Angel

Swedish feature helmed by renowned director Colin Nutely

Colin Nutley, one of Sweden's most famous directors, contacted Living Films to help him coordinate the Thailand portion of his sixteenth feature film "Angel" with shooting planned on both the island of Koh Lanta in Southern Thailand and in Bangkok starting in July 2007.

Despite the fact that the project was very low-budget, we were happy to help. Not only was the story of the film truly interesting, but we were also intrigued by Colin Nutley's novel method of film making. Colin Nutley does not use a script. While Living Films received a brief synopsis of his ideas, the actors were given no more to prepare then a few verbal hints on the plot. Colin's method relies on creative spontaneity. Scenes and dialogue develop during the actual shoot and the story evolves organically. For production, though, this method meant we had to re-think our approach to preparation and stay extremely flexible throughout. We found that this strategy of creative flow works best with a small multi-tasking crew who can help any department.

The island of Koh Lanta proved to be a perfect place for the shoot. The local authorities and businesses were excited to help even with the spontaneous nature of the project. The Pimalai Resort & Spa, which we used as our main location, opened every part of their gorgeous grounds to us. The abbot of Koh Lanta Temple also welcomed us with open arms and made his crematorium available for us to shoot a central funeral scene.

It was a pleasure to see how the Swedish and the Living Films crew connected. Working together proved such a pleasure that when the time for parting came, everybody was saying good-bye as close friends.