Colin Farrell hugs his 'Ballad' director Edward Berger at the film's TIFF premiere. Jemal Countess/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Edward Berger's on quite a roll and he knows it. The Swiss-Austrian filmmaker, an Oscar winner for his 2022 World War I movie All Quiet on the Western Front, has racked up some real A-listers since finding himself on the receiving end of awards acclaim. You'll likely know him as the director behind the hit Vatican drama Conclave with Ralph Fiennes, which took in $128 million at the global box office, earned eight Academy Award nominations (including best picture) and won Peter Straughan best screenplay earlier this year. His next movie, The Riders, is set to kick off shooting in February with another Hollywood heavyweight, Brad Pitt. "I don't want to be analytical about my life," Berger begins, "but if I look at All Quiet and Conclave, [they] brought about a world of abundance and luck and opportunities. Lord Doyle is in a similar situation." Related Stories News Theo Von Demands Removal From Homeland Security Clip: "Keep Me Out of Your 'Banger' Deportation Videos" General News Angel Studios' Leap of Faith: Can Its Fan-Powered Model Survive Wall Street? He's referencing the role of Colin Farrell in his newest project, Ballad of a Small Player, an adaptation of Lawrence Osborne's 2014 novel. The Netflix movie had its world premiere at Telluride and screened at TIFF, and now comes to San Sebastian to delight European audiences for the first time. "He is in a world of abundance, be it steak or lobster or cake or champagne," the filmmaker continues about the commonalities he found between his protagonist and Berger's own journey in recent years. "He ultimately has to find a small haven of peace... And not to be pretentious, but it's not too dissimilar to the opportunities or choices that I was gifted with after Conclave. Then, I felt it's very important to stay focused on yourself and stay true to the films that call to you." It's fair to say Ballad called to Berger. The film follows Farrell as Lord Doyle, a British aristocrat with an insatiable appetite for gambling. But when his past - and enormous debts - begin to catch up with him, Doyle meets a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Fala Chen stars as Dao Ming, a fellow lost soul, and Tilda Swinton as hired investigator Cynthia Blithe. "The film, for me, is a pop opera," adds Berger. "Macau is so over the top, it's so loud, it's so colorful, the fountains are bigger, the music is popular. Everything is more and more and more and more and more. That needed to be part of the language and the grammar of the film." Below, Berger reveals how he gauged the interest of Irish star Farrell as they met for the first time in a London sauna, his familial San Sebastian connection that keeps him passionate about the success of the Spanish film festival and why directors have a "responsibility" to take their projects on the festival circuit: "Moviemaking is not made for us, it's made for the audience, and the festival is the first audience." I spoke to Mike Goodridge at Good Chaos recently, and he mentioned how he came to you quite a while ago about Ballad of a Small Player. He expressed his worry that through All Quiet and Conclave you might get pulled away from this film. But you really stuck with it, which he was very grateful for. Why were you so motivated to make Ballad? When you attach to films and develop them, you put a lot of heart into it. You just put time, heart and soul into it, and especially into this script, I found it to be a very soulful project. [It] isn't defined by things like plot or action, but a journey of the soul of its main character. For some reason - and you can't plan this - the movie fell into my life at the right time. I made All Quiet and as a reaction to All Quiet, I moved to Conclave. And this is almost a reaction, almost blowing up the previous film [Conclave] that was architectural and mathematical and very precise and orderly. [I moved] to another film of precision. But instead of the architectural building, I went into an operatic building. [Ballad], for me, is a pop opera. Let me try to define it. First of all, I love the contrast between the fragile soul that is Colin Farrell's character, Lord Doyle, who's hiding in this absolutely over the top place that bombards him. That dichotomy was really interesting to me. On another level, I don't want to be analytical about my life, but if I look at All Quiet and Conclave, [they] brought about a world of abundance and luck and opportunities and so forth. Suddenly you're faced with a world of abundance and there's a possibility to lose yourself in these choices. Lord Doyle is in a similar situation. He is in a world of abundance, be it steak or lobste