Conversation with filmmaker Tom White on the making of CONNECTION – a film he directed remotely.
A government agent is tasked with interrogating a silent prisoner—but the true danger lies in whether the voice in his head is his own… or something else entirely.
I didn’t just direct Connection from my living room — I directed it live, in real time, over an iPad, collaborating with my cast and crew from home.
After being diagnosed with a chronic disability that left me homebound, I feared my days of directing were over. For a long time, I grieved the version of myself who could run a set, work shoulder to shoulder with my DP, and block scenes in person. But this film became the experiment that proved I could still do all of that — just differently.
Remote directing forced me to trust my collaborators more deeply, communicate with absolute clarity, and lean into a process most filmmakers never attempt. The result isn’t just a short film — it’s proof that my voice still has a place, even if the way I use it has changed.
Connection is my reminder that creativity can evolve. That even when life rewrites the rules, we can still tell the stories that matter to us — and maybe tell them in ways no one’s tried before.
I have to really thank the actors for my reading, nothing short of terrific as they were, nothing short of incredibly smart, attractive, and perceptive as they were. They brought the script to life. – F. Maffai
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Such a wonderful festival! The communication was excellent and the administrators were very supportive of my work.
Excellent festival. The video feedback system is amazing, and really provides some great insight on your film from actual viewers – and the video format really adds something special to the whole experience.
Great feedback! Awesome taste in films.
Thank you very much for valuing our short film DIE INSIDE, a lot of love from the dominican republic.
A terrific festival where every single film showcased received multiple votes for BEST FILM. Each film is the best of the best of Experimental/Dance/Music films from around the world in the last year.
Best Film: The Sweater Best Experimental: Oasis Best Dance Film: Matter Best Music Video: Chaton – From the Future Best Performances: Cabaré Best Story: clipping. – Run It Best Direction: Echo of Silence Best Cinematography: Plié (On Eggshells Best Sound & Music Everyone Wants A Tight Pussy Best Visual Design: Khimairas of the Kinesphere
SEE THE LINEUP OF FILMS:
Cabaré, 6min., Brazil, Music Directed by Emerson de Lucca Brandt Drama, body, poetry. Dude São Thiago breathes new fire into brazilians João Bosco & Aldir Blanc’s classic “Cabaré”—a standout from his debut double album O Sexo do Vento. This isn’t just a cover—it’s a reinvention. A ritual. A reclamation.
Khimairas of the Kinesphere, 9min., USA, Dance Directed by Eric Souther, Kelsey Paschich Khimairas of the Kinesphere explores the extension of the mediated body. Human movement choreographed for digital avatars which work as sites for artificially generated images. The crises of climate change demands a hybridization and reexamination of the relationship between humans and nature, a redesign, a second nature. We are forced to reimagine our co-existence and our role in shaping the future.
Chaton – From the Future, 3min., USA, Music Directed by Marcus CB Soori Chaton’s super-danceable and hard-punching debut track is inspired by futurism, the aspiration to create technologies seemingly from the future, to enable a better life for us all today.
Plié (On Eggshells), 14min., Spain, Dance Directed by Virgo Martinez From dawn to dusk, set in the Danish countryside, ‘Plié’ captures the beauty of youth combined with the absurd and inevitable lack of presence when a heart goes through loss. The heart, like the ballet movement of a plié, is extra careful and delicate when faced with a fragile situation. This film portrays a refreshing perspective of love and lust behind the scenes of the high-level ballet culture.
Oasis, 9min. Mexico, Experimental Directed by Hugo Hernández Jiménez An immersive and vibrant journey into the heart of Mexican lucha libre, where Arena Querétaro emerges as a living protagonist, welcoming its spectators and inviting them to delve into the essence of the fight. Through the accounts of local wrestlers, the magic and myth of pancracio intertwine with the culture and emotions of a community that gathers around the ring, rejoicing, cheering, and raging alongside the protagonists of the fight.
