ShortStick

Mixing horror genre tropes and the folk mythology of mermaids, Ali Cook crafts a fascinating melange of genres and references in The Pearl Comb. Narrating the appearance of a siren in the countryside of England, a man finds a miraculous cure in the pearl comb left by a mermaid. Throughout his background in comedy and the ability to create scenarios, Cook frames a period story about the folk backdrop and the myth of the creature. Listen to our full episode and read our review

In 2024, the duo of Julia Aks and Steve Pinder premiered Jane Austen's Period Drama, an over-the-top adaptation of the work by one of the most quintessential female writers of our time. By naming their characters ridiculous names, such as Estrogenia (played by Aks herself), the film makes a timeless commentary on the male inability to understand periods and femininity. Throughout their humorous tale, the film crafts a clever construction of comedy on period film-making. Liste

In The Boy with White Skin, Simon Panay discusses the rituals and beliefs of miners in the most productive gold mine in Senegal. In their culture, the albino skin attracts the gold, and the direction, who has documented their culture in documentary films before, decides to re-enact it in a fictional work. We interview the director about filming in Senegal, the casting process of the lead child and his history with the gold mine.

Our series of interviews continues with Marnie Blok, a well-known Dutch screenwriter, who debuts her directing career with Beyond Silence, a gut-wrenching film about speaking out. Using sign language as a metaphor for breaking the silence, the film is a confrontation against the system that oppresses women and blames them for the violence. We spoke with the director about her personal experiences, directing a deaf debutant actor, and the acclaimed journey of the film. Beyond

Two People Exchanging Saliva immerses us in a world where kissing is punishable by death and everything is paid for by slaps. We follow the tale of two women, a bourgeois consumer played by Zar Amir Ebrahimi , and a saleswoman played by Luàna Bajrami. Directors Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh accomplish an incredible feat of doing an erotic thriller about a desire that must not be consummated. Shot in brilliant black and white cinematography to showcase the bleakness of

In Extremist, Alexander Molochnikov discusses the imprisonment of Sasha Skochilenko, a young Russian artist, in jail for swapping product labels for anti-war protests. The short follows the tough trial of the artist for speaking the truth and opposing the Putin administration. Listen as Pedro and Alexander discuss the story and making of the film. The short is distributed by The New Yorker and can be viewed here: https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/extremist