'Hollywood is enriching, but heart lies in Aussie films'

Exposure to Hollywood has been an enriching experience but his heart still lies in cinema made down under, according to Australian actor-director Simon Baker.

"My heart is in Australian cinema which connects me emotionally," Baker told reporters after the screening of his directorial debut 'Breath' at the 24th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) on Wednesday.

The actor of L.A. Confidential and Red Planet apart from the popular TV series 'The Mentalist' said, Hollywood had given him lots of opportunity to learn and evolve as an actor.

On 'Breath', a feature film on surfing in sea waters, Baker said, "when you direct a film so intense and the journey is so long you have to be in love with it, like your child".

He said it was fairly easy to choose the subject of his first as had been surfing since the age of 15. "I had grown up surfing all my life," he said.

Asked if he had already selected his next directorial project, Baker said he has to first find a director.

"Some people want to make films to make money, some want because they want to connect with people in an emotional way. And that is the essence of cinema - to connect with people - across bridges, across cultures and countries," he said.

Baker chose Meera Nair and Shekhar Kapur as contemporary directors from India whose works he has liked.

Baker, whose Breath is a film on adolescents, would name the three Apu trilogy films by Satyajit Ray or Franois Truffaut's 'The 400 Blows' as real films on adolescents.