# ‘Place to Be’ Helmer Kornél Mundruczó on Directing Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi and a Pigeon in an Unlikely Love Story

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/place-to-be-helmer-kornel-mundruczo-on-directing-ellen-burstyn-taika-waititi-and-a-pigeon-in-an-unlikely-love-story/
- Published: 2026-09-09T18:42:59+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-10T01:06:06+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/place-to-be-kornel-mundruczo-ellen-burstyn-pigeon-1236853231/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- "Place to Be" pairs Ellen Burstyn and Taika Waititi in a road-trip romance
- Director used 1,000 real pigeons instead of CGI, lost none
- Burstyn received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice

## Summary

Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó has spoken about making "Place to Be," a Venice Film Festival romantic comedy pairing Ellen Burstyn with Taika Waititi, describing his wish to give Burstyn a lighter role after a career dominated by dark dramas and horror. He revealed that he sought out Waititi specifically for a "strong personality" quality reminiscent of Robin Williams, that the pairing produced immediate chemistry once the two actors met, and that Murray Bartlett and Pamela Anderson were cast as Burstyn's on-screen children partly for their striking physical resemblance to her.

The film casts Burstyn as Brooke, a widow whose family wants her placed in a retirement home, who instead sets off on a cross-country journey after a stray pigeon flies into her home, accompanied by Waititi's divorced character Nelson. Mundruczó insisted on using real birds rather than CGI, with seventeen pigeons playing the central character Intruder and roughly 1,000 birds used across the Sydney- and New York-shot production, none of which were lost during filming. The premiere, held on Wednesday, also coincided with Burstyn receiving a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the festival.

## Coverage

- [Variety: ‘Place to Be’ Helmer Kornél Mundruczó on Directing Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi and a Pigeon in an Unlikely Love Story](https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/place-to-be-kornel-mundruczo-ellen-burstyn-pigeon-1236853231/)
- [Deadline: Ellen Burstyn Talks Working Into 90s with Starring Role In Unexpected Love Story ‘Place To Be’; Pays Tribute To Gloria Steinem – Venice](https://deadline.com/2026/09/ellen-burstyn-working-93-place-to-be-gloria-steinem-venice-1237072001/)
- [Deadline: ‘Place To Be’ Review: 93-Year-Old Ellen Burstyn Shines Teaming With Taika Waititi And A Wayward Pigeon In Kornél Mundruczó’s Touching Road Movie – Venice Film Festival](https://deadline.com/2026/09/place-to-be-review-ellen-burstyn-taika-waititi-1237072337/)

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.