião Salgado, it was all about his images – until I found out that this man also has the ability to speak about the people he has photographed in the most wonderful way. He is a gifted story-teller!