During our brief trip to Romania earlier this year – where we covered the annual Transylvania International Film Festival – we had the pleasure of watching one of our very favourite movies this year; the subtle, hopeful romantic drama God’s Own Country. We were even more fortunate to be granted some time with the director Francis Lee, and supporting lead Alec Secareanu.

God's Own CountryThe film, which focuses on the fledging romance between Secareanu’s Gheorghe and farmer Johnny (Josh O’Connor), is a story of true love, and we wanted to ask the duo what it meant to have this shown in Romania – particularly given the Secareanu hails from this very nation.

It’s been well-documented also that Lee required the actors to take part in real farming activities, and we wanted to know why this was important for him, and what it was like for both O’Connor and Secareanu to partake in such new experiences. We also discuss the benefits of shooting the film chronologically, and what Lee has learnt from his previous collaborations with Mike Leigh.

 

 

Watch the full interview below…

Synopsis

A wonderfully performed and impressively unsentimental story of love and longing in the Yorkshire Pennines. The debut feature of Yorkshire born actor and director Francis Lee is rightly being acclaimed as one of the best British films of the year.

God’s Own Country is released on September 1st. You can read our 5* review of the film here.