DOK Industry Podcast
Between Co-Option and Solidarity: Conversation between Saleh Kashefi, Heitor Augusto and Sanne Jehoul
In an increasingly dark global climate, what does it mean for film festivals to platform and for filmmakers to produce ‘political’ work, particularly short films, with their particular space for immediacy and radical expression? When work is made with political or activist intent, what tensions arise when they encounter a Euro/Western centric and elite industry? Iranian filmmaker Saleh Kashefi, Brazilian curator Heitor Augusto, and Talking Shorts commissioning editor Sanne Jehoul discuss some thoughts and provocations around power imbalances, the damage of competition-driven programming practices, who sets aesthetic standards, and more. In collaboration with Programmers of Colour Collective and Talking Shorts.
Language: English
Length: 62:09
Recorded on 15 September 2025
Sanne Jehoul is an arts and film worker across programming and curation, facilitation and support, festival strategy, and talent development. She currently leads on the talent development programme at the BFI Doc Society Fund, and is commissioning editor at Talking Shorts. Before this she was programme director at Glasgow Short Film Festival as well as managing the short film slate of sales and festival distribution agency Square Eyes. She has worked with multiple international festivals across programming, selection, and production (including Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur and Vienna Shorts), and sat on international festival juries and panels as well as moderating conversations and masterclasses. She sits on the board of Kortfilm.be.
Speaker
Saleh Kashefi also known as Filmsaaz (1999, Tehran) is an audiovisual artist whose works bring a bold lens upon contemporary youth culture, making ‘no-budget’ films which have gone on to be screened with international acclaim. They have been part of festivals like Cannes, Berlinale, Venice, Locarno, Visions du Réel, IDFA and FID. A recipient of Prince Claus Seed Awards, l'Abri associated artist, Master ECAL/HEAD alumni and currently enrolling in Le Fresnoy, Saleh has made 16 short films which have been included in over 200 film festivals around the world and have won 40 awards.
Heitor Augusto works as a film curator, consultant, writer, and translator. His work explores Black film through an expansive approach, with a keen interest in de-centering the binary expectations of positive versus negative representation. He has actively worked to bring visibility to Black Brazilian filmmakers, a dedication that resulted in the publication Cinemateca Negra (Black Film Archive, 2024). In addition to working in Brazil, Augusto has programmed and lectured in Canada, France, Germany, and the United States. His most recent work has been as a guest curator of films for the public program “Stream of Images and Imaginaries” at the 36th São Paulo Biennial.
Exhibitions:
Par-delà la Géographie, Les Journées Cinématographiques de Saint Denis, 2023
Joy and Resilience in Black Brazilian Lives, VLAFF, 2021
Cinema Negro: Capítulos de uma história fragmentada, FestCurtasBH, 2018
This podcast episode was created in collaboration with Talking Shorts.
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.
