Interview with “The Correspondent” Director, Kriv Stenders
Hosted by
KT & Oti
Show Notes
This week, we sit down with acclaimed filmmaker Kriv Stenders to discuss his impactful body of work and his latest film, ‘The Correspondent.’ Standers delves into his motivations for choosing certain stories, the challenges of bringing true events to the screen, and the unique approach of sticking closely to Peter’s perspective in the film.
The conversation covers the intricate process of adapting real-life experiences, the ethical responsibilities involved, and the emotional complexities of Peter’s 400-day ordeal. Standers also touches on the importance of authenticity, creative storytelling, and the immersive experience intended for the audience.
THE CORRESPONDENT WILL BE IN CINEMAS NATIONALLY ON 17TH APRIL.
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Summary
In an engaging conversation on the For Your Reference podcast, filmmaker Kriv Stenders offered an intriguing glimpse into his latest project, “Correspondent.” Hosted by KT, the discussion delved deep into the motivations, challenges, and responsibilities Stenders faced while bringing real-life stories to the cinematic world.
Introduction and Acknowledgements
KT opened the interview by acknowledging Stenders’ impactful body of work, highlighting his fearless approach to storytelling: “You don’t shy away from experiences and stories that many people might avoid.” This observation set the stage for a profound exploration of Stenders’ narrative technique and his latest film, “Correspondent.”
Kriv Standers on Storytelling and Filmmaking
Stenders modestly dismissed the notion of being a crusader, explaining, “I just gravitate towards stories that resonate with me.” For him, filmmaking is born out of a mercurial process where he seeks stories that hold potential for both narrative and financial viability. Stenders candidly admitted, “I go where I think the money is,” but if a story happens to be confrontational, then it is a welcomed challenge.
The Making of ‘Correspondent’
Reflecting on “Correspondent,” Stenders acknowledged the immense responsibility of telling real stories. Armed with the source material of Peter’s book and insight directly from Peter himself, he was able to imbue the film with authenticity. This became particularly challenging with the Kate Payton story, where family access was restricted, underscoring the delicate balance required in storytelling.
Challenges and Responsibilities in Filmmaking
Stenders discussed the unique challenge of translating Peter’s intense personal journey for audiences. Originally scripted with multiple parallel narratives, Stenders opted for a singular focus on Peter’s plight, believing that remaining steadfastly with Peter’s perspective would create a more powerful cinematic experience.
Focusing on Peter’s Perspective
This decision invited audiences to share Peter’s confinement, seeing only what he saw and hearing only what he heard—a technique likened to being in a plane’s aluminum tube, immersed fully in another’s reality.
Audience Reactions and Film Impact
The audience responses have been overwhelmingly gratifying for Stenders, as viewers are drawn into the immersive experience he envisioned. Despite the serious subject matter, touches of humor were woven into the project, reflecting life’s complexity and resilience.
Balancing Tone and Emotional Climax
Acknowledging that Peter’s story lacked a traditional dramatic climax, Stenders turned to emotional peaks instead. He emphasized the psychological battle of imprisonment, and how Peter’s narrative intertwined with memories of Kate Peyton, culminating in a poignant moment of epiphany upon his release.
Final Thoughts and Recommendations
As the interview wrapped, KT expressed gratitude for the insightful discussion and the impact of the film, noting how the art of storytelling through film parallels journalism in shifting cultural conversations.
Stenders recommended “Son of Saul” as a complementary double feature, a film similarly told from a first-person perspective amidst the harrowing backdrop of Auschwitz. He praised its powerful storytelling and lasting impact—qualities he also aspires to bring with “Correspondent.”
In conclusion, Kriv Stenders continues to craft films that invite audiences into worlds that are immersive, challenging, and emotionally resonant. His conversation on the For Your Reference podcast highlights the profound thought and care poured into creating cinema that not only entertains but also educates and provokes thought.
Episode Details
- Duration
- 0:00
- Released
- April 17, 2025
- Category
- Interview
- Hosts
Transcript
Transcript (3,153 words)
Full transcript of Interview with “The Correspondent” Director, Kriv Stenders.
KT: Kriv Stenders, thank you so much for your time and welcome to the For Your Reference podcast.
Kriv: Thank you.
KT: Uh, before we even get into The Correspondent, which is a whole conversation that we can get into, I guess I wanna take some time to acknowledge the impact and the influence that you've had in your body of work in this country. Um, in that you don't shy away from experiences and stories that I guess many people can't, won't or don't necessarily want to speak on, but you look it right in the eye and you're like, let's do this. Let's, let's get ready to rumble, let's go. and you do it in such a great layered way.
