Month: May 2025

Why did I decide to create this project? 

Mecca is the second installment and prequel to the first of a four-film anthology called The Parables (theparables.net), which takes its viewers on a mind-binding journey through time, genre, and the human spirit. A drama set in New York City soon after 9/11, Mecca gave me the opportunity to showcase humankind’s capacity for suffering, perseverance, catharsis and ultimately serenity in the face of an incredible odds.

How much of my soul is in this project? 

I lived in New York shortly after 9/11, lived in the same neighborhoods, felt the same emotions and faced many of the same challenges as the protagonist in this story, so a great deal of me is found in these pages.

Who do I wish to share this project with? 

I share this story first with the irreplaceable people of New York, who I don’t believe have had a proper story given to them illustrating how they stood back up after that terrible day in September. Next, I share it with anyone who dared to start a dream, only to have it come crashing down, and refused to accept that outcome, having the courage to say to themselves: “get up.”

To whom do I dedicate this project? 

Always first and foremost to my father, without whom none of these stories would be possible; to every person with the audacity to never give up; and to the beautiful men and women of New York City.

Fractures In Time

BEST INTERNATIONAL ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER (Category Feature Script)

Croix – The Prequel: Kiss The Ring

BEST INDIE SHORT FILM, BEST ORIGINAL INDIE MOVIEMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY SHORT

The Son of Amaros

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE FILM 2025

Soularis

BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR & BEST PRODUCER (Category: Experimental Film)

True Friend

BEST AMERICAN INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Drama)

The Connecting Betrayal

BEST THRILLER SCRIPT 2025

The Art of Documentary Filmmaking: A Comprehensive Guide

BEST ORIGINAL BOOK/MANUSCRIPT

Urban Eats MTL

BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB/SERIES

Mecca

BEST ARTHOUSE DRAMA & BEST LGBTQ 2025

Cataclysm Down Under – Hero

BEST ARTHOUSE SONG

Cassandra Venice

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER

The Solomon Project

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT

Josh’s Employment Agency of Brooklyn/the Hereafter

BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER 2025

The Dream

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT

The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands

BEST AMERICAN NARRATIVE SHORT 2025, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT, BEST CAST & BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER

Routine

BEST INDIE PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, BEST INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST SOUND DESIGN

Brothers of Babylon

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT OF THE YEAR

Anything You Lose

BEST INDIE FILMMAKER

À Matador In Paris

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

There on e was a melody in The Bronx

BEST AMERICAN BOOK OF THE YEAR

Boombox (The God of THe Dance) – TV Series (pitch deck)

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT OF THE YEAR

Eve

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM, BEST FILMMAKER & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Experimental)

Middle

BEST INTERNATIONAL SUPER SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Lambada The Dance Of Fate

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL SCRIPT & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE WRITER

Shucks

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE, BEST FANTASY & BEST INTERNATIONAL SOUNDTRACK

What Is Wrong With This Country?

BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR

The Bag

BEST INDIE SUPER SHORT

Eye of the Storm

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY, BEST AMERICAN DIRECTOR, BEST ORIGINAL EDITING & BEST HUMAN RIGHTS FILM (Category: International Documentary Feature)

 Elevation to the Depths I

BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER & BEST FEATURE SCRIPT 2025

Canta la gioia

BEST MUSIC VIDEO & BEST ORIGINAL SONG WRITER

Prodigio

BEST EUROPEAN SINGER

The Broken Road

BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR (Category: Feature Script)

The Priory of Sion

BEST EUOROPEAN WRITER 2025 & BEST HISTORICAL FEATURE SCRIPT

Hummel

BEST WRITER (Category: Short Script)

K Bender (The Bloody Benders)

BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR (Category: Short Script)

Adelaide’s Magic Sunglasses

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT

The Wood Ranch Country Club

BEST ORIGINAL IDEA & BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT SCRIPT

The Insomnia Experiment

BEST ORIGINAL WRITER OF THE YEAR (Category: Short Script)

Prima del giorno dopo

BEST ARTHOUSE FILM OF THE YEAR & BEST EUROPEAN SCREENPLAY

The Mint

BEST INDIE SHORT SCRIPT 2025

Split Endz

BEST INTERNATIONAL WRITING STYLE

The White Chronicles: The Beginning? Book One

BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK/MANUSCRIPT

The Taste of Rain

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT 2025

NEVERWERE: a Lycan Love Story

BEST ORIGINAL INTERNATIONAL WRITER & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

The Duchess

BEST INTERNATIONAL DRAMA 2025 & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR

Moomtaz Khatoon: A gender fluid queer Muslim

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CAMERA OPERATOR & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER (Category: Documentary Short)

The Hallmark Couple

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Only in Malibu

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SCREENPLAY OF THE YEAR

 Gold Glory & Nobility

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER (Category: International Feature Script)

Something ain’t right

BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR (Category: Documentary)

I Can’t Save You

BEST ARTHOUSE SUPER SHORT FILM 2025

The Day of Knight: Chapter 3

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT (Category: Narrative Short)

Iriso

BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY (Category: Drama)

When the Withered Leaf Awakens

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE

Destination Marfa

BEST PICTURE, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE FEATURE

Doctor Hyphoteses

BEST INTERNATIONAL COMEDIAN

Katabasis

BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST CAST, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHER

Riding on Duke’s Train

BEST VIDEO POETRY 2025 & BEST SPIRITUAL SHORT FILM 2025

Onnipotent Resolution

BEST MUSICAL, BEST INTERNATIONAL DANCE FILM & BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Roses are Blind

BEST FILMMAKER & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: International Thriller)

I’ve Fallen

BEST ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO

Ageless

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE DIRECTOR & BEST SOUNDTRACK

Giulietta e Romeo?

BEST YOUNG SCREENWRITER, BEST ORIGINAL SHORT FILM & BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST TIME DIRECTOR

Out of State-A Gothic Romance

BEST FILMMAKER, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY & BEST INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION COMPANY

Two Fridges

BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM

The Dragonfly Dreaming Project

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Asherah’s Colors

BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR

Ice Hockey Orphans

BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The Dinner Party

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST SOUNDTRACK

NOI Crusaders – 30 anni di football americano in Sardegna

BEST INTERNATIONAL SPORT FILM OF THE YEAR & BEST EUROPEAN INDIE DIRECTOR

Fascino d’altri tempi

BEST EUROPEAN NARRATIVE SHORT OF THE YEAR

Der Rote Klang

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT & BEST INDIE ACTRESS

Sam and Dukes Big River Adventure

BEST ORIGINAL ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Walking With God

BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE 2025

Sequoia Spirits

BEST INTERNATIONAL DANCE MOVIE

Vessel – 2024

BEST INTERNATIONAL HORROR OF THE YEAR & BEST SUSPENSE

The G-Files

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE OF THE YEAR

Dogma

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Everland

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT

Boxed In

BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR

Wave Man

BEST EUROPEAN FEATURE SCRIPT

Revisited – Life is Short

BEST ORIGINAL AUTHOR (Category: International Music Video)

In Search of A P-I-G

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY, BEST EDITING & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: Web/Tv Series)

The Second Coming

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST SOUND DESIGN & BEST ORIGINAL CAST

In a Whole New Way

BEST INDIE PRODUCER, BEST FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR & BEST EDUCATIONAL FILM

Homeless Street Artist Documentary

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY SHORT & BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR

