Interviews

Just a couple of days after images of Iranian doctoral student Ahou Daryaei became a viral symbol of resistance against Iran’s strict hijab laws, we talked to Elahe Esmaili about her short documentary A Move, in which she refuses to wear a hijab.

The short film format is where prolific Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude feels most free. From political satires to oddball video essays, his shorts often mix philosophical analysis with playful experimentation.

The Germany-based filmmaker reflects on his childhood in post-Soviet Belarus, tackling feelings of shame and self-judgement in the context of the war in Ukraine.

Composed mainly of archival footage, Nikola Ilić’s haptic but personal essay documents the story of a soldier who never wanted to be one.

For all its doom and gloom, Alessandro Novelli’s work is marked by a stark beauty. In De Imperio, we enter a world of empire and control.

In her overtly political graduation project, Nastia Korkia alternates propaganda footage of Putin with a surrealist 3D-world of Putin-related dreams.

Mistry’s films are both an intervention and an invitation. Her triptych We Come in Peace, They Said reappropriates archive footage to unearth representations of the historically marginalised.

In Slimane, Carlos Pereira opts for a cinematic queerness to deconstruct mainstream ideas and perceptions of time and space.

Micro commentaries on macro sociopolitical issues characterise Mo Harawe’s body of work. The Somalian filmmaker discusses two of his recent shorts, now available to watch on This Is Short.

Nominated for the New Critics & New Audiences Award, Joachim Hérissé elaborates on his stop-motion horror fairytale for adults.

Now nominated for the New Critics & New Audiences Award 2024, the Brazilian-German directing duo talks about the misconceptions of Berlin, and its gay scene.

Now nominated for the New Critics & New Audiences Award 2024, French filmmaker Mathilde Profit opens up about the feminist tendencies in her work.

Now nominated for the New Critics & New Audiences Award 2024, Greek-Austrian filmmaker Anna Vasof elaborates on the family tragedy at the heart of her film.

Now nominated for the New Critics & New Audiences Award 2024, Moritz Geiser discusses the female characters at the center of his raging hyper-modern fable.

The acclaimed French filmmaker talks about his latest short film, a visual anthem to a whole generation of queer people.

The London-based Four Chambers situates itself deliberately on the punctum where art and porn meet. “Porn works best when it’s about exploring sexual desires and one’s creativity around sex in a way that doesn’t feel bounded by a need to make it look faultless.”

Filipino filmmaker Sam Manacsa unveils the thought process behind her most recent short, which premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival last September as the only Shoutheast Asian entry in the short film competition.

Filmmaker Richard Misek takes on the world’s largest commercial image archive, probing the legal, economic, and ethical implications of granting a private corporation such power over our shared cultural memory.

Curator Nadia Denton talks about her programme on Nigerian cinema, that, with every iteration, has often played the role of bellwether.

Syllas Tzoumerkas talks about his short film My Mother Is a Saint, an eight-minute “religious slapstick” starring Angeliki Papoulia.

In Les Chenilles, two women originally from the Levant find themselves working in the same restaurant Lyon. Both bear the weight of a home they were forced to leave behind. Initially wary of each other, they gradually discover a common thread that binds them.

Professors and filmmakers Kevin Jerome Everson and Claudrena N. Harold talk about their Black Fire project, an ongoing exploration of Blackness, history and interiority.

Filmmaker Janaina Wagner, part of the Berlinale Talents 2023 class, talks about her past and future projects.

After an impressive European festival run, Isadora Neves Marques’ newest short celebrates its North-American premiere at the New York Film Festival this week. In an interview with Līga Pozarska, she talks about (in)fertility, couple dynamics and gender roles.

Lebanese-Canadian writer and director Dania Bdeir received the Jury Prize for Best Fiction at Tampere Film Festival for Warsha.

Alaa was the first Egyptian filmmaker to be part of the Official Short Film Competition in Cannes. He won the Palme d’Or that same year.

Using collages of found footage on YouTube—with subjects ranging from hunting videos to the unboxing of snakes ordered by mail—the collective NEOZOON uncovers patterns in human behaviour.