KT: is that a driving force for the projects that you choose to work on, or it just happens to be that you're telling the truths that need to be told?
Kriv: Look, I'm not, I'm no, by no means am I some kind of, uh, crusader or, or saint. I, I just, um, there's no, there's no real, um, agenda there. Mm-hmm. I just, I just, you know, I just gravitate towards stories that, or stories gravitate towards me. I don't know. And then I just, you know, I, I take on stories that I, I know I can probably maybe bring something to, or, or, or mm-hmm. Or make them achievable. And, you know, filmmaking is such a precarious, um, mercurial, unpredictable. I. Business. Mm-hmm. You never know what story's gonna work or what story's gonna get traction, or what film or what, you know, what idea is gonna actually find a, a reason to exist beyond me wanting it to, you know what I mean?
Kriv: Mm. It's, it's sort of, it's a lot of, it's just about following your instincts and going, oh, this project's got some good elements to it. It's got potential of being financed. I'm, I'm, I'm, to be honest, I'm very mercenary. I, I, I, I go where I think the money is.
KT: Mm-hmm.
Kriv: And if it happens to be a story that's, that confronts something. Well, great. Yeah,
KT: well, you know, there, there there's also films that I guess could tread a lot more lightly. So I think you do deserve a little bit of credence in regards to thanks, especially The Correspondent that we are here to talk about today. it, it's good that's where the money is, but it's also. You know, a very calcifying time as well. And you know, even hearing, you know, Peter speak on his own experiences and you know, there's a little bit of an overlap between you and Peter crossing paths potentially. And, you know, I think a lot of people don't realize. How many years and how many, like the labor of love that comes into making a film, especially like Correspondent that is based on Peter's life.
KT: I guess during the whole process and bringing it to the screen, was there any, was there any sort of notion of like, oh, I'm actually like telling a story that is based on, obviously there are moments that lend to a film story making point of view. That is like, oh, this is actually about someone's story and you know how that is going to translate to screen.
Kriv: Oh, yeah, yeah. You know, there is, it's, there's this huge responsibility when you do real stories. Like, I also make documentaries and, um, you know, the, the, the weight there is, is, is even heavier because, you know, you've got, reality. But I always think reality is, truth is always stranger than fiction, you know? Mm-hmm. The human dramas that have happened are far more dramatic than anything you can imagine. and so I always try and tap into that, to try and tap into the truth of what that story is, and there is a truth. Mm-hmm. There's always a truth that you're trying to reveal, and sometimes you have to take license, creative license to reveal that truth.
Kriv: Yep. Um, but with Peter it was, yeah, there was a responsibility there, obviously. But the great thing is we had, I had a great source, which was both the book and Peter himself. So I was able to talk to Peter. I was able to kind of, you know, sit down with him and really get inside his head. Um mm-hmm. And that was, that access was fantastic. And I guess the other story that, you know, was very, delicate and very sensitive. To get right was the Kate Peyton story because we didn't have access to her family and that was, you know, fairly. Contentious, you know, the circumstances around her death, especially as it they related to Peter mm-hmm.
Kriv: Were, and still are very contentious. So that I had to, we had to tread very, very difficult delicately there, but it was, it was great because what that does is it focuses you and it really makes it decision making really sharp. So you, you kind of work through a very, very, um, precise filter and. You, you, you, you know, you cross make sure all your T's are crossed and all your do's are i's, are dotted, you know? Mm-hmm. It's, it's, it's it, and it's, it's, it's, it's like everything, you know, you, it, it's requires discipline and requires, you know, empathy and insight. Mm-hmm. And um, but yeah, as I said that we had, the fact that we had Peter's blessing to go there and the fact that we had Peter always as a sounding board was what kind of got me through.
KT: Yeah, absolutely. And The Correspondent is a very contained film. Peter has a very interesting life. He is got stories for days, but we very much are focused on the over 400 days from when he is arrested to, I, I guess a very happy spoiler. Eventually when it gets released, we're focused in that contained, period of his time and. Like you said, there are moments that help to illustrate and further exemplify, I guess, the experiences. But for the most part, we are in that moment and there are a lot of, visual, emotional and physical sort of distress that Peter was going through. And Richard does. Uh, he always does a great performance, but he does so well in this film to be able to do that.
KT: As a filmmaker, how was it? Hearing and, and I guess digesting the very intense, very internal sort of experience that Peter was having and translating that to his screen, that hopefully audiences even on a small level might feel like they can kind of understand what he was going through.
