Baz Luhrmann And ‘Elvis’ DoP Mandy Walker On Supporting Ukraine, Recreating Famous Elvis Presley Performances & Rumors Of An Extended ‘Elvis’ Directors Cut — Camerimage

deadline.com:

Baz Luhrmann brought his Elvis roadshow to Poland Monday evening with a thunderous screening of the music biopic at the Camerimage film festival, followed by a raucous Q&A alongside his longtime DoP Mandy Walker.

However, when Luhrmann spoke to Deadline the next day, he cut a more somber figure. Dressed in all black, Luhrmann was in a self-reflective mode after spending the day with a group of young Ukrainian refugees who now call the city of Torun, the festival’s main hub, home. “It was unexpectedly very emotional,” Luhrmann said sporting a bedazzled heart-shaped brooch in the colors of Ukrainian yellow and blue pinned to his suit.

The trip had been inspired by a short documentary he and Walker caught at the festival by a pair of Ukrainian filmmakers. The doc screened as part of the festival’s opening ceremony and features the names and images of former Ukrainian film industry professionals who have joined the country’s armed forces and are currently serving on the front line. “When you see people who do what we do, which is point cameras and lay dolly and put up a microphone and try to record a story, with weapons, it just sort of brings it all home,” the director said before praising the efforts Poland has made to support those fleeing the conflict. “The generosity of Poland is on another level.

We’re not talking thousands, we’re talking millions of people they’re taking in. And amongst that is this festival,” he added.