Awards /

The Professional Interview: Jump Street Films’ Jamie Bialkower shares his wisdom for upcoming producers and distributors

Date: 15-04-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

We are excited to share this interview with Jamie Bialkower with you.  Jamie Bialkower is an Australian producer and distributor. After starting his career with the Village Roadshow Group, he launched Jump Street Films in 2004 as a boutique distribution...


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The Professional Interview: Atilla Salih Yücer On The Alchemy of The Indie Producer

Date: 01-04-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Fresh from our inaugural TalentBridge online filmmaker workshop, producer and 1st AD Atilla Salih Yücer stuck around to answer our questions about his journey into the film industry and his advice for upcoming industry types.  Atilla Salih Yücer is a...


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The Professional Interview: Connecting Cottbus’ Marjorie Bendeck on pitching, psychology, and smiling your way through

Date: 30-03-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Fresh from running a fun and fantastic class on pitching at our inaugural T-Port TalentBridge online workshop, Marjorie Bendeck shares some more of her industry expertise in our Professional Interview. Originally from Honduras, Marjorie Bendeck holds a BA in communications...


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Felix Foltas on the First Steps Award and obsessional filmmaking

Date: 14-02-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Felix Foltas is one of the directors behind the punchy spaceship-set short THE USB PARADOX, which – with its use of CGI and universal theme, gained a nomination for the prestigious FIRST STEPS AWARD.  We chatted to the Austrian filmmaker...


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Simon Maria Kubiena On Playful Shoots, Non-Professional Actors, and Film As Emotional Truth

Date: 26-01-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

  Austrian filmmaker Simon Maria Kubiena is the filmmaker behind AT HOME I FEEL LIKE LEAVING, which appears on T-Port courtesy of our partners at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis. The tour for the film recently...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Riki Rotter’s ‘stories that live in the space between silence and rebellion’

Date: 19-01-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Israeli filmmaker Riki Rotter didn’t watch any films or TV as a child, growing up in an ultra-orthodox community until the age of 18 meant that she discovered cinema as an adult, as enthralling. We talked to the filmmaker, whose...


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Meyer Levinson-Blount on the Oscar Shortlist and creating a human story around a controversial subject

Date: 12-01-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

When this year’s Oscar Shortlist was announced, director Meyer Levinson-Blount was in the middle of moving house, only to receive the best housewarming gift imaginable – a place on the list.  We chatted to the director, who made BUTCHER’S STAIN...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Betina Kuntzsch on the films that just want to be made

Date: 07-01-2026

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Betina Kuntzsch is the filmmaker behind the animated documentary SKY LIKE SILK, FULL OF ORANGES, which was picked by guest curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso as part of the 2025 T-Port Lighthouse Selections. The animated short, created in her own style which...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Esben Sloth on Kieślowski, Imagination, and Finding the Perfect Staircase

Date: 10-12-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Filmmaker Esben Sloth was born and raised in Denmark, studied film in the Czech Republic, and harbours dreams of moving to Sao Paulo, all contributing to the aesthetic and themes of his 2025 T-Port Lighthouse-selected film ŽEBRA, which caught the...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Antonia Lindner on her very human dramas and DON’T LET GO

Date: 26-11-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

29-year-old filmmaker Antonia Lindner is currently based in Munich, but a lifetime of living in different places have led to her seeing herself as “belonging nowhere.” We caught up with the filmmaker, whose T-Port Lighthouse-selected short film DON’T LET GO...


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Christofer Nilsson on DIY Filmmaking, Sad Towns, and Script Pool Tallinn

Date: 12-11-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Writer/director Christofer Nilsson is currently based in Malmö, but grew up in the Swedish countryside. He was selected to take part in this year’s Script Pool Tallinn at the Discover Campus at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and his film...


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Teresa Väli on Script Pool Tallinn and Telling Your Own Story

Date: 11-11-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

36-year-old Estonian filmmaker Teresa Väli was selected to take part in this year’s Script Pool Tallinn at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, and her short film WHITE NIGHT is currently available for streaming by Professional Subscribers on T-Port. In...


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Polina Piddubna on Skydiving Grannies, Empowering Animation, and the First Steps Award

Date: 30-10-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Polina Piddubna is a Ukrainian filmmaker who has been living in Germany since 2019. Their film MY GRANDMOTHER IS A SKYDIVER premiered at Cannes and was selected for the prestigious First Steps Award.  We caught up with the filmmaker to...