Kriv: Well, yeah, when I got the script, it was a very different animal, the script. The original screenplay was a lot more traditional. It was, it had a bunch of parallel stories, so it continued cut away from Peter to like the family in Australia and them campaigning for his release. And, and then, you know, the consulate in Egypt and in Australia there were, there were kind of all these other different sort of, um, parcels of the story that were being kind of metered out across the script. And, I kind of felt, well look, that's, that's a fairly conventional. On a way to tell the story and mm-hmm There was, I felt there was something much more, um, much more powerful and cinematic by just staying with Peter. Yeah. And when I thought about it, I thought, well, what happens? You know, you know, when you go overseas, for example, you know.
Kriv: You get into a plane and you're in an aluminum tube for 13 hours, and then you spat out, and then what you see is what you see. You, you never ever get the sort of the, the travelogue imagery. You never, your, your experience of, of a, of a country or, or a places is through your eyes, you know, and through what you see and through that telescope and I thought, wow, that's. What if we just stayed with Peter the entire time? Mm-hmm. And, um, made the audience basically feel what he feels and see what he sees and hear what he hears. Mm-hmm. And what that did is, what I love about that, what I like about filmmaking is that when you come up with an idea, when you come up with a, with a concept, the way it, then it's like doing chi.
Kriv: It's like going to a chiropractor, everything kind of gets corrected and everything. Either, you know, dissolve or whatever. And then, then it became, wow, that's, that's a movie. That's a film I can match. Yeah. And that's a film I can get excited about. And that's a thing that a film, I think, an audience will really respond to. So that was really it. That was really that, that decision to just make it first person to stay with Peter. And we're only gonna see what Peter sees, which was mm-hmm. Hotel rooms, the insides of cars. and police vans, corridors, offices, prison cells and courtrooms.
KT: Mm-hmm.
Kriv: And Egypt was gonna be outside of that, which it was, you know, it was just, yeah. You hear it through the, through the bars or see the sky, you know? So I thought, wow, if you can place the audience in Peter's shoes through, in pe have the audience see through Peter's eyes
KT: mm-hmm.
Kriv: And then, then we've got something, and then emotionally and dramatically and, um. You know, uh, you can really calibrate something that's, that's confusing, that's stressful, that's suspenseful, that's terrifying. Mm-hmm. and I thought that was a, that was a really good way to, again, tell the story truthfully.
KT: Yeah. And I think it's also like a refocusing, like sometimes people are looking for some sort of pressure valve. Like sometimes when you're in films and it's like a very serious, you are waiting for people. Like people are waiting for a moment just to laugh. but this is like refocusing. This is like we're in this moment and for as long as he is gonna be in there, we're gonna be here with him.
Kriv: Yeah.
KT: When he's in the courtroom and he is trying to figure out what's going on, where there. With him as well. And you know, it, it'll be nice to hear a little bit about, you know, 'cause this film has been touring all over the country. I went to a media screening, so it was a bit, a bit of a smaller subset. Um, and I guess a more particular, sort of audience. But it was very, um, expressive. People were go before, people were, people were dismayed at the action, the inaction, the slow to action of particular parties, maybe even the government as well.
KT: And. It was a very interesting 'cause sometimes, you know, it's like, as much as we try, it's a long day, we go and watch a screening, but people were very present. Um, that's great. In this film, which really talks to the notes of like, yeah, this is pissing me off. Sorry, all my language is like, this is, this is pissing me off. What is going on? What's happening outside of where we are? Right. And it's refocusing that back.
Kriv: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well that's great to hear. You know? Yeah. I mean, the audience responses have been amazing. You know, we've really. It's very gratifying because, um, that's what you, that's what you strive for, is you, you try, and we wanted to create an immersive experience mm-hmm. And understand Yeah. The, the, the, the, the surreality of what Peter was going through. Um, and you know, you, you know, you always, no matter how serious a subject is, there's always humor. Like, like in life, you know, there's always something to laugh at and you should laugh, you know? You can't,
KT: yeah.
Kriv: You can't be all serious. Um mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, that was, I'm, I'm so glad to hear that because it's, it's, it's why I make films, you know, to, to, you know, to affect an audience and to make them think and feel about something.
KT: And that's, and that's also what I wanted to talk about as well, because in regards to the tone of the film. It is very heavy and we're talking about very heavy stuff, but not every day is the worst bad day. So even if it isn't joy, it might just be reprieve before having to take that next breath. You know, of whether it's a court proceeding or whether it's a knockback. Um, and it was, it was nice to see that because sometimes you see the very extreme of this is the very worst, this is very painful with feeling all of the pain.
