LOVE/BUG, 13min., UK Directed by Barnabus Walsh A couple, affectionately naming each other Love and Bug, test the limits of their love living with each other for fifteen months.
1. What motivated you to make this film? In all honesty, Laurel mentioned that she felt she was missing something from her showreel at a moment of radical optimism*, and I suggested creating something that she would want to include in that showreel. *that moment being eating a double double at an In ‘N’ Out in LA.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film? We first started discussing and writing this in early March, filmed in April, edited in May, and first screened in July.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!? Love. Bug. (bit of a cop out but those are the characters’ names.)
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film? It was quite a stress-free shoot, probably a couple reshoots of scenes?
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video? I watched this after a pretty tough day emotionally, so coming home and seeing some very kindly worded reviews really put a nice button on that day.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films? There’s always been some inkling as far back as I can remember. As silly as it sounds, Scooby-Doo: The Movie was an early example of me thinking “I want to do this” (in fairness I was six at the time.)
7. What film have you seen the most in your life? I don’t get to rewatch as much as I used to, so it’s probably something that I’ve never stopped being a fan of like X-Men 2.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career? I think you guys have the best version of an online festival you could ask for, there’s a lot of different aspects of it for a relatively affordable price. Maybe a Best of Fest in-person finale to each year?
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site? More good than bad, but it’s such bullshit when you get a “finalist” or “honourable mention” award and it’s just them considering you but not doing anything with it. Please just be honest and say not selected!
10. What is your favorite meal? Some of the worst individual meals I’ve ever had have been lasagne, but that’s because I’m always very excited to try a new lasagne (veggie or otherwise.)
11. What is next for you? A new film? The first time I submitted to you, I showed you The Lights: Test Run, a short horror film. The aim is to do a full length version next.
TRUTH IS DEAD, 4min., Australia Directed by Martin Ryan Messengers from the future try to give a warning.
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
I wanted a music video for my new track, which is really a warning about what happens when you don’t use critical thinking and you believe lies, deception and fallacies
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
4 weeks for the music track and two weeks for the video
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
that’s difficult, perhaps pre-apocalyptic warning or perhaps sci-fi action or dystopian messengers
4. What was the greatest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
lack of tokens and restrictive access to the best video generation models
5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.
What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
production
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
very early on, but the first time i remember thinking it was actually feasible was when I was acting in an action movie back called Deadly Reactor, and played a gang member called Stoner. Lots of fun riding around in the desert and shooting guns!, It was made on a shoestring budget and I saw how simple the process could actually be that’s when the idea first came to me.
7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
Aliens
8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
Robert Eggers
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
particularly easy, I’d probably like more feedback on how the selection process is progressing though.
10. What is your favorite meal?
an Irish spice bag
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’ll be making a new music vide. I’ve been filming various locations in London with a dji ronin cinema 4d 8k and I’d like to integrate some ai characters and perhaps use some analog video glitch and feedback effects, try to create something new
JUMPING AT SHADOWS: FORSAKEN FATHER, 40min., Australia Directed by Locky Boaretto Charlotte’s 18th birthday takes a dark turn when Agent Nixon arrives with shocking revelations about her past and his true reasons for hunting aliens. When a desperate attempt to change history unleashes catastrophic consequences, Locky and Jett are thrown into a terrifying alternate future where humanity faces extinction, and must find a way to undo the damage, before it’s too late!
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film? I wanted to continue expanding the Jumping at Shadows universe while telling a darker and more personal story. The main theme of the film is that vengeance has consequences. I wanted to explore what happens when characters allow anger, resentment, and a desire for revenge to influence their decisions, and how those choices can affect not only themselves but the people around them.
The film was heavily inspired by Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Back to the Future Part II. I was particularly interested in the darker tone and personal conflicts of The Empire Strikes Back, as well as the way Back to the Future Part II revisits and expands upon events from previous movies. I wanted Forsaken Father to similarly build upon the established Jumping at Shadows universe while taking the characters and story into darker territory.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film? Around 1 year.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!? Sci-Fi Thriller.
4. What was the greatest obstacle you faced in completing this film? The biggest obstacle was working with a limited budget and resources. As an independent filmmaker, I had to be creative with what was available to me while still trying to make the film feel ambitious and cinematic. Balancing the scale of the story with the practical limitations of an independent production was definitely one of the biggest challenges.
