Ruben Östlund is an award-winning Swedish filmmaker who began his career directing ski videos. He has become well known for his humorous and accurate portrayal of human social behaviour, as well as for his renowned used of Photoshop and other forms of image-processing software in his films. Östlund is best known for his 2017 Palme d’Or-winning and Oscar-nominated film The Square , his 2014 Force Majeure , which won the Jury Prize at Cannes and was nominated for a Golden Globe, and his 2011 feature Play , which won the Coup de cœur at Cannes before playing at Venice and Toronto. His lives in Gothenburg and with Erik Hemmendorff is the co-founder of the production company Plattform Produktion. (Picture courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.)

On the latest episode of the Talkhouse Podcast, Lulu Wang ⁠— writer-director of the summer indie hit The Farewell ⁠— chats with one of her favorite directors, Ruben Östlund, the award-winning Swedish director of such acclaimed films as The Square and Force Majeure. Talking from New York City and Gothenburg, respectively, the two filmmakers have a profound and highly entertaining conversation that touches on everything from the crucial role cinema plays in society and the importance of making films from lived experience, to how the internet turns us into shitty people and what Lulu and her boyfriend Barry Jenkins watch when they just want to relax. Special thanks to Katey Rich from Vanity Fair for collaborating on this special conversation, and for joining us on the podcast. Check out today’s episode of Vanity Fair‘s awards podcast Little Gold Men for more from Lulu and Ruben. For more filmmakers talking film and TV, visit Talkhouse Film at talkhouse.com/film. Subscribe now to stay in the loop on future episodes of the Talkhouse Podcast.

Episode recorded by Mark Yoshizumi in New York City and Jakob Herrmann at Top Floor Studios in Gothenburg; intro recorded and co-produced by Mark Yoshizumi at Hook & Fade Studios in Brooklyn.

The Talkhouse Podcast’s theme song was composed and performed by The Range.