First Time Go

Former pro footballer turned literature major and outstanding filmmaker, director Rostislav Kirpičenko brings brutal authenticity to his feature film debut, VESNA (2026), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film follows a Ukrainian priest who sees his church turned into a morgue in a Russian-occupied city, and he depicts Russians in a way we hardly ever see on screen but is an accurate telling based on dispatches from occupied areas of Ukraine.
He brings a humanity to a conflict that desperate for any sense of warmth, and it is an important -- but difficult -- watch.
In this episode, Rostislav and I talk about:
how the film portrays the unseen world of occupied Ukraine;
his amazing background that takes him from Eastern Europe to pro football to filmmaker;
a particular scene in which he wrote a Russian commander as sober and sneering at soldiers committing war crimes;
casting for a military film;
what's next for him.

Rostislav's Indie Filmmaker Highlight:
Links:
Follow Rostislav On Instagram
VESNA (2026) at the Cannes Film Festival

From the opening scene of the brilliant film, GABIN (2026), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it was clear you were in the hands of a master of the craft of documentary. And it's no wonder: director Maxence Voiseux and producer Élise Hug worked ten years to make this happen.
How such brilliance wound up on a screen at Cannes is what I wanted to know from the filmmakers, and they were happy to share.
What Maxence and Élise want you to know about the film;
why it was made indistinguishably from a narrative film (really!) and what that means for the state of docs;
the long ten year journey of getting GABIN made;
what makes an "auter-driven" documentary and why GABIN is such a marvelous work from a director with a vision;
how each got into documentary film;
"distance is the core of documentary" -- how he made that statement happen for GABIN and advice for documentarians for their own films;
producing a film for 10 years -- is that easier or harder than a shorter timeframe? -- and the challenges particularly in France;
the role of the Cannes Film Festival in elevating documentaries and how to expand that ability to other directors;
their strategy coming into the Cannes Film Festival;
how people should follow when GABIN will be available.
weighing how much directors have to participate on social media.

Indie Film Highlight: LA DETENTION (2026) dir. by Guillaume Massart
Links:
Lightdox's GABIN
VARIETY Review of GABIN (2026)

What's it like taking a film that's 70% finished to the Cannes Film Market? Filmmaker Alain Furcajg joins me today to talk about that very question and his insightful, beautiful -- and time-sensitive - documentary RETURN TO BRITTANY, which he is hoping to finish up in the coming year before the story becomes impossible to tell due to the age of the participants.
(With a potential guest appearance by Tilda Swinton on a bicycle. We'll never know.)
In this episode, we discuss:
the story behind RETURN TO BRITTANY and what he's looking for at Cannes;
why he's there with a 70% finished documentary and the feedback he's received so far;
how he got involved in documentary filmmaking;
what is it like pitching this project at the Cannes Market;
is it easier to be French here?;
his contrary view about European filmmaking and the difficulties in getting projects made

Alain's Indie Filmmaker Highlight: Ruben Östlund
Links:
Watch The Trailer For RETURN TO BRITTANY
Follow Alain On Instagram
AF Films Website

A GIRL UNKNOWN (2026), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, succeeds on multiple levels: as a work of art about the struggle of life and the potential for rebirth; an eye-opening journey of a young girl trying to find her place in the world; a statement about the policies of China without falling into tired stereotypes; and ultimately, as a phenomenal film that challenges the viewer about how we should think of families, parenthood, and relationships.
We talked about all of this for this exceptional episode of the podcast.
In this episode, we talk about:
how she made such a soulful film, through the prism of an ending that could have gone five different directions;
why the topic of a young woman looking for her place in the world appeals to her and how this film builds off her award winning short LILI ALONE (2021);
breaking away from the typical tropes of a Chinese filmmaker where one is either viewed as a government plant or a revolutionary;
her strategy of bringing this film to Cannes;
how she hopes to inspire future generations of female filmmakers.
Links:
Follow Zou Jing On Instagram
Watch LILI ALONE (2021)
ScreenDaily's Review Of A GIRL UNKNOWN

The word paikar is Persian for "war" or "warrior" and what you're getting from a documentary of the same name is war, of a sort, but layered among so many levels: the war within a family, the war in Afghanistan, the war within the director's own self. This is filmmaking at its highest level, and I'm so thrilled to be joined by director Dawood Hilmandi today to talk about his truly epic directorial debut, which screened at this year's Hot Docs.
PAIKAR (2025)'s logline: "an Iranian expat journeys back to his homeland, where he must face his domineering father and grapple with complex emotions about family ties, cultural identity, and his place in the world."
I've spent 18 months in Afghanistan and it holds a special place in my heart. Let's celebrate people like Dawood who have given so much to make their art a reality.
In this episode, Dawood and I discuss:
what his father would think of his film;
how he got started in filmmaking;
what made him decide to do PAIKAR as his directorial debut;
the blend of languages in between Iran and Afghanistan and why the landscape is so important in understanding the film;
what people should know before watching the film and how they should feel afterwards;
the technical aspects of the film and how he decided how it was going to go -- at least in the beginning;
why did he choose the festivals he did for his film;
the release date for the film;
what's next for him.
the state of film in Afghanistan.

Dawood's Indie Filmmaker Highlight: Aboozar Amini

Memorable Quotes:
" He would be grateful or he would feel good that it's not against him. It's more like for him or because of him."
" The filmmaking, it has a long history in my family. Even as a child we were not allowed to watch films, so we were forbidden to watch films."
"I need to share untold stories."
" It's like when once you leave your country is almost like the memory of a home that maybe doesn't exist anymore. So you keep desiring that home. You keep thinking of it."
" Just be patient with the emotional moments and with the silences in the film."
" I have a different kind of connection to IDFA because I used to go there and watch films, like days nonstop, watching six films a day."
" We're starting a new era of Afghan films and new sort of new type of films. 
Links:
Follow Dawood On Instagram
PAIKAR Trailer