Charlie Kaufman and writer Eva H.D. don't follow conventional filmmaking rules... well, ever, but especially when they collaborate. Their latest project, the poetic 27-minute short How to Shoot a Ghost, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. Its U.S. premiere is today at the 2025 Woodstock Film Festival.The short follows two people, Anthi (Jessie Buckley) and Rateb (Josef Akiki), as they wander through Athens. Both of them are ghosts, newly dead. They reflect on the past (their own as well as the history of the city around them) and meaning.It's the team's third collaboration, after H.D.'s poem "Bonedog" appeared in Kaufman's 2020 feature I'm Thinking of Ending Things, and their 2023 short Jackals & Fireflies.The film blends street photography, archival footage, and loose narrative beats to explore mortality and memory. The project began simply. H.D. was in Athens and pitched making a film there."Eva suggested that we do a film that takes place in Athens, and I was up for it," Kaufman said. "She was staying in Athens at the time, and she wrote something, and that's how it started. More back-and-forth kind of conversations about it."No Film School spoke with Kaufman and H.D. about their creative process, the challenges of the shoot, and why short films deserve to be taken seriously as an art form. - YouTube youtu.be Why Heavy Plot Doesn't Work for PoetryThe film explores opposing themes—the desire to leave something behind versus self-destruction. I wondered about how they approached theme in their storytelling."I think you would just...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday