War Zones And Walks To Legendary Romances: Orlando von Einsiedel, director of THE CYCLE OF LOVE (2025)

One of the most fascinating things I've learned about in conducting interviews are how top awards can end up meaning -- nothing.Think back -- can you name who won the Oscar for best documentary short five years ago? Two years ago?So often, it doesn't show a noticeable trajectory change in the filmmakers' careers. That's not true of my guest today, Orlando von Einsiedel, whose film, THE CYCLE OF LOVE (2025) opened in New York on August 28th and later in September for the rest of the country, has continually built on his success through taking on larger projects.In the last 16 years, he's directed or produced at least 31 shows and series, an incredible workflow that speaks both to his work ethic and the value of awards (maybe?).It's hard to tell whether the latter part mattered. What we can say is his filmmaking is sincerely moving, and I'm so glad to see him tackle evermore ambitious topics like THE CYCLE OF LOVE.In this episode, Orlando and I talk about:he's won Oscars and opened at top festivals; is there's an achievement out there that he's aiming for in filmmaking?;his description of THE CYCLE OF LOVE;the decision to incorporate mostly reenactments into the film and where he drew the line between "how it feels" and what actually happened;how EVELYN (2018) helped make THE CYCLE OF LOVE happen the way it did;how he went from snowboarding into filmmakingthe ways in which awards enabled his climb and how documentary filmmakers should view them;the role of EPs for documentary filmmakers;the value proposition of his production company, Grain Media, and how he'll use crowdfunding if it's the path for a particular film;the theatrical prospects for this film and the landscape for documentary filmmakers;what's next for him.Memorable Quotes:" Every story, every film we make, I just want people, audiences to connect with it."" The challenge was there was very little archive footage from PK's journey, and and normally that is what kills a documentary in its tracks."" I don't think anyone should start a film project thinking about awards."" It doesn't matter how experienced you are, it doesn't matter how many awards you've won, every project needs a different path."Links:Follow Orlando On InstagramGrain Media's Website