The thoughts behind the images

I want to tell stories about women in different circumstances: how they experience everyday life, understand their relationships and make choices when life becomes difficult. My work grows from observing life and returning to these questions.

I know the market often looks for immediate satisfaction and rapid twists. In my films, I want to give characters time, allowing their doubts, contradictions and decisions to unfold. I want to hold on to the reason I began making films: to let women be seen as they are, in their strength as well as their vulnerability and imperfections.

I am particularly interested in how a woman can build work and a voice of her own within a shared life, and how coming to understand herself can change the way two people relate to each other. I want change to emerge from specific experiences, so that viewers can understand what has brought her to a decision.

In production, I shape writing, character and setting design, AI-generated images and movement, sound and editing around the story. I attend closely to the continuity of relationships and emotions, using images, dialogue, pauses and sound to give each change a foundation.

From writing to images: three creative choices

Writing the life before making the images

The completed narrative gave me a basis for planning the shots in Beyond the Walls. I used shifts in the character's feelings to judge how long a scene should last. Pauses in conversation and small changes in expression needed time to register. The writing established her circumstances; the shots gave those circumstances a rhythm the viewer could feel.

Light falling on tangible materials

For the interiors, I established a palette of dark brown, deep green and warm grey, with soft, low-contrast natural window light. Fabrics, wooden furniture and aged walls were equally important. In the drawing-room frame, dark clothing, wooden frames and a pale sofa give the character a tangible setting. Small changes in expression have a place to register.

Returning the still image to time

Once the images are established, movement, sound and editing continue to shape their meaning. The moonlit deck places the character within a wide, quiet space. Moving from a still to the trailer lets the viewer experience motion and hear how sound changes the image. Throughout this process, emotional expression and the texture of the film guide my judgment of whether each shot belongs.

Classical aesthetics, opera and the visual world of old Europe continue to influence my work. They help me express human dignity, vulnerability and complexity. The emotion of a scene guides how long a shot lasts, when a sound enters and when a character falls silent.

Music, sound and editing work together to shape a film's rhythm. The connections between shots, and the time spent on each image, influence how the audience experiences the film.

The Minutes follows three women across three eras, exploring how choices and losses in the past shape the lives that follow. Its classical imagery is paired with the emotional intensity of opera.