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
The ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes

video
Art
David Goldblatt captured the contradictions of apartheid in stark black and white
15 minutes

video
Philosophy of mind
Do we have good reasons to believe in beliefs? A radical philosophy of mind says no
5 minutes

video
Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes

video
Thinkers and theories
Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?
13 minutes

video
Family life
In Rwanda, Sébastien finds traces of personal history in the wake of national tragedy
21 minutes

video
Dance and theatre
Leaf through Shakespeare’s First Folio for a riveting journey into theatre history
13 minutes

video
Love and friendship
A decade after his wife was swept away in a tsunami, Yasuo still searches the sea
9 minutes

video
Architecture
Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world
8 minutes