Filmmaker Magazine
- Sundance Institute Directors Lab 2025: Alexandra Qin June 30, 2025This month Filmmaker is publishing diaries from writers and directors who attended the 2025 Sundance Institute Directors Lab. Today we’re sharing the diary of Alexandra Qin, who traveled to the Lab with Thirstygirl. Here’s the description: “When Charlie is forced to drive her estranged younger sister cross-country to rehab, her own secret addiction comes to the […]Alexandra Qin
- “It’s Really Sharp on the Neurotic Relationships that Americans Have with Money”: Robin Schavoir and Paul Felten Discuss The Jag June 27, 2025The titular sports car of Robin Schavoir’s The Jag is parked in an imaginary space off-stage at the Brooklyn Center for Theatre Research, where the play is currently running in a production directed by Paul Felten. The existence of this symbolic object structures the matrix of resentment, envy and desire searchingly embodied by The Jag‘s […]Scott Macaulay
- 2025 Oxbelly Retreat Screenwriters Fellows & Advisors Announced June 27, 2025Greek nonprofit Oxbelly has announced in a press release the participants of the 2025 Oxbelly Retreat, taking place June 28–July 6 at Costa Navarino in Messinia, Greece. The Oxbelly Retreat is an annual gathering of international storytellers, dedicated to the exchange of ideas, deepening of craft and broadening of artistic horizons through intercultural dialogue. Now […]Filmmaker Staff
- “I Wanted to Write a Trans Woman Who Had Really Bad Politics”: Filmmaker Louise Weard on the Abject Tragicomedy of Her DIY Epic Castration Movie June 27, 2025Louise Weard is obsessed with castration. The idea for her five-part DIY epic Castration Movie came when she was reviewing footage for a supercut of onscreen “dick destruction” subtitled Texas Birth Control—and, she notes with amusement, eating little phallic pickles. Weard has an infectious laugh, and the things she finds funny tend to reflect her […]Katie Rife
- Sundance Institute Directors Lab 2025: Chloe Sarbib June 27, 2025This month Filmmaker is publishing diaries from writers and directors who attended the 2025 Sundance Institute Directors Lab. Next up is Chloe Sarbib, who traveled to the Lab with Trou Normand. Here’s the description: “As her family prepares to leave their Normandy home, an aging actress becomes convinced that a lost Vichy-era heirloom is the magical […]Chloe Sarbib
- “Freedom Could Stem From the Experience”: Nicole Chi on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Los Mosquitos June 26, 2025In the absence of their mothers, two foster siblings slowly fortify a sisterhood in Los Mosquitos, Nicole Chi’s lushly atmospheric short. Made as part of her graduate studies at the University of Texas at Austin, the film centers on women within the local Honduran community—which Chi has closely worked with in the past—and is largely […]Natalia Keogan
- “My Tendency Is to Prioritize Collaboration”: Eva Steinmetz on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Marina June 26, 2025A father-daughter relationship finds eventual catharsis through conflict in Marina, writer-director Eva Steinmetz’s MFA thesis film completed during her studies at Temple University. The titular character (Grace McLean) struggles as the sole caretaker for her mentally and physically declining father (Peter Friedman). Indeed, their shifting roles has caused quite a rift in their relationship—and even […]Natalia Keogan
- “The Version of My Homeland That I Was Robbed of”: Reem Jubran on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Don’t Be Long, Little Bird June 26, 2025While on a tense mother-daughter trip, a young woman (Banna Bazzarie) contends with her desire to broaden her horizons while also recognizing the importance of her heritage in Reem Jubran’s UCLA thesis film Don’t Be Long, Little Bird. Seeking some much-needed space from her mother (and a sneaky smoke), the young woman stumbles upon a […]Natalia Keogan
- “Someone on the Verge of Screaming Back at the World” Sujin Jung on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner Cocoon June 26, 2025Three generations of women clash during a Korean holiday in writer-director Sujin Jung’s Cocoon. Made as her MFA thesis film during her studies at Loyola Marymount University, the film centers on Jisoo (Alexes Josephine Lee), a young girl who experiences anxiety-induced selective mutism. This becomes a point of contention between Jisoo’s mother, Hyunsook (Taehee Kim) […]Natalia Keogan
- “A Lot of Pent-up Grief with Life”: Calleen Koh on Her Student Short Film Showcase Winner My Wonderful Life June 26, 2025Loosely based on her mother’s grueling daily schedule, Calleen Koh’s delightfully animated My Wonderful Life brings to life the deranged fantasies that can plague the overworked. Office drone Grace Lee falls strains her body beyond its breaking point—the demands of her workplace, family and even a local stray cat cause her to collapse on the […]Natalia Keogan
