DOK Industry Podcast
Short Films, Big Questions: Intercultural Exchange in a Polarised Era
In this conversation, we explore how cultural work can exist in a time of industry crisis and political upheaval. We begin by defining—and redefining—the labour of care, considering how it can be mobilised to support and sustain artists and filmmakers, with a particular focus on the short film form. From there, we examine how radical work moves from collective labour into aesthetic expression—and what that looks like in the present moment. Throughout, we hold close the questions of where culture lives and how we can create together.
Language: English
Length: 37:12
Recorded on 2 July 2025
Qila Gill is a film programmer. Currently Associate Programmer at London Short Film Festival and serves on the selection committees for the London Film Festival (Experimenta), Berlinale Generation, and Berlinale Shorts and is a programmer for Singapore International Film Festival. Previously, she served on the selection committees for Kurzfilm Festival Hamburg and Sheffield Doc/Fest, was a SXSW documentary screener (2024), and programmed for Aesthetica Film Festival. She also had a stint as Distribution Director at LUX, London, and has produced artists’ films and documentaries.
Speakers
Puiyee is an arts manager and film programmer based in Singapore. She is currently the Programme Head (Film) at Objectifs Centre for Photography and Film, where she oversees the film related programmes and projects. She was the Head of Short Films at Ho Chi Minh City International Film Festival 2024, a Screener for SXSW Animation Shorts (2022, 2023, 2025) and a pre-selection member of the Asia Project Market 2023-2025 at Busan International Film Festival.
Nihan Sivridag is a cultural worker based in Berlin and has worked in various roles on projects and with institutions in the fields of theater, film, and visual arts. Since 2021, she is a member of the Berlinale Shorts selection committee.
DOK Industry Podcast 2025 is realised in partnership with POC2 Programmers of Colour Collective, What’s Up With Docs Podcast, and Talking Shorts, supported by film.macht.kritisch - The podcast about the *other* cinema.
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.