Not Without Gloves

BEST EUROPEAN SHORT FILM, BEST EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR & BEST SPIRITUAL FILM

The Rorschach Test

BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Edgar

BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR 2025 (Category: Animated Film)

A Perfect Love

BEST ORIGINAL INDIE FILMMAKER & BEST ARTHOUSE EDITING (Category: International Indie Documentary Short)

I am God

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST CAST & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: International Narrative Short)

Effata

BEST INTERNATIONAL MUSIC VIDEO, BEST ORIGINAL SINGER & BEST SOUND DESIGN

Ciccillo

BEST EUROPEAN DRAMA & BEST EUROPEAN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Nossos Caminhos (Our Paths)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE WRITER

Luck Court

BEST INDIE PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Category: International Comedy)

Princess Zarabanda

BEST ANIMATION 2025 & BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR (Category: Animated Short Film)

The Dead Ringer

BEST ORIGINAL ARTHOUSE WRITER OF THE YEAR (Category: International Feature Script)

Something ain’t right

BEST CAMERA OPERATOR & BEST INDIE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

Is He Cheating?

BEST INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ+ FILM

Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana

BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE VIDEO POETRY

Sheldon Mashugana gets Stooged

BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY

The Waiting Room

BEST POETRY SHORT FILM & BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHY

THE BLANKET -Die schwarze Decke

BEST FILMMAKER & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Animated Short)

Revisited – Life is Short

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SOUND DESIGN & BEST EDITING (Category: International Music Video)

Remnant

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Film)

YOU ARE HERE – a dylan brody project

BEST INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST CAST & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Category: International Film)

Antiquarius

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING & BEST CAST (Category: International Short Film)

The Stones of Rome

BEST AMERICAN NARRATIVE SHORT FILM, BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE ACTOR

The Pathos of Hamlet

BEST POETRY SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL ACTING

BLIND FAITH: Moments of Missed Understanding

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Experimental Film)

Planetary Rebellion

BEST EUROPEAN MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR & BEST ARTHOUSE MUSICIAN

Alta California

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST INDIE WRITER OF THE YEAR

Pirandello’s Wife

BEST INTERNATIONAL SCRIPT & BEST BIOGRAPHICAL SCRIPT

Louie (KR ONE) Gasparro 5POINTZ

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR

Chateau De Tarot

BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER & BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT

Life is Beautiful

BEST SONG OF THE YEAR

Precious the Baby Dragon

BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK 2025

Can’t Figure It Out

BEST ORIGINAL PRODUCER & BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL FILM

Turtle On A Fence Post

BEST SCREENWRITER 2025 (Category: Indie Feature Script)

Running Out Of Time

BEST INDIE PRODUCER & BEST ARTHOUSE PROJECT (Category: International Music Video)

Umbra/Eclipse of the moon

BEST EUROPEAN CINEMATOGRAPHER

Flint&Ema

BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR (Category: International Animated Short)

Blooming Sisters

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTRESS

The Age of the Empath

BEST PILOT/TV

Ghost Executioners 2

BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER (Category: Comedy)

Enipheres

BEST INDIE FILMMAKER (Category: Arthouse Narrative Short)

Willow’s Journey

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT

Meet My Pet Monster

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE FEATURE

Monument to Love

BEST EDITING & BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Dragul and Forbes

BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

Drowning

BEST MUSICIAN & BEST SONG OF THE YEAR

The way of Mizoguchi

BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER, BEST EUOPEAN PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY

Static

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER & BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT 2025

The Hourglass

BEST INDIE DIRECTOR, BEST CAST, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST FILMMAKER (Category: Arthouse Narrative Short)

Mind Over Matter

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST ORIGINAL IDEA & BEST EDITING (Category: International Super Short Film)

Ye Ole Glorya

BEST INTERNATIONAL COMEDY & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER

Big Momma Earth

BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER & BEST SCRIPT (Category: Comedy)

Over Exposed

BEST COMEDY 2025

Thankful

BEST WRITER 2025 (Category: Feature Script)

Dojo

BEST ACTION MOVIE, BEST EXECUTIVE PRODUCER & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category Action)

The Arcangel Of Death

BEST POETRY SHORT FILM

The Demon

BEST INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ACTOR OF THE YEAR

2020: life and death of a virus

BEST FILMMAKER & BEST EDITING (Category: International Experimental Film)

Amen-Amen-Amen: A Story of Our Times

BEST HUMAN RIGHTS DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Mashuga Wedding  and Sheldon’s Jewish Christmas

BEST AMERICAN COMEDY & BEST EDITING

L’Amour est temps de reflets

BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM & BEST EUROPEAN SHORT FILM 2025

Lifes Mapped Out

BEST INDIE FILMMAKER

-Who is Anton Svantesson-Helkiö?

Oh wow, we’re starting off with the existential crisis. After 30 years I’d have thought that I
would have a definitive answer, but the truth is that I have no clue whatsoever. In order to
quote the hilarious Billy Crystal in one of my favourite comedies, Analyze This:
“Who I am? Who I AM? Who am I? Who am I is a question for the ages. That’s the one we’re all
searching for to find out who I am, who’s in there, who wants to come out and go: “Hey, I’m
hungry!”.”
Or this quote from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones:
“I’m just a simple man trying to make my way through the universe.”
I guess I would say that I’m a filmmaker and photographer from Malmö, Sweden, who has
resided in Helsinki, Finland since the late summer of 2018 with my beautiful, amazing wife
and our so-cute-that-it-hurts dog. I started making my own short films when I was about 12
or 13 years of age. I would take a big, clunky DV camera, go out to my parents’ backyard and
just start shooting whatever. Whether it would be our dogs, the sun shining through the trees – anything was cinematic to me. I would then import the footage into the only editing
software available to me, Windows Movie Maker, not really do any editing, put in random
music and I would think to myself: “This will get me to the Oscars!”. Teenage delusions of
grandeur at its finest. I would like to think that I’ve improved behind the camera since then.
I never want to lose the sense of wonder, or overwhelming excitement, that I felt growing up.
In summary I would say that I’m a filmmaker who approaches filmmaking with passion,
curiosity and child-like wonderment.

-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?