5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development, Pre-Production, Production, Post-Production, Distribution. What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process? Production is probably my favorite stage because it’s when the ideas that have existed in your head and on the page finally become something tangible. There’s something really exciting about seeing the characters, environments, performances, and story come together and watching the film actually take shape.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films? I realized I wanted to make films when I first saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens in theaters back in December 2015. Seeing a huge cinematic world on the big screen made me want to create my own stories and eventually make movies myself.
7. What film have you seen the most times in your life? Star Wars: A New Hope. It’s one of the biggest inspirations behind my approach to storytelling and my love for cinematic adventure.
8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film? I’d love to collaborate with filmmakers such as George Lucas or James Cameron. Both have an incredible ability to create ambitious cinematic worlds while combining them with memorable characters and compelling stories. I’d also love to work with actors and composers who are passionate about creating something original and cinematic.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site? My experience with FilmFreeway has been very good. It makes it much easier for independent filmmakers to submit their work directly to festivals around the world without needing another intermediary. It’s a really useful platform for getting your film in front of festivals and discovering opportunities as an independent creator.
10. What is your favorite meal? Sushi.
11. What is next for you? A new film? Yes. The next film I’ll be working on is Jumping at Shadows: Forsaken Father – (Part 2), which will be the concluding chapter of the entire Jumping at Shadows saga. It will bring the story and its characters to their ultimate conclusion while tying together the events and themes that have been developed throughout the saga. I’m excited to bring this long-running story to an end and give the Jumping at Shadows universe the conclusion it deserves.
THE BIG BREAK, 86min., USA Directed BY Avi Setton Charlie, a struggling voice actor living with his AI husband Alan and their roommate Doug, finds his life disrupted when Doug’s social media-addicted friend Travis comes to stay with them.
20 years of writing script after script and then finding out my wife was pregnant. Together, they gave me a sense of urgency to write a script that I could make as DIY as possible.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Exactly two years.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
First dream.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
A difficult colorist (who didn’t end up working on the film).
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
They were some of the first reactions I’ve seen, so I felt a deep validation in how it resonated with them.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
The first time I shot on 16mm. I was 14 and attended a New York Film Academy summer program.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Rushmore, though I haven’t watched it in over a decade.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
Help spread the word about the films that really stick with you, and encourage new outlets for distribution.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your eperiences been working on the festival platform site?
I think nearly half our film budget went to them. But the film festival submission process is already so overwhelming and convoluted, that it’s nice to have most of it streamlined on one site.
10. What is your favorite meal?
A baguette, cheese, and wine sitting outside with family and friends.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I hope so. The script is ready to go if The Big Break helps pave a path toward a slightly more ambitious production.
FIVE HOTELS, 17min., USA Directed by Harry Roseman Five Hotels is a first person view of traversing from my hotel rooms down to the street. It simultaneously encapsulates dislocation and location. The sound track evokes the unseen. The vertical orientation of the video reaffirms looking ahead along the long hallways as well as following my gaze as I walk forward. The experience of the film is both strange and ubiquitous. Visual issues: abstraction, pattern, form, and structure are embedded in the experience of this film.
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
I am constantly making films, both live action and animations. My work, both in film and other media is often in series. The hotel films started with one I made in 2024. The reason I made that film holds for the rest of the series. That is then multiplied by a kind of repetition. The ostensible narrative is very simple, I am leaving my room, going don the hall to the elevator , through the lobby and out into the street. A very straight forward trajectory. At the same tier someone may say good morning, or people may be talking to each other, out of sight but present. Various ways of being there and not being there. The whole time focussed on the patterns of the rugs and floors, both abstract and extremely literal. This is just a part of why I made this film.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
On the one hand once the idea came to me then literally the time it took me to go from my room to the street. But since the film thus far is Five hotels then it took two years for the film as it now stands. I just completed the Sixth hotel so now it is three years.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
First person
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The idea that it might not interest a single person.
5. There are 5 stages of the filmmaking process: Development. Pre-Production. Production. Post-Production. Distribution.
What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
Production
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I made my first film in my senior year of college. But I did home movies as a young person. Then there was a break of about 4 1/2 decades and I organically started to again make films.
