Filmmaker Magazine
- “Drama Appeals to Us is Because It Touches Something Different than the Contemporary”: David Mamet on TV, Theater, Gene Hackman and His New Film, Henry Johnson May 9, 2025I assumed David Mamet would probably have more opinions about Aristotle than A24 and, indeed, in discussing the 76-year-old playwright-turned-filmmaker’s new movie, Henry Johnson, the former came up while the latter didn’t. Henry Johnson marks Mamet’s return to the director’s chair after a decade-long absence from cinema, and it’s easily his most austere work since […]Brandon Harris
- Trailer Watch: “Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos” May 8, 2025It’s been 20 years since Film at Lincoln Center’s last retrospective of Kira Muratova, in which time obviously much has changed: the filmmaker herself has since died, no prints will be in the projection mix this time and Muratova’s identity as a Ukrainian filmmaker (as opposed to a Soviet filmmaker primarily working in a Russian […]Filmmaker Staff
- UFO Announces Spring, 2025 Short Film Lab Cohort May 8, 2025UFO (Untitled Filmmaker Org) announced today the three new filmmakers comprising its 2025 Short Film Lab cohort. Selected filmmakers Daisy Friedman, Carin Leong (a Filmmaker 2025 25 New Face), and Emilio Subía will begin the Lab experience this month as they develop new scripted (Friedman and Subía) and nonfiction (Leong) projects. Filmmakers Emily May Jampel, […]Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine Presents Swoon and Monsoon Wedding at New York’s Paris Theater May 7, 2025Filmmaker‘s monthly series at New York’s Paris Theater, Filmmaker Magazine Presents, continues in June with two new events coupled with in-person conversations. On Monday, June 2, the Paris will welcome director Tom Kalin and producer Christine Vachon for a Q&A following a screening of 1992’s New Queer Cinema highlight Swoon. Kalin co-wrote and directed this stylish take on the infamous […]Filmmaker Staff
- “Children and Animals Have a Natural Intuition and Liveliness”: Xinying Lao on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Xiaohui and His Cows May 7, 2025Unlike the rest of her cohort, Xinying Lao has the distinction of being a Short Film Student Showcase winner as an underclassman. Made during her sophomore year at NYU, Xiaohui and His Cows sheds light on the widespread separation of families in rural China as parents migrate to cities for work, leaving their children behind […]Natalia Keogan
- Read Interviews With the Fifth Annual Student Short Film Showcase Winners, Awarded By The Gotham, JetBlue and Focus Features May 7, 2025A creepy humanoid inches closer with every blink. A young woman returns to Peru to fulfill her grandmother’s dying wish. A nine-year-old boy attempts to hide the beloved cows his grandfather must separate. A despondent man attempts to end his life to no avail. An older woman navigates ageism and desire in China. These are […]Natalia Keogan
- “The Story Kept Growing Alongside My Real-life Experience”: Sisa Quispe on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Urpi: Her Last Wish May 7, 2025A Peruvian pilgrimage to visit the village of a recently-deceased relative propels the plot of Urpi: Her Last Wish. Helmed by Sisa Quispe as her MFA thesis film at the City College of New York, she also stars as the titular Urpi, a young American woman who travels to the Andes to reconnect with the […]Natalia Keogan
- “We Have More in Common Than We Think”: Mel Sangyi Zhao on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Return to Youth May 7, 2025For her California Institute of the Arts MFA thesis film, Mel Sangyi Zhao decided to travel back to her Chinese hometown of Chengdu and cast her mother in the lead role. The resultant film, Return to Youth, follows a retired dancer as she navigates the pressures of misogyny, ageism and a budding romance with a […]Natalia Keogan
- “Totally Smooth Productions Are a Myth”: James Ross on His Student Short Film Showcase Winner Don’t Blink May 7, 2025The creepy premise of Don’t Blink may be parsed by its title alone, but this still doesn’t make one prepared for the unyielding scares conjured by writer-director James Ross. Completed with the aid of his MFA cohort at Florida State University, Ross’ film takes place during the witching hour in an otherwise quaint suburban enclave. […]Natalia Keogan
- “One of the Most Delicate Challenges I’ve Faced as a Filmmaker”: Kevin Haefelin on His Student Short Film Showcase Winner The Fuse May 7, 2025In The Fuse, an elderly sanitation worker named Cassius (non-professional actor Jorge Gabino) decides to quietly shuffle himself off of this mortal coil. Written and directed by Kevin Haefelin as part of his MFA studies at Columbia University, the narrative may not provide direct context for Cassius’ fatal decision, but it certainly does make it […]Natalia Keogan