This is difficult, because I can point to several moments where I fell in love with cinema.
Already as a child I loved telling stories, re-enact scenes from movies (especially The Mask
of Zorro, I love that movie so much), drawing my favourite characters (I think Batman,
Superman and Zorro were the ones I drew the most). Come to think of it, I probably spent a
lot more time drawing and playing make-believe in kindergarten (or is it preschool now?) and
elementary school than I did trying to connect with my peers.
I always felt like an outsider growing up, and cinema became my sanctuary in a way. I loved
getting immersed into other worlds, spending time with characters and, ultimately, feeling a
sense of belonging that was rare to find outside of the movies. The first movie-theater
experience that I remember was going with my dad, big brother and a friend from
kindergarten to see Toy Story 2. I was about 5 years old when that movie was released.
Another memorable experience was seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl. That movie was the start of my Johnny Depp-mania, and if you’re, for whatever reason,
reading this, I love you, Johnny!
However, when my undying love for cinema truly started, when I knew that there was no
turning back – it was a warm summer day in 2007, my dad and I went to the supermarket to
buy breakfast, and, as per our ritual, we went to the movie-section.
We were browsing and browsing, but then, as if being called by a mysterious force in the pile
of movies, we found Jaws and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. I had been nagging my
parents about watching Jaws for some time, and now the day had finally come. Dad bought
the movies for me, you know when Dr. Phil says:
“This is gonna be a changing day in your life.”
The day I watched Jaws and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was exactly that. I was beyond
excited, and terrified, to watch Jaws for the first time. The only thing I knew about it was the
main theme that my parents and relatives hummed time and time again. When I heard
anyone humming it, I just kept thinking that it didn’t sound scary at all, in fact it sounded
quite lame and ridiculous. However, as soon as the DVD-menu came up and I heard the main
theme, as composed by the greatest composer of all time, John Williams, for the first time
ever, I realized faster than a split second just how wrong I was. The DVD-menu alone scared
the living shit out of me, and I basically ran out of the living room and shouted that I wasn’t
gonna watch it. Lucky for me, my dad knew just what to say to get me to calm down, so I sat
back down on the couch and I watched the movie.
18 years and 50+ (not joking) rewatches later, Jaws is still my favourite movie of all time,
and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is still my second favourite movie of all time
(coincidentally, it’s my wife’s favourite movie of all time).
When I saw those movies, I think it was the first time where I started paying attention to the
power of editing and music. The editing in Jaws is immaculate in every single way, it’s still to
this day one of the best edited movies that I’ve seen. The scene on the beach when Alex
Kintner is killed by the shark is film editing at its absolute finest. Jaws’ use of editing and
music, and The Good, the Bad and Ugly’s use of cinematography and music, those elements
made me go:
“I know that I’ll never be able to reach those levels of perfection, but, whatever and however
long it takes, I sure am gonna try.”

-Tell us about your project “Then & Now”.

It was the autumn of 2020, the post-production for my second directorial effort, Hissen, had
begun, and I was already contemplating my next project, or future ones. However, it was so
difficult to think of anything that seemed worth the effort of putting digits on the keyboard.
As I was about to give up I started thinking of what it would be like to write about a couple
celebrating an anniversary, but they have stopped talking to each other, really go all in on the
not talking-aspect of it, and just tell the story visually? I also thought that even if I wouldn’t do
anything with it, it would still be a great exercise in sparse and economical screenwriting.
It took me a couple of days to write the first draft (back then it was called Narcissus), and,
after writing a couple of drafts, I basically put it away never to look at it again.
Then about 3 years later in the late summer of 2023, I was contacted by Antti Saarikallio
about my feature length screenplay A Scanian Revenge Tale, it had won an award from the
Finnish Film Foundation, we talked about how much we liked working with each other on one
of my school productions, Linda & Kasu, where he played a supporting character, and that it
would be lovely to work together again on a new movie. Antti is an incredible actor in every
sense of the word. When we worked on Linda & Kasu I was taken aback by not only his
enormous talent, but his kindness and, I don’t know, it just felt very special to work with him.
His ability to go from being this warm sweetheart to a cold and vicious monster really
amazed me. I said that I would reach out immediately if I could think of anything.
That’s when I remembered the screenplay for Then & Now, I told Antti about the story and my
vision for it, he was very intrigued and asked to read it. A few days later Antti came back with
his verdict:
“What a beautiful, touching story. I’m in!”
With that sentence I went from not ever going to make it to all of a sudden figuring out how I
was going to make it. It’s funny how it can change so rapidly.
Once Antti was onboard, playing the role of Simon, I immediately started thinking of potential
actresses for the role of Johanna. I realized very quickly that there was only one actress who
could portray Johanna, and that was the lovely Antonia Atarah. Just like with Antti, Antonia
and I collaborated on Linda & Kasu, where she played the lead. It was our first collaboration.
Whenever I reminisce about that production, I instantly think about how much I loved
working with her. Antonia’s ability to portray emotional vulnerability while at the same time
remaining strong and resilient was what really stood out to me, and after production had
wrapped on Linda & Kasu, I told myself that I have to work with her again when the right
project shows up. I sent the screenplay to Antonia, and I was so nervous that she would turn
it down, since she was my first and only choice. If either she or Antti had turned it down,
I wouldn’t have made it.
However, it seems like all the stars aligned because Antonia liked the screenplay a lot.
She had a few concerns, but after I explained my vision for the movie and we talked it out,
she finally said that she was in. With both Antonia and Antti onboard, the main cast was
sorted out, and I couldn’t have been luckier and happier.
Even though I had already decided that Then & Now was going to be a no-budget
independent short film, and that I, in addition to writing, producing, editing and directing,
would also do the cinematography, using my own camera and only use natural lighting –
I knew that I was going to need someone to help me to make sure that the shoot would run
as smoothly as possible. I reached out to my former classmate and very close friend, Ida
Henriksson, who’s a brilliant filmmaker herself. One reason as to why I wanted Ida to be
involved was because I knew that she would keep me grounded, but also give me
suggestions as to how to improve scenes, camera angles and editing. Like I said, Ida is a
brilliant filmmaker. I considered her to be the best director in our class. Her ability to create
an atmosphere that was not only immersive, but unique, was just simply amazing in every
way.
At first I reached out to her to see if she would be interested in playing the supporting
character of Linnéa, but then I also asked her if she would also consider being the script
supervisor. Ida very graciously accepted both of my requests. Let me tell you something,
friends like Ida only come by once in a blue moon. When we studied together, Ida was my
biggest supporter. If I was having difficulties with my productions, whether I would be
overwhelmed, seriously doubting myself or whatever, she was always there for me, listening
to what was bothering me and lifting my spirit. She believed in me when I was unable to, and
having someone who believes in you, it does wonders. I can’t thank her enough for
everything that she has done for me, but that won’t stop me from saying;
Thank you, Ida.
The shooting of Then & Now is probably the smoothest I’ve ever had during my time in the
business so far. Because it was just me, Ida, Antonia and Antti on set, which mostly was the
apartment that my wife and I live in, it allowed for us to have a very relaxed and casual shoot.
Most of the film consisted of scenes taking place at night, and, even though we had many
scenes to shoot, we managed to keep the days quite short. The longest day was the first
one, we worked for about 6 hours, but the remaining two days we mostly wrapped after
about 3 or 4 hours. Even though it was a sad movie that we were making, the atmosphere
was very light. In between takes, and on some occasions during the takes, we were joking
around a lot. The more relaxed you are on set, the results will improve dramatically.
I started editing already after the first day of shooting, and I think a few hours after the last
day, I had put together a first rough cut. Every time I had a new rough cut I would show it to
Ida and my wife. Their feedback was invaluable, since they would see flaws that I was blind
to. One of the problems with editing is that you do it for so many hours every day that when
you first identify a problem, you think to yourself:
“Well, maybe it’s not that bad, I can make it part of the narrative.”
Like I said, I knew that Ida would keep me grounded, but also that my wife would, and for that
I’m very grateful. Altogether the editing lasted about a month and a half, during which I
edited about 7 different versions before ultimately settling on the version that was released.
Another thing about editing, and everything else really, is that even though there’s always
room for small improvements, you have to be able to know when it’s time to let it go in order
to move forward. It’s not easy, but all the more necessary.
With editing completed there were still two major things remaining: music and color grading.
When it came to the music I already knew who I was going to reach out to: my brother from
another mother, Mattias Ohlsson. He and I have been close friends since junior high where
we made a lot of short films and medium length films together. We restarted our
collaboration in 2020 when I asked him to compose the score for Hissen, and he composed
a score that completely blew me out of the water. A score that not only enhanced the horror,
but also the emotional core. Mattias also composed the score for my last school production,
The Most Dangerous Game, an action-comedy that was the polar opposite from Hissen, and
just like with that movie, Mattias managed to compose a score that worked so perfectly that
if you’d remove it from either of them, they just wouldn’t be the same.
When it came to the music in Then & Now I needed a score that would become another
character. We both knew that the word that best described the movie was melancholia, and
therefore the score needed to be just that. The basis of how Mattias and I collaborate is that
I will describe the story, plot points, characters and the underlying themes, and then I will
show him the final rough cut. Mattias will then spend some time in his home studio
experimenting with different instruments, and send me samples along the way until we both
say: That’s the one!
With Then & Now Mattias felt very strongly that the music needed to be something that
would work as a common thread, and play throughout the entire runtime. In many ways it felt
like making a modern silent movie without title-cards. Mattias composed this absolutely
beautiful, melancholic and haunting score that had so many subtle changes in the present
day scenes and the flashbacks. It also had this hypnotic quality that gave the movie a
heightened reality of sorts. When I first heard it I wasn’t entirely convinced, because it
sounded too simple, but then when I put it into the editing timeline and watched the movie
from start to finish, I realized just how perfect it was. In the end, the minimalist approach to
the storytelling needed to be applied to the score. Mattias did that to perfection.
The final piece of the puzzle was the color grading. At first I tried to do it myself, but back
then I had absolutely no comprehension of how to do it. I tried several times, but I just
couldn’t get it to where I felt somewhat okay with the result. Help was needed, so I reached
out to another former classmate, my friend, Veikko Luukkonen.
Veikko and I first worked together on my directorial debut, The Fleeting Moment, where he
was the gaffer and colorist. Later he was the cinematographer, editor and colorist on Hissen
and on The Most Dangerous Game he was the cinematographer, colorist and VFX-artist.
A seriously talented and kind guy who took my movies to the next level visually with his use
of contrasts, highlights and shadows.
With Then & Now I wanted two distinctive color palettes. One for the present day scenes
where Simon and Johanna are cold and distant towards each other, and the other for the
f
lashbacks where their love is at its strongest. The two movies that immediately came to
mind when creating the mood board were The Piano and Drive. The first one is one of my
favourite romantic dramas of all time, and the use of muted and desaturated colors was
something that I thought would benefit Then & Now greatly. With Drive there was one scene
in particular that came to mind – the elevator scene when The Driver kisses Irene. The warm
colors along with the contrasts immediately stood out to me, and that was what I wanted for
the flashback scenes. I sent the mood board to Veikko and he went to work.
When he sent me the graded version, it made me teary eyed, not only because he realized my
vision to a tee, but because the use of these color palettes made the movie visually layered.
One thing that I was worried about was that maybe the cinematography was too simplistic,
or that the exposure was all wrong, but Veikko did wonders. He made it beautiful.
When all was said and done I didn’t think that Then & Now would make much of an impact.
I figured that I would just upload it on Youtube, it would disappear in the vast sea of short
f
ilms, and that would be it. However, I still felt that I should try my luck with film festivals,
because who knows, maybe there would be an audience for it somewhere? As it would turn
out, there was. The movie was selected by some film festivals in Sweden and USA, and when
it won Best Short Film at the Denver Monthly Film Awards, it completely took me by surprise.
I thought that would be the end of that, but then more film festivals began to reach out to me
personally and were interested in including the movie.
With 24 selections at film festivals in Bulgaria, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Nigeria,
Serbia, Sweden and USA, plus awards for Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best
Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Editing and Best Original Score, I’m still in shock of how
the movie has been embraced. It never occurred to me that a tiny, no budget, independent
short film about dying love would create such a fuss.
I very rarely take pride in what I do, but in the case of Then & Now, I am so proud of how it all
turned out. Everyone in the cast and crew did such an amazing job, they are the reason for
the movie becoming what it is. Eternally grateful.

