Interview: Director Alan Hopkins & producer Husni Hafid on “3 Films That Have Impacted Your Adult Life”

Join screenwriter Stuart Wright as he dives into movies that changed your life with the two Irish filmmakers: director Alan Hopkins and producer Husni Hafid in this engaging episode of 3 Films That Have Impacted Everything In Your Adult Life. Jurassic Park and The Virgin Suicides’ impact, Badlands and Shawshank Redemption analysis, and There Will Be Blood and Donnie Darko influence on his personal growth and cinema’s transformative power. They also discusses how they made their short films: JUNGLE and OGHAM.

Alan Hopkins’ picks:

• Jurassic Park (1993) – Alan Hopkins describes how he did apply to be a palaeontologist like many others as a result of this film, but more importantly for his generation this film is his E.T.
• Badlands (1974) – Alan Hopkins shares how Badlands was the film that changed everything about how he viewed films. It was the first time he was engaging with film as a higher art form.
• There Will Be Blood (2007) – Alan Hopkins chose There Will Be Blood but what he means is the year 2007, the first year he went to film school. This was a time when he was all about cinema; going to the theatre every other day to watch films.

Husni Hafid’s selection:

• The Virgin Suicides (1999) – Husni Hafid describes how the first time he saw this film was on TV in Libya. What he didn’t know at the time, Libyan TV edited the sex scenes but left any violence well alone.
• The Shawshank Redemption (1994) – Husni Hafid says Shawshank Redemption is the first film that stuck with him. To this day, he can go back and watch any time. Every time he watches it he gets something new from it. It is a film that can actively change his mood because it fills him with so much hope.
• Donnie Darko (2001) – Husni Hafid this is one of the first films where he saw the directors cut and it almost ruined it for him; realising how the theatrical cut had been edited so well. It is full of youthful energy and made him want to make a film.