Together Magazine met Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund in the striking mountain town of Mestia, Georgia, during the Svaneti Film Festival. Against the backdrop of dramatic peaks and crisp alpine air, audiences attended a captivating masterclass and a complete retrospective of Östlund’s filmography. For a director who has twice claimed the Palme d’Or, this high-altitude festival felt like the perfect setting for a cinematic conversation.
Östlund has just begun principal photography in Budapest on his new satire, The Entertainment System Is Down. Set aboard a long-haul flight between England and Australia, the film explores what happens when the onboard entertainment system suddenly stops working, forcing passengers into the uncomfortable reality of boredom. The shoot runs from January to May 2025, marking Östlund’s second English-language feature. Fans are already whispering about Cannes 2026 and the tantalising possibility of a third Palme d’Or.
Involving the Audience: “Cinema Needs Openness”
Q: You’ve spoken about involving the audience directly in the creative process. Why is this important to you?
A:
“I moved to Mallorca two and a half years ago and organised test screenings of Triangle of Sadness in a small village called Campos. I invited people who didn’t believe they knew anything about cinema: ‘Come and watch my film, and afterwards tell me what you think. What works? What doesn’t?’ They loved being asked.
“I think this is what cinema is missing today. When I go to the cinema, the audience is treated like cattle, you walk in, buy your popcorn, watch the film, leave. There’s no sense that anyone cares what you feel or think. The future of cinema should be about openness, not elitism.”
First and Second Class: Social Microcosms
Q: You often depict class divisions, particularly in transport. What fascinates you about these spaces?
A:
“When I first travelled business class, I noticed I started moving slower and drinking champagne slower. It’s a brilliant micro-universe, so many unspoken rules, social contracts, and roles at play.
“I love public spaces like in The Square. When something happens, who is responsible? The citizens? Or the state? These spaces challenge our sense of responsibility and expose how we behave when we share environments.”
The Future of Comedy
Q: What direction do you think modern comedy is taking?
A:
“In the ’70s, filmmakers like Buñuel or Lina Wertmüller were both intelligent and comical. Then European film institutes started funding ‘important’ cinema. When filmmakers became economically safe, a certain type of film emerged, prestigious, serious, but often disconnected from the audience.
“That’s the problem with European cinema: we’re protected financially, while in the US they must sell tickets or go bankrupt. There are many films today dealing with ‘important’ topics, but if you scratch the surface, they’re shallow. Lose your connection with the audience, and you lose the connection with your content.”
Contemporary Art: Between Ritual and Relevance
Q: In The Square, you critique the art world. How do you see contemporary art now?
A:
“Postmodernism created a feeling that nothing mattered. In contemporary art, many works follow rituals and conventions, it becomes uninteresting, like bad cinema. When The Square came out, some people felt threatened, which proved the point.”
Fashion and Human Behaviour
Q: Fashion plays a major role in Triangle of Sadness. What inspired your fascination?
A:
“My wife is a fashion photographer, so she introduced me to that world. There’s a study about zebras, a scientist marked one with a red dot to track it, but that dot also made it easier for lions to catch it. The fur isn’t for camouflage in the wild; it’s for camouflage in the herd.
“He drew parallels with humans: we choose clothes to fit into a social environment, not to stand out. Fashion changes the camouflage every season. The capitalist system has learned to exploit our insecurities and our fear of not fitting in.”
Marx, Sociology and Understanding the World
Q: You once said, ‘If you want to understand me, you have to understand Marx’. What did you mean?
A:
“My parents were teachers, heavily influenced by the leftist movement of the ’60s. Marx was part of my upbringing. His way of thinking helps us see how context shapes behaviour. Sociology explains situations by looking at the environment, not blaming individuals, as neoliberal ideology tends to do.
“I was shocked to learn Marx is considered one of the founders of sociology. His perspective is essential to understanding society, power, and human behaviour.”
A Director Who Thrives on Provocation
Ruben Östlund’s films challenge audiences to think, feel and react. Whether dissecting class tensions, cultural absurdities or human insecurities, he remains one of the most provocative and relevant filmmakers of our time. As he embarks on his next major satirical project, the cinematic world will be watching closely, perhaps from 30,000 feet above the ground.
