Nicolas Winding Refn on Dying, Hideo Kojima, and Prada Mode Installation

Nicolas Winding Refn, director of Drive and The Neon Demon, discusses his near-death experience, his friendship with video game creator Hideo Kojima, and their collaborative installation Satellites II at Prada Mode New York. In 2019, Refn provided his likeness for a character in Kojima's game Death Stranding. Years later, Refn was diagnosed with a leaky heart valve, underwent surgery, and died on the table for 30 minutes. The experience gave him a new urgency to create. Within the last month, he premiered Her Private Hell, his first solo feature since 2016, at Cannes, and unveiled Satellites II with Kojima at the Hotel Chelsea for Prada Mode. The installation features midcentury modern tube televisions across several floors, staging a conversation between the two artists. They have never had a direct conversation due to language barriers—Refn speaks English, Kojima Japanese—but communicate through images and music. Refn describes their bond as that of "twins" and "satellites." The first Satellites was shown in Tokyo; Satellites II is in New York, where Refn grew up. Refn reflects on his childhood move from Copenhagen to New York in 1978, his dyslexia, and his fascination with television as a creative medium. He contrasts the stagnancy of film with the evolving canvas of gaming. Refn also mentions his friend Alejandro Jodorowsky, 97, who inspires him. He now approaches creativity with optimism, having faced death.