7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
8. In a perfect world: Who would you like to work with/collaborate with on a film?
Chantal Akerman
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
Fine
10. What is your favorite meal?
Pasta and custard.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I am working on a series of animations, I have finished 14 and am working on the 15th. Also I have been working on an episodic series of very short films, about five minutes each and am on Episode 28. Also in the works in the second film “Information”. Today the Sixth Hotel was added to Five Hotels, making the new film Six Hotels. I am not sure how long this work will continue. A drawing I started over six months ago and have worked on a few times, awaits me.
Agenda 2100, 15min., Brazil Directed by Stéphanìe Habíb, Thais Guisasola When a rare solar storm creates a fleeting opportunity to transmit data into the past, Gaia and a small resistance group send a message to 2020 — a final warning and a final hope.
In 2010 I was studying International Relations, and a class on environmental policy put the IPCC reports in front of me. What unsettled me wasn’t the severity of the scenarios — it was how close they were, and how directly they followed from decisions being made right now. I wanted people to feel that the way I had felt it, and a scientific report can’t do that. A story can.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
Sixteen years. The idea arrived in 2010, the project was approved for funding in 2016, and the film was completed in 2026. In between: a pandemic that held the resources, a world that changed while we waited, and a screenplay I rewrote from the ground up because the science had moved.
3. How would you describe your film in two words?
Climate warning.
4. What was the greatest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Making an independent dystopian science-fiction film — a genre built on scale — on a small budget, without compromising the world we had to build, and without abandoning sustainable production methodology, which costs more. We solved it with partnerships instead of spending: all vehicles were electric, costumes were built from reused materials, and the set was constructed largely from materials recovered from landfill.
5. What is your favorite stage of the filmmaking process?
Development and production — for opposite reasons.
Development is where this film actually lived. Years of reading, revising, going back to the science and back to the screenplay. It is solitary, slow, and it is where everything gets decided.
Production is the reverse: a hundred people turning that into something real in a handful of days. After all those years alone with the research, standing on a set built from reclaimed materials and watching 2100 exist in front of the camera is a kind of vindication nothing else gives you.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
The same day. I didn’t want to make films and then go looking for a subject — the subject found me, and film was the only way to deliver it. I enrolled in film school for one reason: to put this story into the world.
7. What film have you seen the most times in your life?
The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars — and, on the other side of my shelf, The Day After Tomorrow and An Inconvenient Truth.
Looking at that list now, it explains the film I ended up making. Two of them taught me that an invented world only works if its rules are absolutely consistent. The other two are about this world, and about a warning nobody wanted to hear in time. Agenda 2100 sits exactly between those two shelves: the scale and craft of the first pair, the urgency of the second.
8. In a perfect world: who would you like to work with or collaborate with on a film?
Leonardo DiCaprio. Not for the name — for the track record. Over the last five years he has produced a run of environmental documentaries that are as rigorous as they are cinematic: Yanuni (2025), on Indigenous chief Juma Xipaia’s fight against illegal mining in the Brazilian Amazon; We Are Guardians (2023), on deforestation and the Indigenous forest guardians resisting it; Ozi: Voice of the Forest (2023), which carried the same subject to an animated family audience; Path of the Panther (2022); and The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52 (2021).
What I admire is that none of them settle for being worthy. They are made with real craft — and they reach audiences that would never open a scientific report. That is exactly what Agenda 2100 is trying to do, and two of those films are set in my own country. Working with someone who has already committed that deeply to Brazilian environmental stories would be the natural place for this project to go next.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
Wonderful, and for a specific reason: I’m dyslexic, and forms are one of the hardest parts of this work for me. FilmFreeway keeps everything in one place — the materials, the submissions, the festival replies — so I’m not rebuilding the same information from scratch every time, which is exactly where things go wrong for me.
And they have. Submitting to festivals outside the platform, I once completed everything, paid the fee, and forgot to attach the film. Another time I filled out an entire form, then paid for and submitted the empty one instead. Neither mistake had anything to do with the film. Having a single place where I can go back and see precisely what was sent, and what wasn’t, is what makes this part of the work possible for me at all.
10. What is your favorite meal?
Japanese food. I could eat it every day and never get tired of it.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
A feature. Agenda 2100 continues: the short becomes the opening of a longer story, and the research that built it carries over.
The Hirsch Effekt, 28min., Germany Directed by Florian Glock Alone in a dusty rehearsal room, Nils Wittrock writes the most personal album of The Hirsch Effekt—caught between parenthood, post-pandemic pressure and self-doubt, he searches for air, meaning, and a way back to the band.
