In 2017, after three years under the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), the people of Mosul, Iraq fought to reclaim their city. The nine-month battle to liberate Mosul was marked by catastrophic violence, especially in the historic Old City. […]

The post A Conversation with Zaradasht Ahmed (THE LIONS BY THE RIVER TIGRIS) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

In Traces of Home, filmmaker Colette Ghunim takes her parents back to the homes they were forced to leave as children. Her mother returns to her childhood home in Mexico City, and her father finds the home he fled in […]

The post A Conversation with Colette Ghunim (TRACES OF HOME) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

When producer and director Katie Jacobs moved into a second-floor unit on East 2nd Street in New York City she didn’t know what she was getting into. Finding herself sandwiched between two legendary artists living on the first and third […]

The post A Conversation with Katie Jacobs (ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

“Do women make harsher films?” This is the question driving filmmaker Isa Willinger’s latest documentary, No Mercy. The film is an electrifying cinematic essay investigating women’s roles on and behind the camera. Willinger brings in the testimonies of some of […]

The post A Conversation with Isa Willinger (NO MERCY) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

During Argentina’s Dirty War between 1976 and 1983, up to 30,000 people disappeared. Many were dissidents and activists publicly opposing the military dictatorship, Proceso de Reorganización Nacional (National Reorganization Process), though others were citizens suspected of being “terrorists” for having […]

The post A Conversation with Marialuisa Ernst (A PLACE OF ABSENCE) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

“Where’s my water? What did I do with the water?” a priest mutters, patting and digging into his pants pockets.  Standing on a fisherman’s dock, wearing a fedora and sunglasses hanging from his shirt pocket, he looks slightly out of […]

The post A Conversation with Sasha Wortzel (RIVER OF GRASS) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

It may be incongruous to characterize a film about war and destruction as “gentle,” or a film of loss and ethnic cleaning as “tender,” but Emily Mkrtichian’s debut feature There Was, There Was Not is a film that continuously breaks […]

The post A Conversation with Emily Mkrtichian (THERE WAS, THERE WAS NOT) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Despite having its world premiere on the heels of summer, Forastera – Lucía Aleñar Iglesias’ debut feature film – takes place over a long, winding summer full of beach days, sunbathing, and a sudden tragedy. As we grieve the end […]

The post A Conversation with Lucía Aleñar Iglesias (FORASTERA) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Memory flows like water – delicate and elusive.  Sometimes disrupted by a person stepping into it, or by a sudden change in its calmness,  like a rock thrown in, causing ripples that affect its established course. It has the power […]

The post A Conversation with Laurynas Bareiša (DROWNING DRY) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.

Just one year ago, more than 44.2 million acres of the Amazon Rainforest were burned in a devastating forest fire. The destruction was overwhelming, but unfortunately, was not the first tragedy the rainforest has faced. Since the 1970s, almost 20% […]

The post A Conversation with Chelsea Greene & Rob Grobman (WE ARE GUARDIANS) appeared first on Hammer to Nail.