Oliver Laxe on Cannes Competition Player ‘Sirat’

Cannes regular Oliver Laxe returns this year with “Sirat,” a Morocco-set, techno-fueled story about an almost mythical journey through the desert that pushes its characters to their absolute limits.

The filmmaker’s latest follows Cannes wins for his first three features: 2010’s “You Are All Captains” scored a Directors’ Fortnight Fipresci Award, 2016’s “Mimosas” scooped the Critics’ Week top Grand Prize and “Fire Will Come” a 2019 Un Certain Regard Jury Prize. “Sirat” unspools in competition.

Variety caught up with Laxe ahead of this year’s fest to discuss “Sirat,” his most contemporary and mainstream feature to date.

The film’s title is the Arabic name for the bridge between our world and paradise that spans the chasm of hell. It feels appropriate given the journey of the film’s characters. What does “Sirat” mean to you?

Oliver Laxe: I like the more colloquial meaning of “Sirat,” which is “path” or “way.” It’s a bit like the Tao. The film is a journey, a rite of passage. There’s something of the hero’s journey, this stripped-down, annihilated hero who must look inward. It connects with the traditions of the Grail and legends that come from India and Persia. These stories always have two layers: the physical and the metaphysical.

The film feels like it blends arthouse cinema and something more accessible. Was that intentional?

Laxe: Absolutely. I wanted it to be a popular film, one that young people can connect with. It’s a hard audience to reach, but they need stories that speak to transcendence. While I’m influenced by filmmakers like Bresson and Tarkovsky, I’m also thinking about where we are as a society. There’s a parallel with the American cinema of the 1970s, violence, light, counterculture and spiritual longing. I think “Sirat” is my most contemporary film.

That seems to be present both aesthetically and narratively, as “Sirat” shares many similarities with popular films like “Dune” and “Mad Max.”

Laxe: It’s like “Dune 3” or “Mad Max 0.” A more down-to-earth version of “Mad Max” because it follows a sort of universal archetype in that it’s presented as a memory of the end, a memory of the future. This film draws from the mythic and stylized qualities of “Dune” and “Mad Max,” but reinterprets them in a more spiritual, introspective and pre-apocalyptic context.

I was especially struck by the sound design. It’s some of the best I’ve heard. Can you talk about that?

Laxe: Thank you. I worked with David Letellier (aka Kangding Ray), someone who understands both the energy of rave culture and a more esoteric, ambient side. The score needed to move from tribal, grounded beats to something increasingly transcendent and stripped-down, like the landscape itself. We wanted the sound to help create not just an exterior desert the characters had to confront, but an inner one.

There’s something deeply spiritual about the rave scenes. It goes beyond just music.

Laxe: Yes. We went to the roots of the free party movement, avoiding the more commercial versions like Burning Man. This isn’t about posing. These people embrace their scars, their imperfections. There’s a maturity in showing the wound rather than hiding it, which reflects a deeper truth about human experience. The film becomes a communion of those scars.

That’s reflected in the cast; some actors have visible disabilities. How did you handle that in casting?

Laxe: It wasn’t about showcasing their wounds. They were cast because they’re great, and they happen to have lived through difficult things. That presence is important. There’s strength in how they carry themselves naturally. I’ve known some of them for over a decade. We didn’t want it to feel exploitative, but honest.

Filming in the desert must have posed unique challenges. What was the shoot like?

Laxe: Brutal. We shot in Morocco during the worst time of year, May to July, full of sandstorms and intense heat. We had broken lenses, scenes to reshoot, and it took a toll on the whole crew. I was also personally struggling during the shoot, feeling disconnected. But I think that difficulty made its way into the film’s emotional texture.

This was your first time receiving support from public TV in Spain, which is hard to believe considering your resume. Can you talk briefly about what it was like working with Movistar+?

Laxe: It was exceptional. I had total artistic freedom. Not “do what you want” freedom, but meaningful support. Domingo [Corral] understood the importance of nurturing audiences and authors. It’s rare in Spain to have that level of institutional backing for a film like this. I owe a lot to him.

This interview was translated from Spanish and edited for content and clarity.