
Why DUNE Director Has ‘Absolutely’ Banned Cellphones From His Sets
By Movieguide® Contributor
DUNE director Denis Villeneuve is sharing the reason why cellphones are “absolutely” banned from his sets.
“Cinema is an act of presence. When a painter paints, he has to be absolutely focused on the color he’s putting on the canvas. It’s the same with the dancer when he does a gesture,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “With a filmmaker, you have to do that with a crew, and everybody has to focus and be entirely in the present, listening to each other, being in relationship with each other. So cellphones are banned on my set too, since Day 1. It’s forbidden. When you say cut, you don’t want someone going to his phone to look at his Facebook account.”
Villeneuve admitted that he has his own problems with tech addiction, saying, “I’m like anybody. There’s something addictive about the fact that you can access any information, any song, any book. It’s compulsive. It’s like a drug. I’m very tempted to disconnect myself. It would be fresh air.”
READ MORE: DUNE’S DENIS VILLENEUVE SAYS ‘CREATIVITY IS RESTRICTED’ IN HOLLYWOOD
OPPENHEIMER director Christopher Nolan’s spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said the director has banned “cell phones (not always successfully) and smoking (very successfully)” from his sets.
Villeneuve is currently preparing for the third installment in the DUNE franchise, telling Deadline he’s “in the writing zone right now.”
“These movies take a lot of time to be made, so it’s best not to say out loud when I might shoot,” he continued but teased that he will “go back behind the camera faster than I think.”
READ MORE: DUNE 3 GETS RELEASE DATE, AND IT’S SOONER THAN EXPECTED