Paul Greengrass opted to stream ’22 July’ on Netflix because he felt it would gain a bigger audience than through a cinematic release.
The 63-year-old filmmaker thinks his latest movie – which follows right-wing terrorist’s Anders Behring Breivik (Anders Danielsen Lie) massacre of 69 teenagers on Utoya Island in 2011 and his subsequent arrest and trial –
had more of a chance of reaching young people through the streaming service as it would have just been regarded as an "orthodox art-house" project if he’d aimed for a widespread theatrical opening.
He explained: "I chose Netflix because I wanted it to reach a wide audience of young people.
"If I had done an orthodox art-house release, which is all you would get for a film like this, they’re never going to watch it. If you put it on the Netflix platform, I think millions will watch it. That’s what I wanted.
"Because it’s young people who are going to deal with the consequences of this huge lurch towards nativism and nationalism.
"Young people are the ones who are going to face this. The ones who are going to have to win it. But I’m naturally an optimist. I don’t feel this is a dark, hopeless, nihilistic film. Its story is inspiring."
The ‘Jason Bourne’ filmmaker is happy to embrace a wide variety of subjects with his work but he thinks it is important to use the "art form" to reflect what is going on within society.
He told the Sunday Times Culture magazine: "I enjoy cinema of every kind.
"I enjoy big-screen thrillers, and I’ve made some of them. I enjoy fantasy movies. I enjoy family movies.
"But I believe cinema is also an art form, and it’s also a mirror.
"It has to dare, from time to time, to show clearly what’s going on, and to try to do that without arranging the pieces towards a particular point of view — because that’s propaganda.
"What I try to do with a film like this, or ‘United 93’, is to look at the event dispassionately and compassionately at the same time."
Paul Greengrass wanted to reach more through Netflix