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
I have been working with The Hirsch Effekt for several years and have always been fascinated by the way they create music. With Der Brauch, I wanted to get closer to that process and show the people behind the music – not by explaining everything, but by observing them while the album was taking shape.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
The film was shot and edited throughout 2025 and was completed in January 2026, shortly before the release of the album Der Brauch. In total, I had seven shooting days and around 15 hours of material, followed by roughly ten full days of editing.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Intimate. Observational.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Finding the film in the material. I work mostly as a one-man crew, so I was responsible for camera, sound and editing. The biggest challenge was turning many hours of observations, conversations and musical moments into a 29-minute film without losing the natural rhythm and character of the band.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
It was interesting – and also a little strange – to hear people I had never met discussing the film in detail. As a filmmaker, you spend so much time very close to your material that it is valuable to see what remains with an audience that approaches it without that background.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I came to filmmaking indirectly. I originally studied medicine, but after leaving university and walking the Camino de Santiago in 2001, I knew I wanted to take a different path. Over time, working with cameras and moving images became my way of telling stories, and documentary filmmaking increasingly became the form that felt most natural to me.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Probably Apocalypse Now and Fight Club.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
For me, the most valuable part of a festival is real exchange: physical screenings, meeting other filmmakers and talking directly with an audience. Personal communication and opportunities to build genuine connections within the documentary and film community are probably more useful to me than additional promotional services.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
FilmFreeway itself is straightforward and makes it easy to discover and submit to festivals internationally. The more difficult part is evaluating which festivals are genuinely relevant for a particular film, because the quality, focus and actual festival experience can vary considerably.
10. What is your favorite meal?
Pasta.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I definitely want to continue working on music documentaries and artist portraits. There is an idea for a larger follow-up project connected to The Hirsch Effekt that would look beyond the making of one album and explore what it means to make independent music today. It is still at an early stage, though, and I am also working on other documentary projects.
HAUNTED HERITAGE, 14min., India Directed by Surina Narula “Haunted Heritage” reframes the haunted-house narrative as a power play between past and present, exposing how inherited privilege and unexamined racism persist across cultures and how the ghosts we fight often mirror the ones we carry.
During the pandemic, when prolonged isolation led me to reflect on how fear can revive old prejudices. I started asking myself: can fear and uncertainty awaken biases we believe we’ve left behind? The ghost in this film became a metaphor for those inherited fears and biases that continue to haunt us. At its heart, this film carries an unexpected message. For me, the real exorcism is forgiveness. The ghost isn’t banished by force, it is finally laid to rest through forgiveness and compassion. That’s the lesson I wanted to explore.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
From idea to finished product, this took time. As it was my first time directing, I wanted to take my time. The shoot was 3 days, plus an extra day later to explore different shots and emotions. This topic is important to me, and I wanted it to be perceived in different ways. Shot end of 2024, completed mid-2025 with editing and sound.
3. How would you describe your film in two words?
Inherited Prejudice.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest obstacle I faced in completing this film was that it was my first time handling a crew and being in charge of major decision-making. Every choice felt significant, and there was so much to learn, from communicating my vision clearly to trusting my instincts under pressure. But it was a privilege. I learnt a lot about myself as a director, about collaboration, and about what it truly takes to bring a story to life.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Watching the feedback video was surreal and humbling. I want to thank the three women who gave me their thoughts, I am really pleased they understood my intention for making this film: the consequences of family trauma and legacy. That blend of humour and heart was exactly what I hoped for.
6. When did you realise that you wanted to make films?
I realised I wanted to make films when I understood the power of holding a mirror up to uncomfortable truths.
There are so many important conversations happening around us, so many different voices and experiences, yet so much of it is never truly seen on screen. I wanted to change that. Through my experience serving on the boards of different charities and working with street children, I’ve seen firsthand the stories that deserve to be told. That’s what drew me to filmmaking. I want to make impact films, films that do more than entertain, but spark conversations, challenge perspectives and, hopefully, create change.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
I don’t tend to watch the same films over and over, as I like exploring different genres and directors, but Chicago is probably one of the films I’ve returned to the most. I love Rob Marshall’s direction and the way he combines theatricality with such strong cinematic visual storytelling.