-Which Director inspires you the most?

Oh, this is a difficult one, since I can probably name a hundred directors that inspire me in
one way or another. However, if I absolutely have to boil it down to the most essential ones it
would be Martin Scorsese (my favourite director of all time), Sergio Leone, Tim Burton, Bo
Widerberg and Ari Aster.
Scorsese inspires me with the energy of his filmmaking and use of music, Leone with his use
of striking panoramic shots and extreme close-ups, Burton with the quirkiness and
originality, Widerberg with his ability to convey emotional realism, and Aster for how he
blends genres to a cohesive whole.

-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?

I’m not sure that I’m the right person to ask this, since I try to stay away from the news of the
world, and I don’t really know how to say anything of value. But I know that I want to live in a
world that’s much less judgemental and exclusionary. Much less oppression and much more
love and positivity. There’s such an outpour of hate and discrimination, and that’s not what
the norm should be.

-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?

My hope is that in 100 years the film industry will embrace all kinds of filmmakers from
various parts of the world. Especially independent ones. Right now there’s too much focus
on big blockbusters based on IP. Not that there’s anything wrong with blockbusters, I love me
a blockbuster when it’s done right. The best one that I’ve seen recently is Ryan Coogler’s
masterpiece Sinners. That movie blew me away, and I’m so happy that it’s doing so well, not
just financially, but critically. I also loved Top Gun: Maverick, whenever Tom Cruise has
something on the pipeline I’m immediately counting down the days until theatrical release.
I’m also so incredibly excited that masterful independent filmmakers like Ari Aster, Robert
Eggers, Brady Corbet, Osgood Perkins, Damien Leone, Thomas Vinterberg, Sean Baker,
Susanne Bier, Andrea Arnold, Emerald Fennell and Ti West continue to make such an impact
with deeply personal and genre-redefining movies.

-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?

I think WILD FILMMAKER is wonderful in every single way, and I’m so excited to be included
in the community. It means the world to me that I get to share my work with all of you.

Who is Anjanabha Roy?

Anjanabha Roy is the student of world cinema loves to do experiment with cinema and believe to portray the psychology of human civilisation rather than chronological story telling.

Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?

I was just 10 years old. My father bought me a DVD of GOOPY GAYEN BAGHA BYEN directed by one of the greatest Indian Film directors Satyajit Ray. I still remember I said “I want to be a film director” after watching the film. This film opened the window of world cinema for me.

Tell us about your project “A Fable Before Apocalypse”.

AFABLE BEFORE APOCALYPSE is a psychoanalytic Science Fiction film where a lady (SREETAMA done by SWARALIPI GOSH) constantly talking with her fictional coequal (done by POULAMI SENGUPTA) contradicting herself in about becoming an artist and gaining fame. Actually, her fictional coequal is nothing but her alternative personality who counters her ego to make her realize the duty of a poet. When the entire world is under the threat of power conflict and combat it is a duty of a poet to pick his or her pen up to counter the doctrine of power otherwise be ready for the apocalypse. In this film I have created some apocalyptic war scenes with the help of AI. But I believe the main USP of this film is the acting skill of Swaralipi Ghosh won critique choice award for best acting in Twilight Tokyo Film Festival, Ankita Das won best supporting actress in Paramount Cine Carnival. Even Poulumi Sengupta, Basudha Nandy and Sayan Sarkar all were brilliant in their performance. In my 10 years of film directing career, I have never seen such brilliant performance in film acting. Proud of them.

