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In today's episode, I interview Paul Kowalski, the director of the short film "Sardinia," a dark look at what a world without humor could be like. The film screened at IndieShorts and won the Best Director Grand Prize at Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival in 2024.

Listen to hear about the real world inspiration for the film, casting a group of strong actors that could each bring their own interpretation to the characters, and a set of book recommendations that should be required reading for any aspiring filmmaker.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The 120 Days of Sodom by Marquis de Sade
• Notes on the Cinematograph by Robert Bresson
• Kieślowski on Kieślowski by Krzysztof Kieślowski
• Making Movies by Sidney Lumet
• On Film-making: An Introduction to the Craft of the Director by Alexander Mackendrick
• The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography by Ingmar Bergman
• Film Technique And Film Acting by V.I. Pudovkin
• Conclave by Robert Harris

Films and TV shows mentioned in this episode include:

• "Sardinia" directed by Paul Kowalski
• The Tenant directed by Roman Polanski
• The Lobster directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• "Nimic" directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• First Reformed directed by Paul Schrader
• Burn After Reading directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
• Miller's Crossing directed by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
• The Goonies directed by Richard Donner
• Mass directed by Fran Kranz
• Silence of the Lambs directed by Jonathan Demme
• Lawrence of Arabia directed by David Lean
• Vertigo directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Amadeus directed by Miloš Forman
• Rosemary's Baby directed by Roman Polanski
• The Shining directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Stalker directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
• Cure directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
• Possession directed by Andrzej Żuławski
• Dekalog: One directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski
• Don't Look Now directed by Nicolas Roeg
• Come and See directed by Elem Klimov
• Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
• Accattone directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
• The Godfather directed by Francis For Coppola
• The Man Who Fell to Earth directed by Nicolas Roeg
• Quest for Fire directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
• A Clockwork Orange directed by Stanley Kubrick
• Anora directed by Sean Baker
• Conclave directed by Edward Berger
• The Housemaster directed by Paul Kowalski
• Carrie directed by Brian De Palma
• If... directed by Lindsay Anderson

You can follow Paul on Instagram @pauljkowalski and the film @sardiniafilm and check out Paul's website.