Get Out is another film I’ve revisited several times. It had a huge impact on me and really inspired me to get into filmmaking. I often reference it when starting a project, particularly when thinking about tone, atmosphere and how to tell a meaningful story while still keeping an audience completely engaged.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I would value more opportunities for feedback and mentorship from experienced filmmakers and industry professionals. I’m also very interested in networking events and the chance to be fully immersed in the festival environment, meeting other filmmakers, discovering new work and building genuine connections within the industry.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working on the festival platform site?
NewBornFilm Agency submitted this particular film on my behalf, but I do have previous experience using FilmFreeway myself. I’ve always found it to be a very smooth and straightforward platform.
10. What is your favorite meal?
My favourite meal is really any meal where I’m surrounded by family and friends. I love that sense of community around a table. For me, the people I’m with and the atmosphere matter more than the actual dish.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’m very excited to be making another short film, Guneet Comes Home. It’s a dark comedy ghost story exploring the difficult subject of honour killing. It’s a challenging topic, but one I feel strongly about, and I hope the film can start conversations, challenge perceptions and create some meaningful change.
King Karno, 3min. USA Directed by Richard Thompson A clown falls passionately in love with a mannequin, embarking on a mad courtship that is ultimately shattered by a sudden return to reality.
I am extremely interested in the connection between clowning traditions and character animation. “King Karno” tells the story of a clown who embodies a fusion of Commedia dell’Arte’s Arlequino (through his outfit and mask), Charlie Chaplin and other music-hall–trained comedians (through his bowler hat), and the modern clown (through his oversized, colorful boots). His name honors Fred Karno, an acrobat and comedian who became the most influential producer of British pantomime and discovered both Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel. Throughout the film, I drew on specific clowning traditions, using one of Chaplin’s iconic scenes – demonstrating his mastery of pathos – as a structural and emotional template for the film’s concluding shots.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
18 months. However, I have responsibilities as a university professor, which include teaching and service. So the way I generally break it down is 10 months of modeling, texturing, and rigging all the 3D models. Three months of performing motion capture and then retargeting the movement data onto the character. And then five months of animating, lighting, and rendering.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Comic pathos.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Time. Working almost exclusively alone from start to finish. Pixar takes — on average — 170 hours of individual work per second of completed animation. For one individual completing a 180-second film, that would mean working 40 hours a week for a dozen or so years. So sacrifices have to be made, and economical design needs to take place at the pre-production stage.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Truly wonderful! It was great to hear what they got out of it, how much they understood since there is no dialogue, and how much they picked up of the vaudeville background. Also, I am thrilled that they picked up on the undying optimism of the main character. The protagonist is, in fact, partially inspired by Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp character, who never gives up hope, despite all the obstacles, mishaps, and bad luck that get in his way. And, yes, you ARE supposed to laugh when the mannequin’s head rolls off!
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
Frankly, with the success of my previous short, M0D3RN T1M3Z. It gave me motivation to try something more expansive and complex. And now, the success of King Karno has me planning for even bigger productions.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Either Lord of the Rings or the BBC TV series of Pride and Prejudice with Colin Firth.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
An active social media presence, a professional updated website, and recently I very much appreciate festivals that create and post a linked webpage to each selected film that includes imagery and information the filmmaker has provided.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How have your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
Fine. Helpful. However, I still do as much due diligence as possible on any festival I submit to. Unfortunately, there definitely are some fraudulent festivals looking for your entry fee. This time around I focused only on long-standing festivals with in-person screenings.
10. What is your favorite meal?
Ouch. Tough one. Octopus appetizer with steak tartare entree. And chocolate for dessert.
11. What is next for you? A new film?
Yes, two, in fact. One called Legacy and another called La Piazza — both of which are larger and more expansive than what I have so far produced on my own. So I am applying for funding that will enable me to hire a couple of my students and a performer for the motion capture.
LEGACY OF ELYRIANS, 2min., Poland Directed by Marcin Zawistowski Marcus Zane spent his entire life believing he was an ordinary person. Yet ever since childhood, strange and unexplained events followed him wherever he went. He knew things he should never have known, heard people’s thoughts before they spoke, and strong emotions could trigger dangerous phenomena that someone had spent years hiding from the world.
Get to know the filmmaker:
What motivated you to make this film?
What motivated me most was the desire to create something new. Combining science fiction with fantasy isn’t exactly a new concept, but I feel that we rarely see extremely powerful characters who also struggle with a deep conflict of identity.
