“All grown-ups were once children… but only few of them remember it.”
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

Life grows heavier as we move along. We begin with the effervescence of youth only to wander without warning into the density of adolescence before emerging into the weight of adulthood. For a time, many hold onto their youth, stirring it up now and again although perhaps they are a little more tired for it than they once were. We travel on. That lightness of childhood begins to seem such a distant memory. Perhaps we have children of our own, or children to whom we are close, and through their eyes, we glimpse what we have left behind. We remember, if only for a moment, the levity, the carelessness that once – for a fleeting moment – was ours.

Marta Popivoda spoke to us from Belgrade in April where the pandemic has affected her work in many ways. Travel is typically a large part of her role as a filmmaker, so the restrictions in place have changed things significantly in that regard. Popivoda had been in Germany but chose to return to Belgrade to receive her COVID vaccination. Despite travel difficulties, she was preparing to go back to Germany for the premiere of her new film at festival. The pandemic has given rise to hybrid festivals where films are viewed projected in person as well as streamed online. While these formats are vastly different, Popivoda considers both valid ways to experience film. To hear more about her work and the film festival scene amid a pandemic, listen to the complete interview.

Christy Gast spoke to us from a tiny cemetery in the middle of Amish country in Pennsylvania. She was halfway between Ohio, where her family lives, and New York where she lives. She was on a road trip visiting her parents for the first time since Christmas 2019. During the pandemic, Gast was part of a group working on eco-political issues invited to participate in a residency at the New Museum. Deciding to do the residency virtually, they worked for the first six months to rewrite the first act of Maria Irene Fornes’ play Fefu and her Friends as Cuckoo and her Fishes, an eco-feminist journey where women were meeting to plan an activist project. To hear more about this work and more, listen to the complete interview.