short film
cigarette break
2024
writter | director | DOP | editor | colorist
about
If the one you loved, the one who knew your every secret, the center of your universe, was gone, would you bring them back, even if only as a fragment? This short film follows Hatski on the night before Nushka’s death anniversary, as he wanders through the city guided by a simulation of her thoughts and memories, her voice feeding through an earpiece as he struggles between holding on and letting go. The film explores a near-future where AI becomes a vessel for grief, questioning whether connection can truly exist when it is reduced to code. In confronting loss through something artificial, the story asks whether comfort can replace presence, or if, as Gaines suggests, without true communication, we are left to experience the world alone.
