Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó has spoken about making "Place to Be," a romantic comedy starring Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Mundruczó, who previously worked with Burstyn on "Pieces of a Woman," wanted to give the veteran actress a lighter role after a career defined by dark dramas and horror, casting her as a widow who embarks on a cross-country trip with a pigeon that flies into her home and refuses to leave. The premiere carries added significance because Burstyn is being honoured with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the festival.

The film, described by Mundruczó as an "urban road movie," sees Burstyn's character Brooke team up with divorcee Nelson, played by Waititi, as they try to reunite the pigeon with its owner. Mundruczó said he chose Waititi for his "sad clown" quality and cast Murray Bartlett and Pamela Anderson as Burstyn's children owing to their striking physical resemblance to her. To avoid CGI, the production used real birds throughout, with 17 pigeons portraying the central character "Intruder" and around 1,000 pigeons in total used across scenes filmed in Sydney and New York, all supervised by professional handlers with no birds lost during filming.