Catch those idle moments of connection between coworkers on a smoke break

Say what you will about the vice itself, at a time when people are increasingly likely to want to isolate themselves, the humble cigarette still has the power to elicit impromptu connection between acquaintances and strangers. In his clever short documentary Zigipouse (Smoke Break), the Swiss-based filmmaker Alan Sahin jumps between seven places where coworkers engage in sporadic conversations while getting their nicotine fix. With their topics ranging from the latest iPhone, to the sports results, to the comfort of medical scrubs, to minor work frustrations, Sahin’s short video mines something oddly intriguing from the mundanities of workplace chit-chat.