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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
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Architecture
A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power
17 minutes
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Human rights and justice
Surreal, dazzling visuals form an Iranian expat’s tribute to defiance back home
10 minutes
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Language and linguistics
Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?
9 minutes
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Art
When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer
9 minutes
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Values and beliefs
Why a single tree, uprooted in a typhoon, means so much to one man in Hanoi
7 minutes
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Consciousness and altered states
‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality
7 minutes
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Making
On the Norwegian coast, a tree is transformed into a boat the old-fashioned way
6 minutes
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Animals and humans
One man’s quest to save an orphaned squirrel, as narrated by David Attenborough
14 minutes
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Computing and artificial intelligence
A future in which ‘artificial scientists’ make discoveries may not be far away
9 minutes