Siobhan Devine, whose film The Birdwatcher opens at The Carlton on Nov. 18, is currently binge watching The Crown
Her first feature film is a character-driven drama about an ornery ornithologist and the daughter she never knew, and now the career of Siobhan Devine is fully in flight. The Globe and Mail spoke with the Vancouver director, whose Whistler Film Festival hit The Birdwatcher opens at The Carlton on Nov. 18, about her current passions.
What she just saw:"My new favourite film is Two Lovers and a Bear, by Kim Nguyen. It's starkly beautiful and after I first saw it my first thought was 'now there is a film I wish I had made.' The story is a two-hander starring the amazing Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan. It's set in a small northern town, which is a landscape I've never seen before. It offers a window into a different way of life, and I'm completely inspired by it."
What she's watching: "I'm binge watching The Crown, about the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II, on Netflix. It's so amazing to watch a show about a woman having to take power and all the nuances and struggles that make her journey so interesting; She eventually becomes an iconic figure in all our lives. The show is created by Peter Morgan and each episode is directed with such a keen eye – I just wish there were some women directors in the mix."
What she's reading: "When the Music's Over, by Peter Robinson. I love him because he's one of the best crime writers in the world and he's Canadian. It has incredible characters who over time have become like old friends. At the heart of all of my choices of art, TV, film and books are people. I am drawn to the depiction of characters, and find that the deeper and more complex they are depicted the more I am transported."
Brad Wheeler