Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
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.
Director: Alan Sahin
video
Technology and the self
The commodified childhood – scenes from two sisters’ lives in the creator economy
14 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
There’s a dirty side to clean energy in the metal-rich mountains of South Africa
10 minutes
video
Food and drink
The passage of time is a peculiar thing in a 24-hour diner
14 minutes
video
Anthropology
For an Amazonian female shaman, ayahuasca ceremonies are a rite and a business
30 minutes
video
Gender
A filmmaker responds to Lars von Trier’s call for a new muse with a unique application
16 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
Why large language models are mysterious – even to their creators
8 minutes
video
Sports and games
Havana’s streets become racetracks in this exhilarating portrait of children at play
5 minutes
video
Spirituality
Through rituals of prayer, a monk cultivates a quietly radical concept of freedom
4 minutes
video
Fairness and equality
‘To my old master’ – a freed slave answers the request to return to his old plantation
7 minutes