Which Director inspires you the most?

Because I am an Indian and Bangali too, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak & Mrinal Sen are my first inspirations. Great Indian film directors Goutam Ghosh & Buddhadeb Dasgupta inspired me a lot in the case of their unique cinematic language and stylization of cinematography. But Ingmar Bergman and Jean Luc Godard always remain my inspirations because of their philosophical, political and psychological narratives. Now I am watching Pier Paolo Pasolini very carefully to understand today’s world politics.      

What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?

I dislike rather good to say I hate war. I often dislike media politics in case of portraying war. I dislike those nations and super powers who believe atomic achievement is the greatest achievement of mankind. No, it’s even the worst achievement. I dislike the recent ideology of Indian film making where filmmakers believe film is a money-making machine by selling entertainments and hyper nationalism and it’s a medium of producing puppets called stars and make people believe that they are the Messiah. We those who believe that film is an art we are fighting like hell, not directly with the governments or institutions but with the people of our country. Because India is suffering from severe mass autocracy and communal hatred. They are romanticizing war even though they don’t know the history of the rise of terrorism.  If possible, I would like to bring back the lives of those children Killed in Gaza.

How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?

I’m confused. Because I don’t know what will be the socio-political condition of world in 100 years. But I imagine, rather dream that many film directors would make anti war films and bring arguments in their film narratives against atomic empowerments. For them AI would become Alternative Intelligence, not artificial. But in my country film would become an audio-visual junk. It’s better to say it would not be a film but a costume party in front of a camera where some puppets cherishing their nescience. 

What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?

I would like to convey my gratitude to WILD FILMMAKER because they are true get way to world cinema where those independent film directors who make films for the sake of film and believe film making is their socio-political duty. WILD FILMMAKER is the friend and a true guide for them in case of showcasing their film in international platforms and reputed international film festivals.

–Who is Mihaela Tudorof? 

Mihaela Tudorof is a divorced, single mother with two teens that are the center of her world. She’s also a writer, director, and executive producer of her film Family Hug, in which she stars as the lead.

-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?

I’ve always loved cinema and working in the industry has always been my passion. 

-Tell us about your project “Family Hug”.

Inspired by my own divorce, I decided to make this film in hopes that people getting divorced will be more aware of the pain they’re causing their own kids during the process. Family Hug is about a woman going through a contentious divorce with a narcissist who wants to destroy her at all cost, even though his own children are collateral damage. The message of the film is that no matter how much you despise the person you’re divorcing, your hatred for the other parent should not be stronger than the love for your children. Family Hug is currently doing well in the film festival circuit. We have won 15 awards so far, 2 honorable mentions, and have 5 official selections. But we’re just getting started, so many more to come! 

-Which Director inspires you the most?

Martin Scorsese is my favorite Director of all time. I love all his films. 

-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?

Children suffering in any way shape or form is something that hurts my heart. Parents that abuse or neglect their children make me sick. I believe in gentle parenting as opposed to harsh discipline. People often mistake hitting for discipline. To me, hitting is abuse, not discipline. I believe children do better with love and patience. I think hitting children really damages them well into their adulthood. I believe it either creates an abusive adult or you become someone who allows abuse in your relationship due to it feeling familiar, like your childhood. 

-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?

I think there will be a ton of artificial intelligence and movies may lose heart. I hope I’m wrong. 

-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?

Truly amazing, and passionate about the film industry. 

Lido Cimber

BEST EUROPEAN SHORT SCRIPT

Urban Eats MTL

BEST INTERNATIONAL WEB/TV SERIES, BEST PRODUCER & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Web/Tv Series)

Wacko

BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE OF THE YEAR, BEST INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST AMERICAN PRODUCTION COMPANY

Brothers of Babylon

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER

A Fable Before Apocalypse

BES INTERNATIONAL YOUNG FILMMAKER

Marabu’

BEST ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK

Stalker Hair Twirl

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR

In a Whole New Way

BEST INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL FILM, BEST INDIE PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING

Revisited – Life is Short

BEST DIRECTOR (Category; International Music Video) & BEST ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR

The Victims of Sundarbans

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST INDIE PRODUCTION COMPANY & BEST CAMERA OPERATOR (Category: Documentary Short)

The Musgrave Ritual

BEST ARTHOUSE FILM, BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR, BEST SOUND DESIGN & BEST CAST

On My Special Day

BEST ORIGINAL SHORT FILM, BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER & BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT

Aunt Tilly’s Last Hurrah

BEST PRODUCER, BEST SCREENWRITER & BEST SOUND LOCATION (Category: International Narrative Short Film)

Dragul and Forbes

BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT 2025

Attack Of The Snowbirds

BEST FEATURE SCRIPT (Category: Comedy) & BEST AMERICAN ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER 2025

Mind Network

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 2025

Pantaneiro

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 2025

The Days of Knight: Chapter 3

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SOUND DESIGN, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT (Category: International Short Film)

The Days of Knight: Chapter 1

BEST ORIGINAL IDEA, BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE PRODUCTION COMPANY

Homeless Street Artist

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT, BEST SOCIAL DOCUMENTARY & BEST INTERNATIONAL MOVIEMAKER

Omnipotent Resolution

BEST INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL SHORT FILM, BEST ORIGINAL CHOREOGRAPHY, BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER & BEST PRODUCER

2 Million Bro

BEST EUROPEAN COMEDY OF THE YEAR

Into LA Art Show

BEST EDITING

Shout It Out

BEST DIRECTOR & BEST EDITING (Category: International Music Video)

Not a thing

BEST INTERNATIONAL FIRST TIME DIRECTOR

Cock Robin

BEST FILMMAKER, BEST EDITING & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Indie Comedy 2025)

The Priory of Sion and the treasure of Abbey Sauniere of Rennes the Castle France

BEST EUROPEAN SCREENWRITER 2025

Etnoragù

BEST EUROPEAN INDIE SHORT FILM, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST INDIE EUROPEAN MOVIEMAKER

America Boxed In

BEST ARTHOUSE DOCUMENTARY & BEST FILMMAKER 2025 (Category: Documentary Feature)

An Ever After Drama

BEST AMERICAN SHORT FILM OF YEAR & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER

2020: life and death of a virus

BEST EUROPEAN PRODUCER, BEST EUROPEAN FILMMAKER & BEST ARTHOUSE EDITOR (Category: Indie Experimental Film)

Walking With God

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Indie Film)

Cassandra Venice

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST INDIE PRODUCER (Category: Experimental Film) & BEST EUROPEAN EXPERIMENTAL FILM

Virulence

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL WRITER 2025

Ambrogio The First Vampire

BEST INDIE ACTOR & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Phoebe’s Echo

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST SCREENWRITER, BEST INDIE PRODUCER & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR

All My Tomorrows

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DRAMA 2025, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST CAST (Category: International Drama)

YOU ARE HERE – a dylan brody project

BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR, BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING

Errata in blue

BEST EDITING & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: EXPERIMENTAL FILM)

Because We Are Too Many

BEST ARTHOUSE DRAMA 2025 & BEST FILMMAKER (Category: International Drama)

Artists & Aliens

BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR, BEST SOUNDTRACK & BEST SOUND DESIGN