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Skander Kourgli and His Team of ‘Seasoned Pirates’ are Premiering DEAD AIR at PÖFF

Date: 28-10-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Skander Kourgli completed his graduation film, DEAD AIR, as part of his studies at Filmakademie Wien, not knowing where the film would end up. After adventures in shooting on film and creating a period piece in a soon-to-be demolished radio...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Andrzej Danis on joy, tears, and making his own kind of music

Date: 23-10-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Polish filmmaker Andrzej Danis made his documentary DEBTORS (Zadłużeni) as his graduation film from the Polish National Film and Television School in Lodz, based on his own family history. His short caught the eye of our guest curator Kasia Karwan,...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Nicolás Pindeus – Finding the Perfect Non-Actor

Date: 15-10-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Austrian filmmaker Nicolás Pindeus is behind THE LAST PEOPLE (DIE LETZTEN MENSCHEN), his graduation film from Filmakademie Wien, a thought-provoking short drama exploring the dwindling population of a rural village, which was picked by Guest Curator Kasia Karwan for the...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Mathieu Volpe – From Loss to ELDORADO

Date: 30-09-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Belgian-Italian filmmaker Mathieu Volpe has always stood at the intersection of cultures—and genres. Known for his documentary work, Volpe takes a bold step into fiction with ELDORADO, a quiet and emotional story of grief and migration set in the snowy...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Romina Küper and Katharina Mumper on Class, Shame, & Solidarity

Date: 09-09-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

  Writer-director Romina Küper and producer Katharina Mumper join us to discuss their short film: THIS IS NOT A CHARACTER, THIS IS BETRAYAL, made by the German duo during their time at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and selected for the 2025 T-Port...


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Geeske Janßen on confronting ‘a relationship few dare to speak about’

Date: 21-08-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

German filmmaker and artist Geeske Janßen discusses her short film MONIKA, part of a three-year research project on sex dolls that took her from Las Vegas factories to brothels in Dortmund. We chatted to the filmmaker, a long-term resident of...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: It Started With a Shrimp – an interview with Luzie Kurth

Date: 15-08-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Luzie Kurth is the creative force behind the short film PÊCHE, which was picked by guest curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso as part of our 2015 Lighthouse Selection.  In this interview, we chatted to the filmmaker about cinema, food, and the beauty...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Simon Intihar on DIY filmmaking and Reclaimed Subcultural Spaces

Date: 31-07-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Slovenian director Simon Intihar made the cut for our 2025 T-Port Lighthouse Selections with his short film CONTAINER (picked by our guest curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso) a visceral and textured portrait of three characters reclaiming their space in a community facing...


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Mara Weinert on animating the ‘Beauty, Cuteness, Humor and Tragedy of the Ordinary’

Date: 25-07-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

For Offenbach-based filmmaker Mara Weinert, filmmaking is a natural extension of how she navigates the world. Through an evolving interest in documentation and animation, her recent short NÄCHSTER HALT: WIESBADEN OST, which appears on T-Port via our partners at HfMA, ...


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‘Small Poems’ with big meanings: A Conversation with Veera Lamminpää

Date: 18-07-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Veera Lamminpää is a Finnish filmmaker, animator, and storyteller whose award-winning short film Mereneläviä (FISH RIVER ANTHOLOGY) combines stop-motion animation and musical poetry to explore everyday interactions and hidden inner lives. Her work appears on T-Port courtesy of our partners...


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How Inbar Shtiglitz Turned Silence into Story for RED HEART

Date: 07-07-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Inbar Shtiglitz is a filmmaker originally from Givatayim, Israel, now living between France and Israel. A graduate of our partners over at the Minshar School of Arts, Inbar has written and directed three narrative shorts and is currently editing a...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: ‘Let the Error Speak’ – Rony Efrat on Creativity Outside of the Box

Date: 24-06-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Filmmaker Rony Efrat is afraid of bugs—but she watches them. In her Lighthouse-selected short “Failing Forward”, which was picked by Guest Curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso, memory, AI, and glitch coalesce into a haunting audiovisual essay. From Laurie Anderson to “Zoolander”, we...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Ulysse de Maximy – Evoking Childhood Through Sound and Vision in CRAWLIES

Date: 17-06-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Ulysse de Maximy is a student at the Mexican National Film School. His short film CRAWLIES was selected as part of the 2025 T-Port Lighthouse Selections by our guest curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso.  In this interview, we caught up with the...


