Jonathan Glazer made a rare public appearance last week at Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival, where the elusive filmmaker drew a packed house to the Cinema Modernissimo for a career-spanning Masterclass.
The notoriously selective director, known for taking years—more like a decade—between films, addressed the elephant in the room. “I only make films when I really feel the need and urgency to tell something using the language of cinema,” Glazer said.
It’s been the modus operandi for Glazer, who has directed just four films in 25 years: “Sexy Beast” (2000), “Birth” (2004), “Under the Skin” (2013), and “The Zone of Interest,” which won the Grand Prix at Cannes and later took home the Oscar for Best International Feature.
But for fans hoping not to wait another decade, there’s good news. Glazer told the audience he won’t be taking another 10-year sabbatical and revealed that a new project is already gestating.
“I have something in my head that I will soon translate into a movie,” he said, adding that the writing process will begin soon.
Glazer didn’t offer any details about the new project, and if his past work is any indication, we likely won’t know what he’s been quietly crafting until it’s already up on the screen.
At Cannes 2023, still emotionally drained from the harrowing experience of making the Auschwitz-set The Zone of Interest, Glazer hinted that his next film would be a stark departure—something centered on “tenderness, how tender we can be as well.”