Oscar-winning Brit documentarian Orlando von Einsiedel is best known for finding stories of hope and humanity in places of darkness and despair. There was “Virunga,” about the work of Congolese park rangers in the midst of a brutal rebellion, plus “The White Helmets,” following the daring rescue attempts of the Syria Civil Defence in war-torn Aleppo (fun fact: Netflix’s first ever Academy Award win). More recently he directed “The Lost Children,” about a group of indigenous children who managed to survive in the Colombian Amazon for 40 days after their plane crashed.
But even von Einsiedel will be the first to admit that “The Cycle of Love” is something a little different for him, a tale of unashamed joy and positivity likely to leave even the most hardened pessimist with a smile on their face.
The documentary, which first bowed in Telluride and is having its European premiere as part of CPH: DOX in Copenhagen (Dogwoof has already acquired for the U.K.), tells the genuinely incredible story of P.K. Mahanandia, a young and poor Delhi street artist who in 1975, while drawing portraits for tourists and passersby, met Swedish traveller Lotta. The two soon fell in love, with P.K. driven by a prophecy made to him by an astrologer as a baby that said, “You will marry a girl who is not from the village, not even from this country, she will be musical, own a jungle and be born under the sign of the ox.” As it happens, Lotta was born in May, played the recorder and piano and while she didn’t own a jungle, her family did have a small forest. He knew it was destiny. They married.
But Lotta would return to Sweden, with the two keeping in touch through letters. Eventually, unable to afford a flight, P.K. decided to sell everything he had, buy a secondhand bicycle and, in 1977, set off on what would be a 6,000-mile cross-continental voyage — through Iran and Afghanistan — to Gothenburg to be reunited with the woman who captured his heart. Almost 50 years on, P.K. and Lotta are still together with two children.
Speaking to Variety, von Einsiedel discusses making a film about a journey that is simply impossible to do today, bringing Priyanka Chopra Jonas on as an exec producer and why directing “The Cycle of Love” has reaffirmed his faith in humanity at a time when we need it the most.
You’re known for making documentaries about positive glimmers of hope from places around the world where otherwise there’s mostly been doom and despair. But with “The Cycle of Love” you’ve gone and made something that’s just out-and-out delightful, upbeat and joyous. Are you OK? Are you getting old and sentimental?
I might be getting old and sentimental! But you’re right. I have made a lot of films that I guess do touch on the darker aspects of humans. But I’ve been wanting to make something really positive for a long time, because I think I needed it. I think I needed to be reminded about the great things about being human, the commonalities between us, the things that unite us, rather than the things that separate us. And I think love is probably the one thing all of us can kind of agree on. And when I learned about this story and I read the book about P.K. and Lotta, there’s just so many rich themes in it that really spoke to me. And then I met them both and they’re the most magnetic humans with such big, open hearts. I was all in.
I remember hearing about this incredible story before there was news about the doc and it struck me as being one of those life-affirming tales that you really don’t hear that many of. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were quite a few people who wanted to bring it to screen. How did you come to make it?
The truthful story is that I was giving a speech at a Nobel Prize event — as one does! — and these two smiling young people handed me a book and said, “We know your work and this is our parent’s story. Would you be interested in making a film about it?” And I have to say, from my experience where somebody cold comes up to you at an event, it doesn’t normally end up being the story of your dreams. And so I was very grateful and I took the book and didn’t read it. And I was going on holiday a few months later and read it on the plane, and I was like: “Oh, my God, I’m an idiot. I should have read this immediately, it’s extraordinary.” And I immediately got back in touch, but by this point a lot of other people had been in touch, because they hadn’t heard from me. But I got to meet P.K. and Lotto and their children — who are co-producers on the film — and we built up a relationship.
So how did you then figure out how to transform this story into a documentary?
The thing is, I was really excited by the story, but unfortunately P.K. didn’t have a crew following him when he did the journey 50 years ago. But I made a film about seven years ago about my brother who took his own life. It was something my family didn’t really deal with, so I had this idea that if we walked the length of the U.K., where we had spent time with my brother, we could talk about him. And in making that film, one of the things that was most striking was these conversations with complete strangers that became these very beautiful moments. And I wondered about taking that idea, that concept of traveling, doing a road trip and meeting people, and applying it to this film. For me, the most powerful part of P.K.’s story when I interviewed him was that he carried a lot of trauma from growing up under the caste system and that ultimately manifested in a lack of self belief. And he spoke very movingly about how the journey and meeting people along the way was something that transformed him and allowed him to learn to love himself. So we followed the route P.K. took, or parts of the route, with a young actor and P.K. as well, and we met strangers and sparked very natural conversations in the hope that that deep human connection could come to the fore.
The world was rather different back in 1977 than it is today, and the idea of cycling from India to Europe through Afghanistan and Iran seems absolutely far-fetched. How did you achieve this?
So we shot the vast majority in India. I wasn’t sure if it would work, bt it turns out there are significant pockets and communities of Afghans, Iranians and Turks. And everybody in the film, apart from the two key actors and one or two other little moments, is a real person that we street cast. Nothing is scripted. All of those conversations were real conversations.
How did P.K. enjoy the experience?
It was extraordinary. So on a sort of filmic level for us, it was an amazing resource to have him there, feeding back on everything and making sure everything was authentic. But on another level, he’d often watch these conversations play out and he’d start crying and he’d say, well obviously I haven’t met this person, but I had so many conversations like that. He was so moved. And then the entire crew would start to cry. It was magic having him with us.
How has it been for P.K. and Lotta watching the finished film?
Well, what I can tell you is that every time they’ve gone to a festival they’ve watched the film in all of the screenings. They love the moments when people laugh and people go “Ahhh.” Their story is taught in Swedish schools, so they’re used to people knowing about it. But I suppose the film is another way that people interact with it and I think they’ve found it really interesting.
I feel like every time there’s a genuinely happy and uplifting film, everyone says it’s exactly what the world needs given how bad everything else is. But right now, given what’s going on, it honestly feels like there couldn’t be a better time for a story like this.
I love that you say that. And you’re right, the world feels like a quite a dark place at the moment. I also feel that there are few forums to feel human connection and also talk about complex issues of division and what unites us and connects us. But cinema is one of those and I believe it’s such an amazing tool to reconnect us with our humanity when we’re all in danger of losing it. So in sharing P.K.’s story, I hope it helps remind us that most people are good. The vast, vast majority of people on this planet are good.
You also have Priyanka Chopra Jonas as an executive producer. How did that come about?
One of our producers showed Priyanka an early cut of the film. She already knew about P.K.’s story and loved the way we’d brought it to life for a film audience. Like us, she felt this story transcends borders and nationalities. Her and her team at Purple Pebble Pictures have supported a number of powerful stories of resilience against incredible odds — and P.K.’s story feels like it fits with their passion for intimate yet universal narratives.
Has making “The Cycle of Love” reaffirmed your faith in humanity?
Massively. I get that same affirmation from almost all the films that we make, even when they’re in the heights of a conflict zone. But this story does that on so many levels.
English (US) ·