A couple of months ago, filmmaker David Fincher was honored at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and took part in an interview onstage.  A portion of that interview has now been officially released online, and it’s full of golden nuggets from one of the most exciting directors working today.  Fincher candidly touches on everything from his personal philosophy about filmmaking to his experience making Alien 3 (and why he wanted to do it in the first place) to the studio’s reaction to seeing a first cut of Fight Club to the miracle of autonomy that he enjoyed when putting together The Social Network.  It’s a fascinating and insightful interview that’s well worth a watch.  Check it out after the jump.

BAFTA released a 12-minute highlight video of the interview on YouTube that you can check out below.  It starts off with an apt quote from Fincher on why we make movies:

“It takes titanium, aluminum, steel, glass and lasers to do one thing: impart feeling. That’s all we do, to strangers, and we want to impart that feeling to everyone in the audience at the exact same time. And that’s the magic of cinema.”

The filmmaker looks to be tied up in the world of television for at least the next year, mostly at HBO, but I do hope he returns to the big screen sooner rather than later.  His is a voice that is most welcomed in this era of same-feeling tentpole pictures.

Watch the highlights below and check out the full 25-minute interview over on BAFTA’s site.

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Image via Sony Pictures