Soularis

BEST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIMENTAL DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Medea

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST INDIE MOVIEMAKER, BEST CAST & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SCREENWRITER

GODFORSAKEN: A Story Of Three Marys

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT

PAULA’S DAD and the right button in his head

BEST INDIE SHORT FILM 2025

Seasoning of the Soul

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Short)

Chateau De Tarot

BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER 2025

Colombano & La 21Esima Fetta

BEST EUROPEAN NARRATIVE FEATURE & BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR        

 

A Fable Before Apocalypse

BEST FILMMAKER & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING (Category: Short Film)

Thankful

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT 2025 & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE SCREENWRITER    

Bitter Brownies

BEST INDIE MOVIEMAKER (Category: International Narrative Short)

Prodigio

BEST INDIE MUSIC VIDEO & BEST ORIGINAL SINGER

Fortezza

BEST SONG WRITER 2025 & BEST EUROPEAN SPIRITUAL SONG

Monument to Love

BEST ORIGINAL FILMMAKER 2025, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST ARTHOUSE EDITING (Category: Documentary Feature)

Katabasis

BEST ARTHOUSE FILM OF THE YEAR, BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Feature), BEST ACTRESS, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: International Film)

Black Wolf

BEST ORIGINAL INDIE SHORT FILM & BEST ORIGINAL MOVIEMAKER

The way of Mizoguchi

BEST CAMERA OPERATOR & BEST EUROPEAN PRODUCTION COMPANY (Category: Documentary Feature)

The Rorschach Test

BEST DIRECTOR & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: International Experimental Film)

Not Without Gloves

BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM OF THE YEAR

NeverWere: a Lycan Love Story

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA

Out Of Control

BEST EXPERIMENTAL ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Hot Afternoons Have Been in Montana

BEST INTERNATIONAL VIDEO POETRY, BEST FILMMAKER, BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHER & BEST SOUND DESIGN (Category: Video Poetry)

Sheldon Mashugana gets Stooged

BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY, BEST SCREENPLAY & BEST CAST (Category: International Comedy)

Mind over Matter

BEST FILMMAKER, BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHY & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER (Category: Super Short Film)

The Dead Ringer

BEST WRITER & BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT

L’Amour est temps de reflets

BEST ORIGINAL EUROPEAN FILMMAKER & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY SHORT

The Duchess

BEST DRAMA 2025, DIRECTOR, BEST ACTOR, BEST ACTRESS, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST SCEENPLAY (Category: International Arthouse Drama)

Lambada The Dance of Fate

BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR & BEST INTERNATIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL SCRIPT

Eye of the Storm

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING (Category: Documentary) BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY & BEST ARARTHOUSE PRODUCER

The Arcangel Of Death

BEST ACTING & BEST EUROPEAN YOUNG DIRECTOR

Alta California

BEST AMERICAN FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST HUMAN RIGHTS SCRIPT OF THE YEAR

Ghost Town, N.M.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENWRITER

Only in Malibu

BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITER (Category: International Indie Feature Script)

Gold Glory & Nobility

BEST ORIGINAL FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST INTERNATIONAL BOOK

Malibu Madam

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT & BEST ORIGINAL WRITER

The Hallmark Couple

BEST AMERICAN SCREENWRITER 2025

The Insomnia Experiment

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT 2025

Something ain’t right

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY OF THE YEAR & BEST ORIGINAL INDIE FILMMAKER

Planetary Rebellion

BEST PRODUCER & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Music Video)

Am I a painter?/Czy jestem malarzem?

BEST ORIGINAL ANIMATION, BEST POETRY SHORT FILM & BEST NARRATIVE SHORT OF THE YEAR (Category: Animation)

The Stones of Rome

BEST EXPERIMENTAL ACTOR & BEST INDIE PRODUCER 2025

The Pathos of Hamlet

BEST INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FILM, BEST EXPERIMENTAL EDITING & BEST POETRY SHORT FILM

Antiquarius

BEST EUROPEAN NARRATIVE SHORT 2025, BEST ARTHOUSE CINEMATOGRAPHER, BEST INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST INDIE CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST EUROPEAN ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT

Belles paroles

BEST HUMAN RIGHTS INDIE PROJECT

Nossos Caminhos

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

Routine

BEST PRODUCER, BEST ORIGINAL IDEA & BEST NARRATIVE SHORT 2025

The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands

BEST ORIGINAL SHORT FILM, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST ACTING (Category: International Indie Narrative Short Film)

In a Whole New Way

BEST SOCIAL FILM, BEST INTERNATIONAL EDUCATIONAL FILM, BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER, BEST EDITING & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: Educational Film)

Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir By Max Rothschild and Dr. Shulamit Reinharz

BEST ORIGINAL INDIE BOOK

A Taco

BEST INDIE SUPER SHORT FILM & BEST EDI TING

Room Available

BEST ARTHOUSE FILMMAKER (Category: Short Film)

With Timeline – How Cinema Tells Time – From the Crystal Image to the Tamed Image, published by Non Solo Parole Edizioni, with which I published the critical essay The Interrupted Applause – Poetry and Periphery in the Work of Massimo Troisi in 2005, I wanted to explore and develop a theme that is very dear to me, already present as a thematic prompt in my latest cinematic and narrative works: the true nature of Time. I enjoyed revisiting and reworking studies I started at the Department of Music and Performing Arts at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Siena, where I graduated in 1999, trying to extend the analysis to contemporary cinema and to the productive and expressive crisis of a large part of Italian cinema. I have thus concluded that Cinema is the only art capable of revealing the mystery of Time, as long as it is free from the constraints of the market. Therefore, while modern cinema has focused on the more or less conscious representation of Time – after the classical cinema saw movement and the logic of actions as its expressive core – on the other hand, especially in Italy, the flattening of production practices has led to the rise of a “tamed image,” one that is dedicated to presenting a simplified and impoverished version of the world, directly influenced by the social-television dogma.

The essay then reviews the entire history of Cinema, focusing on the expressive modes of the cinema of Time, on its ability to distance itself from an image of the world that is programmatically imposed, to then identify in the “tamed image” its reactionary variant, more interested in convenient clichés, in self-replication, in the forced preservation of the known world. From the first experiments of the Lumière brothers and Méliès to the films that have irreparably marked our imagination, such as Last Year at Marienbad, Back to the Future, and Interstellar, with a glance at the TV series that have changed our way of perceiving reality, such as Heimat, Twin Peaks, and Dark.

Moving between Deleuze, Bergson, Heidegger, and Nietzsche, the essay explores the true nature of time, certainly different from the chrono-logical one we are used to believing in. It then analyzes the systemic trends of contemporary cinema and its state of expressive crisis, particularly in Italy, identifying the “tamed image” as a sign of flattening and impoverishment of storytelling. It ends by posing the most important question: what is reality, really? Because answering the question “what is Time, really?” is equivalent to asking what is the reality we call “reality.” How much of it is objective? Is it almost entirely the result of a crossroad of imposed perceptions, both from our subjectivity and from the inputs launched by mass communication?