Echo of Silence, 14min., Poland, Experimental/Dance Directed by Mateusz Wawrzyniak, Patrycja Wasiak, Piotr Kuniewski In a world where everyone is surrounded by many yet feels alone you struggle to stay afloat. Echo of Silence is a story about overcoming inner darkness and finding strength to stand against all odds.
clipping. – Run It, 5min., USA, Music Directed by Lawrence Klein Sub Pop Music Video – International Spy Game of Shadow characters and conspiracies set to the clipping. style of cyberpunk future.
Everyone Wants A Tight Pussy, 1min., Canada, Poem Directed by Sofia Auza A poetry video about living with chronic vaginal pain.
MATTER, 21min., USA Directed by Gabe Katz, Mike Murphy A young woman enters into a journey of self-exploration, discovery, and identity. As she travels through the ephemeral, working through her understanding of self-perception, other travelers within the same universe try to join.
The Sweater, 9min., Canada, Experimental Directed by Maziyar Khatam Pressured into giving away his clothes, an emasculated young man obsessively attempts to reclaim his cherished sweater before it vanishes into the donation abyss.
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(On landing The Brady Bunch Movie (1995)) I had done virtually no comedy at all until then. All the television I had done was either disease-of-the-week movies or Fatal Vision (1984) or a television series called Midnight Caller (1988). But Betty Thomas, who had actually directed an episode of Midnight Caller (1988), she was the director. I had worked with her, I had also met her years ago in New York. She was a friend of Jim Belushi‘s, and I was doing “True West” with Jim Belushi, so I met her and knew her, liked her a lot. Thought she was very funny, very salty, and I went into the read thinking really that it just didn’t make sense that I would get this part. But I thought since it was Betty, I’d go in and say hi, do my thing, have fun, walk away. And so I went in, and it seemed to go okay. I went in and did my best Robert Reed impersonation, and it seemed to go fine. And a lot of time went by, more than six or seven weeks, it seemed. So I didn’t think any more about it. It was like most auditions. You walk in, and 90 percent of them are dead. And then I got a call back and went in, and [Betty] said, “I just want to see if this was as good as I thought it was”. So I did it again, and no one was laughing. She was just looking at me like an animal in the zoo. And then the third time I went in, they had already cast Shelley Long, so they wanted to see me with “Shelley Long”, and they put us on tape. They gave me some bad wig. I looked like “Buckwheat” from “The Little Rascals”, and they put me in some bad polyester shirt, and it was just really odd, because I looked so stupid. I left and didn’t think anything about it, and then it still went on and on. It was on and it was off, and it was on and it was off, and then finally I got a call from her and she said, “I really want you to do it”. And then she went to bat for me at the studio, because I don’t think the studio wanted me. It didn’t make sense for the studio; I’m sure they were going through their list of stand-up comedians and other comic actors that had done those movies. And nobody wanted to do it. They’d keep passing on it. And the time was coming, they had to make it, and so I was slipped in.
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Italy to me is like the mean mother. Whatever I do, it’s never good enough. People say I’m the queen of Cannes, but in Italy I get turned down for work.
Movies have saved my life and I’m so grateful. I’m so shy and weird that if I didn’t find a place in the world through movies, I don’t know what I would’ve become.
[her full speech at the awards ceremony of the 71st Cannes Film Festival] I have a few words to say. In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old. This festival was his hunting ground. I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again. He will live in disgrace, shunned by a film community that once embraced him and covered up for his crimes. And even tonight, sitting among you, there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women. For behaviour that does not belong in this industry, does not belong in any industry or workplace. You know who you are. But most importantly, we know who you are. And we’re not going to allow you to get away with it any longer ! [May 19, 2018]
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Let’s just say I’m a physical guy.
I’ve never been a big gore guy.
I’m not a big shopper.
I think it helps, as an actor, to never know when you’re going to get that next script and you’re done.
I played sports in high school and in college.
I played baseball in college, and then I went to Russia to study acting and played some pro ball over there.
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