Sirāt Director Oliver Laxe Talks About Mad Max Inspiration, Philosophy & Filming in the Desert

Oliver Laxe, the director of the Oscar-nominated film Sirāt, joins Rotten Tomatoes Awards Editor Jacqueline Coley on the Awards Tour Podcast to talk about the use of silence in the film, the happy accidents he encountered while shooting, and if he’s talked to anyone from the Mad Max franchise.

Be sure to check out Sirāt, in theaters now, and we’ll see you on the next stop of the Awards Tour!

Jacqueline Coley for Rotten Tomatoes: How did silence weave its way into the story?

Oliver Laxe: That starts in the scriptwriting process. I write with Santiago Fillol, an Argentinian filmmaker, and we try to write thinking on the specific cinematographic tools. Less pages of a script means more cinema. Dialogue is the cherry on the cake. We like to express things through cinema, and silence is a powerful tool.

Sirāt is now playing in theaters.

Thumbnail image by NEON (2025)

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