It becomes undeniable, then, that loving Cinema means believing in its analytical and re-elaborative capacities regarding the lived reality. Thus, it is essential to fight for the freedom of Cinema from consumer practices, from the lobbies that hold a significant part of its production, and from the visions dictated by social-television conditioning. In conclusion, Cinema emerges as an art that requires constant questioning, a new restoration, an analysis that never settles for what’s been seen or said before, but that strives with all its might to penetrate the veil of finality and artificial theatricality that covers the truth of things, assuming that such a truth may exist.

This essay, then, is imbued with passion for Cinema, aimed at enthusiasts, experts, scholars, students, and anyone who wants to discover what Cinema is, and, above all, what Time is.

Michelangelo and Me, da Vinci and Me Opener – Based on her own published novel Heaven’s Rogue

1. Florence Film Awards Best Script Nov 2023 
2. Tokyo Honorable Mention Jan 13, 2025 Fantasy script
3. Page Turner Screenplays Finalist, 100 Feature Competition Dec. 30 2024
4. Los Angeles Movie & Music Video Awards, Honorable Mention Features Nov 2024
5. LA Neo Noir Film & Script Online Festival, Best Sci-Fi, Animation, Fantasy Nov 2023
6. Chicago Script Awards, Best Romantic Screenplay October 21, 2024
7. Chicago Script Awards, Grand Prix TV Script Pilot 2024
8. Global Film Festival Awards, Los Angeles,  Jan 3, 2024, Best Screenplay
9. Dubai International Film Festival, Selected, Best Script, January 2024
10. Filmzen International Film Competition, Outstanding Achievement, Best International Feature

Script, Monthly winner August 2024

1. Paris Film Awards, May 2024, Best Feature script
2. Hollywood on the Tiber, Winner La Dolce Vita Film Awards 2024 Best American Feature Script
3. Creator X, Semi Finalist, Best Series or Pilot, December 4, 2024
4. INROADS SCREENWRITING FELLOWSHIP,  Fellowship Screenplay/Pilot quarterfinalist, May ‘24
5. Cambridge Script Festival, Finalist Feature screenplay, January 23, 2024
6. F A R O Concurso de Cinema Mediterrâneo , Nominee, best feature script, Jan 22, 2025 
7. Wild Filmmaker Festival, Best Feature/ pilot TV script, November 15, 2023
8. Cannes Continental Film Festival, November 30, 2023 Finalist, best film script
9.  ETC,,,,,,

Full Circle – Colleen Shannon – Original script                                               

Snow Leopard Film Festival, Selected, best feature screenplay, October 31, 2024

1. Paris Film Awards, winner feature script, April 2024
2. Hollywood Gold Awards, winner feature script, February 25, 2024
3. Red Movie Awards, best unproduced script, finalist, December 25, 2024
4. Florence Film Awards, selected, best feature script January 2024
5. Wild Filmmaker Festival, best feature script, January 18, 2024
6. LWIFF/Lonely Wolf, best unproduced feature, nominee, December 21, 2023
7. Golden Reel Awards, best feature screenplay, September 28, 2023

Attack Of The Snowbirds

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT (Category: Comedy) & BEST AMERICAN SCREENWRITER

Something ain’t right

BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Documentary) BEST CAMERA OPERATOR & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE PRODUCER

Homeless Street Artist

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT 2025, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST EDITING & BEST CAMERA OPERATOR (Category: Documentary Short Film)

Planetary Rebellion

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE MUSIC VIDEO & BEST DIRECTOR (Category: Music Video)

The Bag

BEST ORIGINAL NARRATIVE SHORT FILM, BEST FILMMAKER, BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY & BEST INDIE SCREENWRITER

You Are Here – A Dylan Brody Project

BEST ARTHOUSE NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST INDIE FILMMAKER 2025, BEST PRODUCTION COMPANY & BEST ORIGINAL EDITING

The Arcangel Of Death

BEST FANTASY SHORT FILM, BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR & BEST EXPERIMENTAL CINEMATOGRAPHER

Passacaglia

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE FEATURE, BEST DIRECOR & BEST INDIE PRODUCER (Category: International Film)

Lambada The Dance of Fate

BEST WRITING STYLE, BEST SCREENWRITER OF THE YEAR & BEST BIOGRAPHICAL SCRIPT

Cassandra Venice

BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR & BEST ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY

Three for Hire

BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

The Bag

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST SCREENPLAY SHORT, BEST CAST & BEST SOUND DESIGN (Category: Indie Narrative Short)

Mind over Matter

BEST DIRECTOR & BEST EDITING (Category: Super Short Film)

The Girl Made of Earth and Water

BEST INTERNATIONAL SUPER SHORT FILM OF THE YEAR

Wax Colors

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY

Riding on Duke’s Train

BEST INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR, BEST SOCIAL FILM, BEST ORIGINAL PRODUCER & BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT

Am I a painter?/Czy jestem malarzem?

BEST FILMMAKER, BEST EDITING & BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY (Category: ANIMATION)

Alta California

BEST HISTORICAL SCRIPT & BEST HUMAN RIGHTS SCREENWRITER

Pirandello’s Wife

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT

Thankful

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE SCRIPT 2025 & BEST ORIGINAL WRITER

The Assassin’s Apprentice 2: Silbadores of the Canary Islands

BEST NARRATIVE SHORT 2025, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST PRODUCER, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY & BEST AMERICAN CAST

Routine

BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM, BEST INDIE MOVIEMAKER, BEST SOUND DESIGN & BEST CASTING DIRECTOR

Talita l’abbandono

BEST POETRY SHORT FILM, BEST EUROPEAN DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCER

It’s the Gravy

BEST SCREENWRITER, BEST MOVIEMAKER & BEST EDITING (Category: COMEDY)

The Hallmark Couple

BEST AMERICAN SCREENWRTER & BEST ORIGINAL IDEA (Category: FEATURE SCRIPT)

Only in Malibu

BEST BOOK/MANUSCRIPT OF THE YEAR

Only in Malibu

BEST ARTHOUSE FEATURE SCRIPT

The Insomnia Experiment

BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT SCRIPT 2025

Gold Glory & Nobility

BEST WRITING STYLE & BEST INTERNATIONAL WRITER (Category: BOOK/MANUSCRIPT)

Gold Glory & Nobility

BEST INTERNATIONAL ARTHOUSE SCREENPLAY

Malibu Madam

BEST ORIGINAL BOOK & BEST INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

The Days of Knight: Chapter 3

BEST INTERNATIONAL NARRATIVE SHORT, BEST ARTHOUSE DIRECTOR, BEST ORIGINAL CINEMATOGRAPHER, BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY SHORT & BEST INTERNAIONAL INDIE PRODUCTION COMPANY

Eye of the Storm

BEST INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, BEST ARTHOUSE EDITING & BEST ORIGINAL DIRECTOR 2025

The Stones of Rome

BEST ARTHOUSE SHORT FILM & BEST PRODUCER

The Pathos of Hamlet

BEST INSPIRATIONAL ACTOR & BEST ORIGINAL ACTING

NeverWere: a Lycan Love Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCRIPT, BEST FEATURE SCRIPT 2025 & BEST INTERNATIONAL WRITER

I Waited for You

BEST EXPERIMENTAL EDITING & BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE EXPERIMENTAL FILM

Katabasis

BEST DIRECTOR, BEST INSPIRATIONAL FILM & BEST INTERNATIONAL SCREENPLAY

Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding

BEST FILM, BEST DIRECTOR & BEST SCREENPLAY (Category: International Comedy)

Doctor Hyphoteses

BEST INTERNATIONAL ACTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE COMEDY 2025

Not Without Gloves

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FILMMAKER, BEST EXPERIMENTAL EDITING & BEST INSPIRATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Rorschach Test

BEST POETRY SHORT FILM & BEST EXPERIMENTAL MOVIEMAKER

The Duchess

BEST ARTHOUSE DRAMA, BEST DIRECTOR, BEST CASTING DIRECTOR & BEST ARTHOUSE PRODUCER

Colombano & La 21Esima Fetta

BEST MOVIEMAKER, BEST EUROPEAN FILM & BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (Category: Narrative Feature)

Christmas Cards

BEST INTERNATIONAL INDIE FEATURE SCRIPT

The way of Mizoguchi

BEST EUROPEAN DOCUMENTARY 2025

-) Who is Roberta Giallo?

