Quotes from Johan Renck

I like being out on a limb and not know what we're doing and why: just deal with it, the mayhem, you know?

Working with friends isn't easy - the nature of an artistic project means it's about two strong visions colliding and a bit of mental wrestling.

The darkest aspects of imperialism are still very much prevalent in many cultures around the world; hundreds of years later, and we have a collective responsibility to encounter the deeds of our past.

When you're young, and you're doing stuff, you're making music, directing, making art, it's all future directed. You want to change stuff onward. And when you get older - this applies to me - you think about the things you want to do and how it will be perceived by your children one day.

In an ideal world, as a director, you usually wish you could do your own thing and not have to take anyone else's point of view into account, but occasionally you work with someone like Robyn, who brings a new set of ideas to the table, and the whole ends up much greater than the sum of the parts.

I played in bands very very young. I painted; I did photography, all kinds of things.

Building a cast is a card house. They lean on each other, provide for each other, and take from each other.

Do people think Swedes are cool? I think they think you're cool in spite of you being Swedish. But the good thing with being Swedish is that we're melancholic.

I grew up all over the world, including countries such as Sweden, Norway, U.S.A., and Kuwait.

Gothenburg is the Baltimore or Liverpool or Marseille of Sweden - plagued by the death of wharfs and other industries, and with complex segregation of the populace from southern Europe, which once brought in a labor force that suddenly found itself living in remote projects without jobs.

I'm Swedish. Sweden is known for its melancholia.

All creation requires a scientific brain.

I think for something to be beautiful, it has to have some darkness in it; otherwise, it's just pretty. And pretty does not interest me at all.

I'm drawn to stuff with a certain darkness, and darkness with beauty within it.

I wish I was really talented in music because then I would be doing it. I felt that I could write a decent song, but it was a big struggle.

Brits are very, very expressive, whereas the Soviet and Eastern European way is much more stern, stone-faced. Vladimir Putin-esque in some way.

One of the things I love about my job is the cornucopia of different professions in one.

In many ways, shooting my first feature was more difficult than I had thought it would be, but it was still the most rewarding experience I have ever had.

You'll find Swedes - maybe not as much as the Finns - thriving in melancholy.

I've always been interested in photography. I remember when I was about 14, I spent an entire summer selling lottery tickets in some little booth so I could make enough money to buy an Olympus camera.

They say don't meet your heroes, but when it comes to Bowie, he truly is the most brilliant person I've ever met.

Whenever I'm making a film, it has to be timeless.

With my years of promos & commercials, I actually have a massive amount of experience with regards to production. There pretty much isn't one thing I haven't tried at least once.

As a Scandinavian, I like hopelessness and the weird austerity in the hopelessness of things.