Niels Pagh Andersen on the "Order in Chaos" of Film Editing

In this episode, I talk to Niels Pagh Andersen, one of the most accomplished film editors in the world. We discuss Niels' working relationship with director Joshua Oppenheimer and his work on the Oscar nominated “The Act of Killing” and Oscar winning follow up, “The Look of Silence," as well as his current work on the upcoming film “The End." Niels details his philosophy and approach to editing outlined in his book “Order in Chaos." 

“Order in Chaos” book website: www.orderinchaosbook.com 
“The Act of Killing” website: www.theactofkilling.com
“The Look of Silence” website: www.thelookofsilence.com

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“On Documentary” podcast page: www.adamjamessmithfilm.com/on-documentary
Adam James Smith’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/ajsfilm
Contact: ajsfilm@alumni.stanford.edu

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:59 How Niels made a start in his career
• 6:42 Changes in how documentaries are made
• 12:43 Editing documentary vs fiction
• 15:53 What inspired Niels to write "Order in Chaos"
• 19:53 The working relationship between an editor and director
• 26:27 Working with Joshua Oppenheimer
• 28:25 Cutting "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence"
• 41:25 Editing upcoming film "The End"
• 46:10 Being drawn to particular subject matter as an editor
• 51:35 Teaching editing to students
• 58:48 Day in the life of an editor
• 1:03:00 Website for "Order in Chaos" and final message