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MOEDERQ: MOEDER tackles the tragedy of Flight MH17 in a very personal and emotional way. What inspired you to tell this story through the lens of a miner on the Ukrainian-Russian border?A: A friend approached me with the seed of this story. The personal nature with which the story examines the tragedy, focusing on the small, often-missed moments of the human collateral, really moved me. As often happens, upon further research into the actual events surrounding the MH17 flight disaster, I realized that this story was seemingly not the only one of its kind. There were multiple accounts of locals finding ringing phones in the fields or on their property, with people on the other end of the line speaking in foreign languages, desperately looking for their loved ones.Q: As a self-taught filmmaker, how did your international upbringing shape your unique approach to storytelling and filmmaking?A: My parents were quite nomadic when I was growing up, and as a result, I gleaned a lot from their travels. As a family unit, we moved frequently in my early years, and I carried that through my adult life. I%u2019ve lived in South Africa, Dubai, Sydney, and New York, and all these places have shaped my in,terest in telling stories from unique geographical contexts%u2014finding both the cultural and sub-cultural specificity of these locations and how they impact and shape the universal stories that we all share. Like the story of a mother%u2019s loss in MOEDER%u2014it%u2019s universal, but its backdrop is unique, and it colors the atmosphere of our film.Q: You have a long list of accolades, from Cannes Lions to UK Music Video Awards. How does the experience of working on MOEDER compare to your previous projects?A: I am in a season of transition, where much of my time and energy is shifting towards longer-form narrative storytelling, and MOEDER has been key in providing a platform for me to push further into that domain. I have several projects I%u2019m currently developing that extend across short and long-form storytelling, spanning different genres, but always with a very personal human story at their core.MOST MAGAZINE - ISSUE 64 53