On cinema as a means of processing traumatic experiences, tricksterism and the mycelium of solidarity

A conversation with Sashko Protyah

I have a lot of material ready for editing. My Favorite Job, 2022 will be part of a bigger film. I chose to put this piece together first because it’s important for the volunteers, who are going to the East and South to help people. I believe that Ania and Yura’s story enables us to understand what’s going on. So this is how I combine those two verbs, “to help” and “to understand”.

“Purple Sea”: Telling Your Own Story

A conversation with Amel Alzakout

I really miss the trees, but those trees that I can picture in my head. Many people shared that after the revolution and the war they lost certain memories and other memories became stronger. It happened to me personally when my very old childhood memory became permanent and other memories just vanished. So going back to my childhood would be nice, but that place just doesn’t exist anymore.

On silencing of the Palestinian experience and sensing the unspoken through cinema

A conversation with Pary El-Qalqili

For me, the beauty of filmmaking is creating a space where you deeply sense the unspoken without having to articulate it directly. Cinema lets you feel the pain of the other through the senses.

“Сompassion and respect for everything that is alive, all the creatures of Earth, is the only “power” that we should strive for in life”

A conversation with Kasia Hertz

The situation in the world, especially the climate catastrophe, energy crises, military conflicts, all of this requires us to change our thought patterns, our lifestyles, to move away from this Eurocentric approach of walling ourselves off from “others” while benefiting from their resources. We have to learn how to share, and collaborate, and tolerate each other, embracing our differences. There is no other way to survive.

On Mariupol, memory and life in two realities

A conversation with Zoya Laktionova

The memory of Mariupol is being destroyed right now. They destroy every photo, and people’s pasts, because everything burns along with the houses: all the childhood pictures and memories… I thought about that as well. How they are trying to destroy my memory too.

On crossing borders, IDP experience, and the power of documentaries

A conversation with Anuna Bukia

What I discovered is that most people prefer not to confront trauma… I felt like I needed the raw material in order to better understand my subconscious. 

On memories, return and healing

A conversation with Anirban Dutta and Kirti Kaul

Holding on to your memories can make you feel down, but it can also become a strength: you have the choice to keep pleasant and beautiful memories of your childhood or hold onto the memories of displacement. All those are your personal experiences with the place, but you decide what stays and what has to go for the sake of your own wellbeing.

Newsreels of silenced experiences

Newsreel Front is an informal collective of workers with a background in the theory and practice of art. It takes newsreels as a type of subversive documentary and essayistic film practice, as the most precious form of political cinema. We strongly recommend diving deeper into Newsreel Front’s important work reflecting on different social struggles and especially on migration.