Selected for the third time in Karlovy Vary where his first fiction film Gold Coast is competing for a Cristal Globe, Danish poet, writer and director Daniel Dencik speaks about his admiration for Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Jakob Oftebro, Angelo Badalamenti and Ghana.

Where did you get the inspiration for the film?
Daniel Dencik: While I was researching for a book, I fell upon Wulff Joseph Wulff’s letters. In 1836 he was sent down to the Gold Coast of West Africa, when slave trade was abolished but slavery tolerated. His letters were angry and he felt lonely and abandoned by his countrymen. He drifted away from his obligations and more or less dissolved in the jungle. I was captured by his work and started to think about making a film. 

As the writing progressed, the storyline progressively moved away from Wulff’s letters and from slave trade. I started to develop the idea that Wulff could have been a botanist, passionate about nature, and that gave a new twist to the story.

Wulff is portrayed as a man, disillusioned with human race. Were you inspired by philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau who mentions the concept of the noble savage like many Romantic writers?
DD:
Yes, definitely. French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was one of the biggest inspirations for me and is often quoted in the film. When he says ‘man is born free and everywhere he is in chains’, that saying sums it all up. We humans are free but moral creatures. We make ourselves more stupid than we are by creating rules and laws.

The message of the film relates to us, in 2015. In a way, we are in a similar situation as in the Romantic period. They were at the end of a long period of strong belief in reason and rationalism after the French Revolution. Today, we have come through the terrible 20th century, dominated by effectiveness and productivity. We have come at the end of that road and we realize that we are not in a better shape. Truth lies somewhere else, within us. 

While shooting the film, what were your biggest challenges? Filming on a tight budget, on location in Ghana, with crews that had no film experience?
DD:
The idea was not to make a huge production but a guerrilla style film with a small crew. However, as soon as we started filming in Africa, every department started to explode. The costume department was like a football stadium! So we quickly set up easy production rules, such as filming nature that is timeless. We were also lucky to find Elmina castle - a museum today-, pretty much untouched by time. The rest was very chaotic. Frankly I’m surprised we survived the shooting!

I believe you had a company in Ghana as co-producer?
DD:
Yes. They are called InGenious Africa. They took care of the negotiations with the local authorities. As white Europeans, you are on foreign ground, so that’s the way to do it. Ghana is actually a beautiful country and it could become a great filming location. It is safe, people are very professional. Many crew members had worked on Beast of No Nation directed by Cary Fukanaga (True Detective) and had a military background-It helped a lot!

Did you draw from your documentary background to direct the non-professional extras?
DD:
I chose not to direct them, which is a documentary approach. I didn’t want the extras to be prepared and to know what was going to happen.  However with professional actors, I do direct them quite a lot. 

How was your collaboration with Jakob Oftebro? How much improvisation was there on the set?
DD:
I think we were a great match. I’m very analytical and intellectual whereas he is very much in contact with his feelings, in his body. He was like a container where I could put all my ideas and he would make them his own. There was a lot of improvisation and long takes. Jakob is so incredibly professional. If a take would last five minutes, he would jump back two pages in the script and start all over again. He would take command of the situation and everyone would follow him. He has the rare quality of a leading man, just like a Brando. I really want to work with him again and he’s become an integral part of how I want to make films. 

How did you convince David Lynch’s long-time collaborator Angelo Badalamenti to compose the score for the film?
DD: it was overwhelming that Angelo said yes to me! I know David Lynch’s ex-wife Mary Sweeney who introduced me to him. I went to his house in New Jersey. He asked me to pitch the film to him. After 15 minutes, I thought it was not going very well, but he sat down at his key board and started humming a melody. And that was it. He was already working on the score.  

Gold Coast is coming out on July 2nd in Denmark. Are you prepared for the controversy that the film will inevitably raise as it deals with a dark and often unknown chapter of Danish history?
DD: The focal point of the film is much more on existentialism than slave trade. I think the film will divide the audience. Some might be disappointed that it’s not true to historical facts. But I feel the film is richer than if it was a mere historical film.

What’s your next project?
DD: I’d like to make an international production, with few words, something like All is Lost with Robert Redford, a film where people don’t say unnecessary things. This is contrary to contemporary Danish cinema. But for me, that’s what film is about. It cannot be a book, or a play. Putting music and sound together with images is as cinematic as can be.