film essay

Writer-director Jessie Barr on the personal story of death, grief and family that underpins her debut feature, Sophie Jones.

Director Brielle Brilliant on the very particular backstory of their new film Firstness, and what that word means to them.

Acclaimed writer-director Nicholas Jarecki on why his debut, Arbitrage, and new film Crisis both focus on societal systems in collapse.

Sarah Sherman ponders concepts of art and achievement after she and her brother Zach co-directed their debut feature, Young Hearts.

As Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf vies for Oscar contention, director Susan Youssef charts how Islamophobia has impacted her creative career.

Elizabeth Lo, whose debut documentary feature Stray is out tomorrow, on the most difficult situation she faced making the film.

Canadian filmmaker Mark Cira traces his long, complicated relationship with May's famously derided comedy back to his anarchist teen years.

Dante Bellini, director of Ken Burns: Here & There, on how the documentary icon helped him make a late-career leap to filmmaking.

When writer-director Terrie Samundra made her feature debut, she ignored the age-old adage about not working with children and animals ...

Filmmaker and artist David Shapiro shares journal entries from the making of his latest project, Untitled Pizza Movie, which is out this week.

Asian-Canadian writer-director Li Dong, whose debut feature, Stealing School, is out this week on VOD, gives his take on the current moment.

Iranian-American trans filmmaker Tony Zosherafatain on how his perspective shifted while making his timely new docuseries for Topic.