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Blurring Truth and Illusion: Luka Kluskens on BLIN FIDUCIE

Date: 11-06-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Meet Luka Kluskens, a Dutch actress and filmmaker whose short film BLIN FIDUCIE is now available on T-Port, thanks to our partners at Screen Talent Netherlands. In this interview, Luka shares the personal and cultural roots behind her visually bold...


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‘The World That No Longer Exists’: Tomasz Frymorgen on Memory, Identity, and His Claims Conference Runner-Up Short ‘Wallpaper’

Date: 29-05-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

 Polish-British filmmaker Tomasz Frymorgen was awarded as a runner up in the Claims Conference Emerging Filmmaker Contest for his evocative short “Wallpaper,” a poignant meditation on memory, loss, and legacy.  With a background in documentaries and a current focus on...


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“The Grandfather Puzzle”: Ora DeKornfeld on Piecing Together Holocaust Memory Across Generations

Date: 20-05-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

When filmmaker Ora DeKornfeld began exploring her grandfather’s past, she unearthed more than just family lore—she discovered a cinematic thread that would become THE GRANDFATHER PUZZLE, a short documentary supported by the Claims Conference Emerging Filmmaker Contest.  Raised in Annapolis,...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Edie Lawrence on Stop Motion, Poverty, and Breaking into Festivals

Date: 16-05-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Bristol-based animator and filmmaker Edie Lawrence uses claymation to explore contemporary issues. Her debut short film, Autophagy, which was picked as part of the 2025 Lighthouse Selections by Kasia Karwan, is a dark reflection on grief, dementia, and the predatory...


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Preserving Fofo’s Voice: A Claims Conference Finalist on Memory, Trust, and Block 10

Date: 11-05-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

In this interview, Alison reflects on her experience pitching the project for the Claims Conference Emerging Filmmaker Contest, the rare access she was granted to film inside Auschwitz’s infamous Block 10, and the emotional challenges of bringing Fofo’s story to...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: ‘How much can love really save anyone?’ Talking to Jason Adam Maselle, director of PUNTER

Date: 02-05-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Jason Adam Maselle (he/him) directed his Lighthouse Selected short film PUNTER, a film that began as an exploration of his dad’s gambling addiction, but ended up as an exploration of his country, South Africa.   We chatted to the filmmaker, whose...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Exploring the ‘suspense-comedy’ genre with William Sehested Høeg director of THE COMPLAINT

Date: 17-04-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

In William Sehested Høeg’s workplace tragi-comedy THE COMPLAINT, his protagonist Mona learns of a complaint made about her to HR while attending a management training course.  We chatted with the Danish filmmaker about his process as well as finding the...


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Producer Pim van Gorp: Empowering Emerging Talent through Short Films

Date: 07-04-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Pim van Gorp is a producer for Fabel Films, whose recent works SHELTER and CRESCENDO appear on T-Port courtesy of our partners at Screen Talent Netherlands.  In this insightful interview, we sit down with Pim, a seasoned producer with over...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Doron Neeman on taking guidance from past masters

Date: 04-04-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Doron Neeman is still in the early part of his career and is still studying at film school – this hasn’t stopped the student film that he directed being picked up by Guest curator Kasia Karwan as part of the...


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Lighthouse Selections 2025: Fabrizio Fusco on his first major short film, ‘angels’ in the casting room, and the many roadblocks to distribution

Date: 27-03-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Fabrizio Fusco’s short film THE SKY IS LOST /  Il cielo è perso caught the eye of our guest curator Jukka-Pekka Laakso, and made it into his contribution to the 2025 T-Port Lighthouse Selections.  In this interview, we find out...


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Screen Talent NL’s Guido Franken on finding ‘talents and stories that matter’ in underrepresented places

Date: 21-03-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Founder and Chair of Screen Talent Netherlands, Guido Franken has been busy setting up a network of film industry training and linking organisations across the country in order to bring a new generation of Dutch filmmakers to the forefront. We...


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Reza Rasouli on getting it right the second time around

Date: 12-03-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Reza Rasouli’s film NIGHT OF PASSAGE tells the story of three Iranian refugees escaping into Austria, and it won the Audience Award at this year’s Max Öphuls Prize as well as Best Short Film at the Trieste Film Festival. We...