KT: And there was a, there was definitely a nice balancing of that. And I imagine that could only have been a conscious sort of decision, right?
Kriv: Yeah. Well that was also Peter's story. You know, Peter and Peter in the, you know, has said, you know. Uh, a number of times he said, look, you know, it was, it was, yeah, it was tough. It was, you know, really brutal. But he wasn't being tortured. Mm-hmm. And he wasn't being deprived. He was being fed and he had shelter. But the real battle was psychological was, was being able to sort of find a place mentally to stay sane, you know, which is why the. Um, Alta character at the beginning. The, the, the, again, based on a, he's the, he's a real guy.
Kriv: He's still in jail by the way. he gave him the tools to sort of survive saying, listen, you can't, if you think this is about you, you're gonna drive yourself crazy. You just have to accept the fact that this is beyond you. That you are part of a mechanism that's, that's bigger than you, and that you are right now in it's, you know, the threshing machine of it. And just accept it, um, and find a. Find, find peace in that, you know? Mm-hmm. And that was something that, um, we really tried to. Bring into the storytelling was to get that ebb and flow of the time passing and, and how there was a lot of nothing and then suddenly things would happen. And then a lot of it was him, you know, being haunted by his memories of Kate and trying to kind of come to terms with that.
Kriv: And you know, the writer and I, Peter Duncan, we talked a lot about the story when we started to kind of really get down and dirty with adapting the script into this one person perspective, then we said, this is really hard because. He didn't escape. He wasn't rescued. He wasn't tortured. There's no kind of climax.
KT: A theatrical sort of touchpoint. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Kriv: There's no physical dramatic climax. You know, he's suddenly, he's out, you know? Mm-hmm. Which is the truth, and we kind of went, well, I. I, I even remember going, well, let's, that's what it is. Let's lean into that. Let's discover a way to make that work. And then I realized that's where the Kate Peyton story comes in, is that we can actually, you know what, we mightn't be able to have a dramatic climax, but we can have an emotional climax.
KT: Yeah.
Kriv: And that's what we built to, is the idea that Kate's death is something that builds and coalesces across the length of the story. And finally, I guess blooms when, when Peter gets released. The whole meaning and the whole, the context of Kate's death comes into a new perspective that Peter couldn't have had at the beginning of the story. Mm-hmm. The fact that he's free and the fact that he's gone through this, he's free and he's lived while his colleague has died.
KT: Yeah.
Kriv: Um, created that, that moment, that kind of epiphany moment for him, which, which I'm, you know, I think we've pulled off, which I'm really happy about.
KT: Absolutely. And I'm, I wish we had many more lifetimes than hours to speak, Kriv, because you were so lovely to chat to. I just wanna give a shout out. I wanna give a shout out to the cast Julian, uh, who plays farm as well as Julie Ma. Yeah. as well as Rami and Ronnie Alala was involved in the background as well. Streets of color. We watched the film and, you know, Rami's in that as well. Um, in regards to F's character, I love how much Leah was in this film. 'cause there were some things where I'm like, yeah, I agree with you friend. Some things where like, you know, culturally or politically and you know, like how do you do the best in the situation that you have and. There's so much to chew on in regards to The Correspondent, and I know we won't be able to get into a lot of, um, the rest of it today.
KT: But, in regards to the truth telling and the access of information, I feel like being a filmmaker is similar to a journalist in that point of view. For me, the best films are the ones that shift culture and, you know, bring a conversation about. and I want to thank you so much for your time and wrap up with our final question. We finish off our reviews with a recommendation. So what would you pair with The Correspondent as a double feature?
Kriv: Oh, God. Uh, well, okay. Um, whew. Okay. I'm gonna recommend a film, which actually I should have probably mentioned earlier when I answered one of your questions. A film called Son of Saul.
KT: Ah, okay.
Kriv: Which is an extraordinary film, uh, made about 10 years ago now, and it's done the same way. It's, it's a story of a, of a, of, of, uh, an inmate at Auschwitz. Um, and it's a story about his kind of final day, and it's told entirely in this first person's style, entirely from his perspective. And you only see Auschwitz. Behind him and out of focus. We just stay with him the entire time. And it's a very, very powerful, incredible film. And if you can seek it out, watch it. It's, it's, it's prepare yourself. It's, it's, it's not an easy watch, but again, it's one of those films that once you've seen it, you'll, it'll never, ever leave you.
KT: Okay. Well, I, I will get ready for it, but I'm always ready, um, for those sorts of things. Kriv, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.
Kriv: Thanks, KT. Thank you.
KT: Thank you.
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