A Minute With: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olivia Colman on ‘The Lost Daughter'

The 78th Venice Film Festival - Photo call for "The Lost Daughter" - in competition - Venice, Italy September 3, 2021 - Director Maggie Gyllenhaal and actors Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman pose. (Reuters)
The 78th Venice Film Festival - Photo call for "The Lost Daughter" - in competition - Venice, Italy September 3, 2021 - Director Maggie Gyllenhaal and actors Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman pose. (Reuters)
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A Minute With: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Olivia Colman on ‘The Lost Daughter'

The 78th Venice Film Festival - Photo call for "The Lost Daughter" - in competition - Venice, Italy September 3, 2021 - Director Maggie Gyllenhaal and actors Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman pose. (Reuters)
The 78th Venice Film Festival - Photo call for "The Lost Daughter" - in competition - Venice, Italy September 3, 2021 - Director Maggie Gyllenhaal and actors Dakota Johnson and Olivia Colman pose. (Reuters)

Maggie Gyllenhaal brings Elena Ferrante's novel "The Lost Daughter" to the big screen for her directorial debut, a gripping drama about motherhood choices starring Oscar winner Olivia Colman.

Colman plays Leda, who while alone on holiday in Greece, befriends a young mother and daughter. The meeting brings back painful memories of her own decisions towards her children.

Gyllenhaal and Colman spoke to Reuters about the story and communicating with the famously secretive Ferrante.

Below are excerpts edited for length and clarity.

Q: Why did you pick this story for your feature directing debut?

Gyllenhaal: "When I read Ferrante for the first time, I guess I felt like she was saying things out loud that I knew to be true, but that I had never heard said out loud. And I found that both disturbing and comforting, and I thought, in fact more than that, it was kind of like ... a really exciting shock."

Q: What was it like liaising with Ferrante?

Gyllenhaal: "All my interactions with her, which have all been via email, have been everything you would want them to be. There's something amazing about her being anonymous because she can be the fantasy that I want her to be. And she has been nothing but supportive at every turn ... really intelligently, thoughtfully supportive."

Q: What attracted you to the role and as a mother, did any aspects of the story resonate with you?

Colman: "I don't think I'd ever seen anything where someone says 'I left and it was amazing' so I found it fascinating. Leda is very different to me ... I couldn't leave and I wouldn't want to. But I do understand the thought process behind it and I think most parents will also feel the same. Everyone's gone 'if I could just have, oh my god, just an hour on my own' though she took it to an extreme."

Q: You filmed in Greece early in the pandemic when travel was difficult and formed a bubble, what was that like?

Colman: "We all fell in love with each other and we all got on really well and everyone had loved ones at home and so we were missing all of them and just had such a nice time ... as soon as Maggie said 'wrap', people would go in the sea. I feel a bit bad that it was so nice."



Slovakia Festival Hosting Kanye West Cancelled after 'Heil Hitler' Furore

Kanye West's song 'Heil Hitler' ends with a speech by the Nazi leader. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Kanye West's song 'Heil Hitler' ends with a speech by the Nazi leader. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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Slovakia Festival Hosting Kanye West Cancelled after 'Heil Hitler' Furore

Kanye West's song 'Heil Hitler' ends with a speech by the Nazi leader. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Kanye West's song 'Heil Hitler' ends with a speech by the Nazi leader. KEVORK DJANSEZIAN / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

The Slovakia festival due to welcome Kanye West next week has called off the event following the uproar over the US rapper's May release of a song glorifying Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Before the July 20 gig was cancelled, Bratislava's Rubicon hip hop festival was set to be West's only confirmed live performance in Europe this year.

Though he has won 24 Grammy Awards over the course of his career, the erratic rapper has become notorious in recent years for his increasingly antisemitic and hate-filled rants.

West, who has legally changed his name to the shorthand "Ye", released the song "Heil Hitler" on May 8, the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

In the wake of the announcement of West's appearance at Rubicon, thousands of people signed a petition against the gig.

The rapper -- a vocal supporter of US President Donald Trump -- is "repeatedly and openly adhering to symbols and ideology connected with the darkest period of modern global history", two groups behind the petition said.

In a statement on Instagram late on Wednesday, the festival's organizers said the decision to cancel the event was "due to media pressure and the withdrawal of several artists and partners".

"This was not an easy decision," the organizers said, without drawing a direct line between the rapper's planned appearance and the cancellations.

Contacted on Thursday by AFP, the Rubicon festival did not offer further explanations.

Styling itself as the central European country's premier hip hop hang-out, the Rubicon festival was set to run from July 18 to 20.

US rappers Offset and Sheck Wes were set to share top billing with West.

Australia cancelled West's visa on July 2 over "Heil Hitler", in which West raps about his custody battle with ex-wife Kim Kardashian before the song ends with an extract of a speech by the Nazi dictator.

West's wife, Bianca Censori, is Australian.