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Camera as a witness: an interview with Jordie Koko, director of WHERE DO I BELONG

Date: 21-02-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

We caught up with the Brussels-based filmmaker Jordie Koko, whose latest film: WHERE DO I BELONG? is on T-Port courtesy of our partners at Wallonie Bruxelles Images.  We talked about the highly personal nature of the film, her studies at...


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Getting connected in Clermont – Filmmakers on their experience of the Talent Connexion

Date: 14-02-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Earlier this month we sent a delegation of filmmakers to the prestigious short film festival in Clermont-Ferrand. The mission –  to take part in the annual Clermont Talents Connexion, a programme designed to help up and coming filmmakers find information,...


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Crows and snow in felted wool – In conversation with Rebecca Blöcher of ‘Mama Micra’

Date: 07-02-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

  Rebecca Blöcher and Frédéric Schuld collaborated on the short animation MAMA MICRA, an emotional tale based on true events from Rebecca’s mother’s life. The moving stop-motion animation, told through figures crafted in wool and other materials, has already gained...


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Betina Kuntzsch on the nuances missed from history books and a 30-year career of video drawing

Date: 30-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Betina Kuntzsch, an artist and filmmaker, has spent over three decades pushing the boundaries of animated documentary film, blending personal history, archival footage, and striking visuals. Her latest work, SKY LIKE SILK, FULL OF ORANGES, which appears on T-Port Courtesy...


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Exploring the Complexities of Childhood Fantasy and Self-Identity in ‘Ever After’: A Conversation with Helen Hideko and Clara Maria Bacher

Date: 24-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

In this insightful conversation, director Helen Hideko and producer Clara Maria Bacher discuss their creative journey behind EVER AFTER, a film that blends personal experience with universal themes of otherness, identity, and fantasy.  “Ever After” appears on T-Port courtesy of...


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Max Öphuls Preis’ Louise Lindlar, on international collaboration and providing visibility for ‘inspiring talents’

Date: 20-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

We caught up with the Head of Industry from the German-speaking film prize about how they support and champion upcoming filmmakers, as well as what to expect from the 2025 edition of the festival, which starts today (Jan 20th.) Hi...


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Behind the ‘long and exhausting’ process to making Jennifer Drake’s GOD IS GREY

Date: 17-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Ghanaian filmmaker Jennifer Drake moved to Munich for film school where she worked as a producer before directing her first short GOD IS GREY. The short, which explores the taboos around sexuality in her home and adopted countries, had its...


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Szymon Ruczynski on his ‘deliberately imperfect’ and deeply powerful animation

Date: 14-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Szymon Ruczyński’s animated film THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THE FOREST has seen its share of festival success around the world, and made the T-Port Lighthouse Selections in 2023. But as the film has travelled, the humanitarian crisis it depicts continues...


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It started with a CAPTCHA – Victoria Warmerdam on the highs and lows of making her OSCAR® shortlisted short

Date: 06-01-2025

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Victoria Warmerdam’s short comedy-drama I’M NOT A ROBOT has gained accolades and awards across the festival circuit from Sitges to Cannes. But perhaps the pinnacle is yet to come, as the Dutch film has been shortlisted for the ACADEMY AWARD®...


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The simple, complicated ideas of Michal Toczek

Date: 17-12-2024

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Filmmaker Michal Toczek has been busy – four of his films currently appear on T-Port, each with intersecting themes and ideas, and two featuring the same well known Polish comic actor – Sebastian Stankiewicz – in dramatic roles.  In this...


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Ieva Šakalytė on the joys of pitching and letting go

Date: 05-12-2024

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Baltic Pitching Forum alumna Ieva Šakalytė (she/her) was gracious enough to share two of her short films BECOMING ANIMAL (2018) and SPA (2024) with us, so we caught up with the Lithuanian filmmaker to chat about  the production process, the...


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From a Lighthouse Selection to an awards run, catch up with Gleb Osatinski

Date: 18-11-2024

Posted by: Jess Sweetman

Filmmaker Gleb Osatinski has been busy since his film OUTSIDERS made the cut for the 2021 T-Port Lighthouse Selections. In this catch up interview, we chat to the Ukrainian-born filmmaker about his current awards run after a lengthy pre production...


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