An easy question to start with (naturally, I’m being ironic!), but I’ll still try to explain myself better—knowing full well I’ll fail. How can one define oneself? It almost feels criminal to attempt defining a shifting nature. Yet… I am a singer-songwriter related to poetry: a multifaceted singer-songwriter, a being capable of rapidly adapting to its surroundings. Perhaps that’s why I feel a certain affection for the chameleon. I used to do my makeup by drawing its tail beside my eyes. Still, deep down, there’s a part of me that remains loyal to itself, immutable, eternal. I am a kind of perpetual paradox. Beyond metaphors, practically speaking, I’m a musician who experiments and is closely tied to other art forms. I cross boundaries, composing across various representational planes—not just notes, not just sounds. I’m a composer and singer-songwriter with a vision that stretches into theater, poetry, contemporary art, and even cinema. I’ve written songs for myself and others, produced albums and created soundtracks for theater and film, crafted digital art sets for my shows and for others, and performed my music throughout Italy and abroad—from Asia to the United States, naturally passing through Europe. So yes, I’m also a curious traveler. I’ve coined many terms in an attempt to describe myself appropriately. The latest is “cantapoeta” (singer-poet). I like it for now—it sounds right. We’re almost there, but I must mention philosophy, the field in which I earned my degree and specialization with a thesis on Schopenhauer. Philosophy, in a way, saved me—smoothing out the precarious balance among the different parts of myself, curbing the dangerous extremes, and harmonizing reality with dreams. And that’s a never-ending task, in fieri… … the magical work of living and becoming self-aware.

-) When did you realize that music would define every aspect of your life?

I think I already knew at age five, around the time I started studying classical piano and instinctively began composing short instrumental pieces—despite having no knowledge of music theory or extensive training on the instrument. The same thing happened with writing essays at school. While my classmates would stare at a blank page, I, quick and fearless, would fill it in an instant. It was like a beautiful race, me and my inspiration running together. Then society—with its rules and conventions—tried to make me forget that deep, intimate self-perception… but it failed miserably. Fortunately, the songs prevailed. A voice, a light, an untamable inner song has always guided, inspired, and empowered me. The stubbornness of Capricorn, my zodiac sign, surely did the rest. There were also crucial encounters and collaborations with great music legends who recognized my worth and helped boost my self-esteem and public recognition. First and foremost, Lucio Dalla, one of the greatest Italian singer-songwriters ever. The super producers Mauro Malavasi and Corrado Rustici — they also lived in the United States. Malavasi, among other things, produced for Bocelli, while Rustici worked as a producer with Aretha Franklin… I can’t leave out “the alien” Red Ronnie, a charismatic figure you at WILD FILMMAKER recently interviewed—one of the most original music journalists and communicators ever. He has always supported and promoted me—we care deeply for one another. He, who interviewed Jimi Hendrix (and owned his guitar), Bowie, Harrison, Fidel Castro, and many more… Last but not least… Bologna, the city I chose to live in: an ancient university and art city, mystical and magical, played a big role in my destiny. It gave me inspiration and awareness, also through encounters with gifted artists and musicians in whom I recognized myself—as kin. Life is marked by magical encounters: recognizing one’s kindred spirits—or as Goethe called them, “elective affinities”—helps us understand where we come from, who our soul family is, and where we’re headed. It also helps us have, as Pier Paolo Pasolini would say, “the courage to shine.”

-) Tell us about your special concert taking place at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, your adopted city.

This concert feels like one of the most meaningful and important of my life and artistic journey—as a musician and as a cantapoeta. We’re talking about a sacred, monumental place: a Gothic basilica that hides mysterious details even in its aesthetics. San Petronio in Bologna is the last great late Gothic work in Italy, started just after the Milan Cathedral in 1386. The façade is partially unfinished, which gives it a strong dualism: shining white marble at the bottom, and dark, exposed brick above. When I looked at it—especially at night—it reminded me of the face in Munch’s The Scream. The large window looks like an open mouth in a cry of pain, the side aisles like hands on a face (the central nave). Easier to see than explain… Anyway, in this vast basilica, I said my final goodbye to my dear friend and mentor Lucio Dalla.

For years, I think I avoided entering it to not relive that painful farewell… and later, because it was even at risk of terrorist threats. However, some places call us back—and we must return. When I was invited to hold a concert for Peace as part of a major exhibition by Catalan sculptor Juan Crous—who reimagined Picasso’s Guernica in a massive sculpture made of glass tiles—I thought: how lucky am I? This concert is and will be a gift, a blessing—for me and for those who attend. The desire for peace that fuels it is the noblest of causes, and it must be cultivated and grown. I’m working on the setlist now. I’ll perform solo, just me and the piano—my long-time friend and confidant. I’ll draw inspiration from the aura of the place and the energy of the souls present. And there will be many… May 12, 2025 will be a historic date for me—a turning point, a new baptism. I’m grateful, happy, full of enthusiasm and joy.

-) What would you change about the world?

Simple: No more wars. No more oppression. No more violence. No more deception. We must learn to dream “marvelous utopias” again: to find the missing beauty, to thirst for justice and truth. We should give ourselves the luxury—and powerful gift—of dreaming again, lighthearted and a bit wild, like children… free to imagine and shape the world we want to live in. I believe in the magical art of words and visualization. So I try to imagine boundless beauty, powerful harmony, human connection, philanthropy, choirs of angels (with a few off notes—imperfection is necessary…). I stubbornly dream of Peace, Beauty, Art, Lush Nature, Joy in living, Joy in existing. These words, mind you, are not abstractions—they are realities we’ve forgotten how to dream, to even conceive.

-) When you hear the word “soul,” what comes to mind?

In one of my songs I say: “The soul is an animal, and it dwells beyond good and evil.” That’s what I believe—it’s a living thing, in motion, also appearing as sacred animal visions or totems. If I don’t think and just follow instinct, I see a shimmering light moving across crystal-clear water—a light dancing on the water’s surface…

-) What do you think of WILD FILMMAKER?

You are amazing! And without exaggeration, I’d even say that you feel a bit like family. Staying on the theme of “elective affinities,” I feel related to you: an indomitable yet supportive community. You’re a beautiful paradox that is and will continue to impact the reality of cinema today and in the future. Everyone should know about WILD FILMMAKER , a platform with which I’ve already built a valuable relationship of mutual respect and original collaborations. Honestly, I hope this connection continues. The journey of mutual discovery felt immediately interesting, even predestined… I believe it will keep surprising us. Wishing the best to the entire community—visionary, like its founder.