A poor young man decides to cease to be so, and along with his friend, he tries to flee with a bag full of money from his boss. The last night in his hometown is the two friend’s review, in the form of a farewell, of the places, the emotion and the songs that marked their lives. What was the starting point of the film? The starting point was partly a preliminary work by Ezequiel Salinas, Adieu à la nuit, where a mysterious character rides his moped through the night. In this short film, (...) Continue Reading »

Coco Green and Ola Magdziarek review a couple of cinematic highlights from 2017: Maria Sadowska’s The Art Of Loving, which tells the story of Polish sexologist Michalina Wislocka who fought for her book to be published in the late 1970s, and Jordan Peele’s Get Out, in which Daniel Kaluuya’s African American Chris Washington visits his white girlfriend’s parents. A series of bizarre, unsettling events ensues. ‘The Art of Loving’ (Sztuka Kochania), Poland 2016, Dir. Maria Sadowskav Ola Magdziarek (...) Continue Reading »

A mother with a substance misuse issue, has to prove herself on her path to recovery, to prevent her child from being taken away from her and placed into care. We chat here with director Annette Westwood. Where did the idea come from? Can you tell us a bit about your relationship or collaboration with Trevi? THIS LITTLE GIRL was inspired by the amazing work of Trevi, a women’s & children’s charity & their unique residential rehabilitation centre. Their centre is one of the last of (...) Continue Reading »

More Q&As! As Coco Green gets stuck in the final chapters of her PhD, we take a break from our usual format to publish Q&As and whatever audio output we fancy. To mark our partnership with the Clermont-Ferrand International Film Festival and celebrate short films, we had a chat with Philip Ilson, founder and director of the London Short Film Festival, and film programmer (for the BFI London Film Festival, amongst others) . We talk about film clubs in the 1990s, the festival’s early (...) Continue Reading »

Moments in the lives of Austin teenagers in the heat of Texas summer. How was Birds born? I wanted to make this film, in part, to explore my creative process. My last short film involved a local community of young people whom I spent time with and worked with to make a film about their world. Birds expands on that approach more deeply. This film is more improvised, more off-the-cuff and observational, blurring the lines of doc and narrative in a way that was new for me. It was also my way (...) Continue Reading »

Parents often push their children to follow their steps. In this case, the father’s obsession with the rally turns the kid into a car tire. Loosely inspired by the director’s childhood, Sierra takes us into the surreal car racing world. What inspired you to make Sierra, an animation film that deals with the pressures parents can put on their children? After talking to my friends and acquaintances I found that the pressure from their parents to choose the “right career” is quite common. (...) Continue Reading »

Phondupe is the musical outfit of Sydney artist Rich Lucano. His ambient tunes and evocative soundscapes found quite a following amongst restless, locked-in listeners during Covid. His masterful sampling of everyday sounds picked up during his many travels lends itself particularly well to visual art. In fact, as a bit of a film buff, he is looking into pivoting towards film soundtracks. You’ve travelled extensively and have drawn on the places you’ve been to to create and shape your music. (...) Continue Reading »

We sent a bunch of questions to ambient music maestro Phondupe, who kindly recorded his answers. We thought we’d upload the audio as part of our podcast while we’re on a short break from our usual format! The written article is here. Continue Reading »

Following a spate of successful shorts - the excellent Magic Alps caught our attention at Clermont-Ferrand - Italian filmmaking duo Andrea Brusa and Marco Scotuzzi, and regular collaborator producer Andrea Italia, are back, this time with their first feature film, which is currently touring festivals. We talk to Andrea Brusa about Le Voci Sole (Lonely Voices): One family’s life goes haywire at the start of the pandemic as the matriarch-now without her steady housekeeper income-encounters a (...) Continue Reading »

The internet giant Wikipedia just turned 20. We take a look at its background and the future of the online encyclopaedia. Louis Christie reviews Maria Teresa Curzio 2021’s documentary. Now in its third decade, Wikipedia faces some complex questions. What role can robots play in writing and regulating articles? Can automated translation help save indigenous languages? What are the implications for an online encyclopaedia when nine in ten contributors are men? In a world where data is the (...) Continue Reading »