Welcome to Keep Going University, a series where we take real conversations with artists, makers, and thinkers and pull out practical advice you can use in your own creative work. These aren’t feel-good slogans or vague calls to “follow your dreams.” This is grounded, tested advice from people who’ve done the work—often for decades—and kept going through success, failure, and everything in between.

Keep Going: Bille August and the Moments That Stay With Us

John Biggs · May 12

I spoke with Bille August recently, and what struck me most wasn’t just his long, decorated career as a director, but the way he described why he’s still doing it. After nearly 45 years, he’s not chasing relevance or acclaim. He’s chasing those short, fleeting moments of magic on a set—when everything clicks, when the actors and script and crew fall int…

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In this edition, we’re looking at what filmmaker Bille August has learned over a 45-year career in storytelling. He’s made award-winning films, faced tough setbacks, and still finds joy in the work. His take on simplicity, honesty, and preparation is a clear reminder that creativity isn’t about chasing trends or perfection. It’s about paying attention, showing up, and finding meaning in the process.

Here’s what he had to say—and what you can take from it.

1. Tell stories to understand, not to impress.
Bille didn’t start out wanting to be a “filmmaker.” He started by writing small scenes to make sense of the world. His process has stayed consistent: observe something that matters, take the emotional core, and build a narrative around it. If you're stuck, don’t aim to create something big or impressive. Start by noticing something that troubles or moves you. Make a short scene, a sketch, a melody—whatever helps you process it...

I spoke with Bille August recently, and what struck me most wasn’t just his long, decorated career as a director, but the way he described why he’s still doing it. After nearly 45 years, he’s not chasing relevance or acclaim. He’s chasing those short, fleeting moments of magic on a set—when everything clicks, when the actors and script and crew fall into rhythm—and you know it can never be repeated.

Bille was born in a small town in Denmark in 1948. He’s been working in film for more than 40 years. He’s directed major international films—Pelle the Conqueror, The Best Intentions, The House of the Spirits, Night Train to Lisbon. He’s won just about everything: the Palme d’Or twice, an Oscar, Golden Globes, European Film Awards. But he doesn’t really talk about that.

He talks about preparation and the importance of empathy.

“Because we all have empathy, don’t we? We should have at least. It’s a big quality in human beings,” he said.

Bille started out as a still photographer. That taught him to see the world in images. What he does now—cutting together emotions, stories, visual beats—is just an extension of that early training. When things go wrong, and they have, he admits it hurts. But what keeps him going is the joy of making something meaningful from simple, honest work. "Don't make it too complicated," he said. "Be honest. Be prepared. Focus on the moment."

His new film The Kiss is about what happens when pity gets tangled up with love. It’s the kind of story that could fall apart under a heavy hand, but Bille’s approach is always clear: follow the emotion, trust the people you’re working with, and remember that storytelling is just another way to remind ourselves what it means to be human.

The advice he gave to new filmmakers applies just as well to anyone trying to build something: start simple. Be real. Don’t pretend. Prepare. And if you’re lucky, one day, someone will see what you made and feel like it was made just for them. That's the goal. That's the reason to keep going.