What inspired me to choose to direct 1984?

I believe the political climate has increasingly become more polarized, provocative, and violent. Ideologies controlling freedoms and oppositions fuelled by fear and hatred are controlling a staggering number populations, - I think of China, North Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Syria, UAE, Sudan, Cameroon, amongst others. Right now, in our sphere of influence, political opposition is silenced, and militarized police states keep their citizenry in fear of prosecution without due process.

I believe a louder, violence inducing rhetoric is seen in the policies and enforcement closer to home. After a certain ass hat was elected president, the novel 1984 has seen a surge in sales in the past year, rising to the top of the Amazon best-seller listing the United States and leading its publisher to have tens of thousands of new copies printed. This occurred after the term “alternate facts” was used by Trump’s administration to substantiate his claims of the largest inauguration attendance ever. The idea of revising facts and accepting lies as truth, a key plot element in 1984, connects to the fears modern audiences have about the power governments and government leaders have today.

I chose 1984 because I believe that we need to wake up to the reality that we can become complicit to a movement like Big Brother's Party. If a government allows, fosters and encourages the erosion of empathy, caring and humanity through fear based rhetoric and ideologies, limiting and reversing individual rights and shoring up more power to the already powerful, the dystopian world of 1984 is not that far fetched.