Project timeline: 2025 · video archive year. Published as a retrospective on 23 October 2026.
Hush gives me a different kind of challenge from a feature or a large documentary gathering. It is a short film, with Selina Romal in front of the camera and Maximum Risk Films credited as producer. I want a short project like this to feel intentional from its first image, because the format leaves little room for an uncertain beginning.
Having a family connection in a production matters to me, but the film still has to work for somebody who knows nothing about our family. The audience needs a performance and a visual experience that stand on their own. That is a useful responsibility to keep in mind when familiar people become collaborators.
From the idea to the screen
For me, the first question is what belongs at the centre of the experience. Is it a decision, a relationship, a change in understanding or a particular feeling? The answer affects everything around it. A visually attractive moment can still be unnecessary if it sends the viewer towards a different story from the one the film is trying to tell.
That is a useful discipline for any director. It forces me to separate the things I like individually from the things the film needs collectively. The aim is not to remove all complexity. It is to give the complexity a clear place, so the audience can stay engaged without needing a long explanation before the story begins.
A short film also has to trust its performer. A glance, a pause or a change in posture can carry information that would feel heavy if it were explained in dialogue. I want the camera to allow that information to register. There is a difference between a fast film and a film that does not give a person time to be understood.
Working with Selina connects Hush to the family collaborations within my wider filmmaking. At the same time, a family connection does not remove the need for clarity about the work. The performer still needs a scene with a purpose, and the director still needs to make choices that serve the film rather than rely on familiarity.
The format also makes the ending important. I want a short film to arrive somewhere, even when it leaves a question open. An unresolved question can be deliberate; the feeling that the film simply stopped is something else. The distinction depends on how the earlier images prepare the audience for the final one.
What I like about the short form is that it makes me question the necessity of every part. I want Hush to sit in the portfolio as a complete piece of filmmaking, with the same care for an audience that I would bring to a much longer project. Length changes the challenge; it does not reduce the attention the film deserves.
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