We caught up in Cannes with the Swedish star actor of House of Cards, Easy Money, and Israeli director of Waltz with Bashir on their upcoming film.

How did you board The Horse Boy?
Ari Folman: I was approached by the main producer who had optioned the book. I read it, saw the documentary [The Horse Boy: a father’s quest to heal his son by Rupert Isaacson]. I was thrilled. It’s a beautiful and heart-warming story. It might be cliché to say that movies are important for people, but here, it definitely is for the families who have experienced having an autistic child.

It was also a fantastic opportunity for me to get on an adventure myself. After many years stuck in studios with animators, I saw the wasteland, the space. I thought I must do that! The film was originally scheduled to shoot mostly in the UK, but then there was the opportunity to shoot in Sweden as well which was even better. I love the idea of working with new people, new crews. Some projects are no brainers.

Is the author Rupert Isaacson involved in the project?
AF: We met. I told him that if he doesn’t give me his blessing, I wouldn’t do the movie considering the changes that we are making from the original story, such as doing a winter shoot instead of a summer shoot. But Rupert agreed to our project. He said this was my journey, now it’s yours.

Joel Kinnaman. What attracted you to the story?
JK: It’s about a man who has given up almost all his dreams. His whole idea of what life was going to be and being a family get shattered. He is in a very vulnerable place. His marriage is falling apart, he and his wife are not making progress with their child. Then they come up with this idea of travelling to Mongolia with their child, and it’s a huge gamble. They go on this adventure, like on a last resort. I find it inspiring, when people don’t give up and are determined to fight. I was truly moved when I read the script. It gave me a lot of insight into the struggle that people go through when they have to deal with autism.

Are you a father?
JK: No but I desperately want to be.

Ari have you found the boy who will play the autistic child?
AF: We’re casting right now. The child has to be authentic. The more I go, I judge movies or TV dramas by believing in performances or not. If it feels forced, I loose interest. Giving such a major role to a 7-year old child who is severely autistic is very challenging. But I’m very optimistic.

Joel are you looking forward to working with Léa Seydoux?
JK: Oh my god!! I just had breakfast with her. She’s such an elegant woman who carries herself with so much dignity. You feel right away how intelligent, insightful she is. Sometimes you really want to move your career forward. Here I feel this is a turning point for me. Working with amazing talents like Ari and Léa, is the reward for a lot of hard work that I get to do. I’m honoured to be part of this film.