– Who is Darius Rubin?

 I am 22 years old and living in New York City where I study history at Columbia University. I work as a DJ and event organizer, and I have a deep passion for journalism and the written word. 

– What inspired you to become a filmmaker?

I have always been interested in the idea of telling stories, since before I even knew it; whether it is through pictures, stories, poems or videos. Filmmaking to me is the best way to tell a story since it combines every artistic medium and serves as a total sensory bombardment of a specific idea. My partner in this project, Yoshi, came to me with a desire to make a short film on a specific story about young men and mental health, and I immediately said yes coming on as a writer first. I have no intention of looking back. 

–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?

I believe that Ideas represent freedom ; they are intangible, hard to trace, hard to protect against, and serve as propellors of action. Film, being one of the most effective ways of getting out an idea, does have the ability to change a large portion of society’s minds about either an issue or a general culture.. Truly deep, emotional and challenging films do have the ability to bring a change in society, but it’s a question of whether society wants to change, so it has to be pushed. 

–What would you change in the world?

What would I change in the world?! I guess there is a lot. There is so much pain, suffering and injustice that people experience everywhere, much more acutely in the undeveloped world so I don’t want to compare that kind of physical suffering to what I am talking about here in the west. But, from my experience of first-world countries, the most serious problem, having overcome much of the primary human problems of finding basic shelter and getting food, is the competitive nature of society, augmented by social media, which means we are constantly comparing ourselves to others, trying to outdo them, and rarely feeling happy and comfortable with ourselves. I wish everyone would never again feel like they are being left behind, and be happy where they are and doing things for others, myself included.

 –Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?

 In the next 100 years, I don’t even know where the world will be at let alone the film industry. Based on the current state of things, taking the Marvel obsession for example, it seems like only the fast-paced attention-grabbing films will be successful. So, the future film industry could be a soulless, fast-paced big-budget math equation, or ninety minutes worth of forty second vertical videos to be watched on an iPhone before bed. That being said, I do believe in a kind of artistic resistance to that profit-oriented model that will never die.