“King Ivory”, interview with the director John Swab and lead actor James Badge Dale

John Swab presented his film “King Ivory” in the Orizzonti Etra sectiomn of the Venice International Film Festival. The film is about the tragedy that is decimating the young population in the United States: the spread of fentanyl. Many films have been made on the subject, but “King Ivory” takes a different, non-judgmental, non-moral, but objective and transversal look at all the people overwhelmed by this scourge, from consumers to families to the police trying to contain it. We talked with the director John Swab and the actor James Badge Dale.

I wanted a contemporary film, almost an instant movie

John Swab wanted to create a film that could not be seen as a thing of the past, he wanted “King Ivory” to be immediate, in the present, and very personal too. Hence the style: hand-held camera, almost reality TV, and many non-actors (real policemen, real drug dealers, real junkies).

This is a true independent film

James Badge Dale is proud of the work he did with John Swab. for him, the character is not just a cop and not just his point of view in the film, the film is almost voyeuristic in the way we see what happens and how the stories intertwine. The film is shot in real time and this is the strength and difference with other films on the same theme.

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