I wanted to create a series where the main character’s greatest challenge isn’t defeating another enemy, but discovering who he truly wants to be.
The idea of choosing humanity over power became one of my biggest motivations for creating and developing “Legacy of Elyrian”.
From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
I’ve been actively working on “Legacy of Elyrian” for about two years. During that time, I haven’t focused only on the main story, but also on creating the entire universe, its civilizations, characters, and the relationships between them.
What took me the most time was working out the details, because I wanted everything to make sense and be connected. I didn’t want to create a story where things happen just because they’re convenient for the plot.
The project is still evolving, but over these two years, I’ve managed to shape it into something close to what I originally envisioned.
How would you describe your film in two words!?
Living Legacy.
What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
The biggest challenge for me was creating the main character. Marcus is an incredibly powerful character, so I had to find a way to make sure his abilities didn’t take away the tension or sense of danger from the story.
I also wanted his emotions to have a real impact on his power. I didn’t want emotions to be just part of his personality, but something that actually influences what he’s capable of.
Another challenge was creating an opponent who could match his power while being his complete opposite. Both are strongly connected to their emotions, but while Marcus learns to accept his feelings, his opponent draws strength mainly from negative emotions.
The hardest part was finding the right balance between their immense power, their emotions, and keeping the tension throughout the story.
What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
My first reaction was a mix of happiness and gratitude. I was really pleased with all three women’s feedback. They were honest, thoughtful, and took the time to talk about both what they liked and what they felt could be improved.
What I appreciated most was how detailed their feedback was. They didn’t just say whether they liked the project or not. They actually explained their thoughts, and that means a lot to me as a creator. Even the criticism was valuable because it gave me a different perspective on my work.
There’s also one thing I’d like to clarify about AI. Right now, I’m mainly using it as a tool to help visualize and bring the world of “Legacy of Elyrian” to life. That doesn’t mean I’m planning to create the entire series with AI. The story, the characters, and the universe itself come from my own ideas and creative work.
I’m genuinely thankful to all three women for taking the time to watch my project and share their thoughts. It was really encouraging to hear their perspectives, and I appreciate their honesty.
When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
It’s hard to point to one specific moment. Over the past few years, I’ve become more and more interested in the whole process of making films and TV series. I love coming up with scenes, imagining how they would look on screen, thinking about which actors could play certain characters, and figuring out how to turn a story into a screenplay.
I’m also really excited by the idea of working with professionals, being involved in casting, and bringing something to life that previously existed only in my imagination.
I think that, over time, I realized I didn’t just want to tell stories. I also wanted to be part of bringing them to the screen and have a real say in how they’re presented.
What film have you seen the most in your life?
Definitely Stargate. And I don’t just mean the original 1994 film, but the entire TV universe as well.
I’ve watched Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe many times. I love the combination of science fiction, ancient civilizations, advanced technology, and exploring unknown worlds.
It’s one of those universes I always enjoy coming back to. It was also one of the inspirations behind the creation of “Legacy of Elyrian”.
What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
To be honest, I’m really happy with my experience at WILDsound so far. Having the opportunity to share the teaser for “Legacy of Elyrian” with a wider audience has been a really interesting and valuable experience for me.
I also appreciate that the festival gives creators the chance to hear audience feedback and share their stories through interviews.
At the moment, it’s hard for me to think of anything specific that could be improved, because everything has met my expectations.
I think opportunities like these are already a great way to support independent creators, especially those who are just starting out in the film industry.
You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experience been working with the festival platform site?
My experience with FilmFreeway has been great. The platform is easy to use, and the whole submission process went smoothly. I haven’t had any problems with it so far, so I’m really happy with how everything works.
What is your favorite meal?
Definitely spaghetti! It’s always been one of my favorite dishes, and I never get tired of it.
What is next for you? A new film?
For now, I want to focus on continuing to develop “Legacy of Elyrian”. My plan is to turn the story into a TV series spanning three or four seasons.
I’m also currently working on finishing the book, which serves as the foundation for the entire project.
My biggest goal is, of course, to bring “Legacy of Elyrian” to the screen. I know it’s going to be a long and challenging journey, but I’m determined to take the steps needed to get closer to making that dream a reality.
I’m not planning a new film at the moment. I want to give this story a real chance to come to life on screen one day.
