Interview: Daniel Dencik (Expedition to the End of the World)

There is a massive stylistic difference between director Daniel Dencik’s meditative 8 mm cycling film, Moon Rider, and his second, character clashing adventure, Expedition to the End of the World, but there seems to be a spiritual thread linking the two. Filmed almost back to back, they both deal with existentialism, one on a singular scale through the lens of sport, the other on a global scale filtered through the minds of scientists and artists thrown together amidst the grandiose wilderness of unexplored territory in Greenland. Vastly different from one another, both are also sublime pieces of non-fiction.

Following a screening of Daniel Dencik’s sophomore docu project, Expedition to the End of the World, I sat down with the director in the atrium of a chapel to discuss the film (it being one of the few quiet locations in an otherwise bustling festival setting, but somewhat ironic when it came time to speak on the film’s themes). We discuss how the project came to fruition, his love of metal, why such heady discussion naturally comes when facing the silent landscape of human-free nature, amongst a host of other topics. Our conversation in video form follows.