Experiencing Interruptions?

Žebra

As a mother ascends a seemingly endless staircase, she plays a dark game with her son where nothing but their imagination sets the limits.

  • Mariana Čížková
    Key Cast
    "Margot"
  • Martin Pozler
    Key Cast
    "Robert"
  • Esben Sloth
    Director
  • Daniela Esposito
    Writer
  • Lucy Smith-Williams
    Cinematographer
  • Jakob Lundoe
    Sound Designer & Composer
  • Ariana Nasseri
    Editor
  • Markéta Hejkalová
    Art Director
  • Matěj Picek
    Production Manager
  • Rodrigo Rebello de Andrade
    First Assistant Director
  • Eduard Pitka
    Visual Effects
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Genres:
    Drama
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 46 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 15, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    Denmark
  • Country of Filming:
    Czechia
  • Language:
    Czech
  • Shooting Format:
    16mm
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:66
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - FAMU International
Director Biography - Esben Sloth

Esben Sloth (1993) is a Danish filmmaker and editor based in Copenhagen. He started his film career at KBH Film & Fotoskole in 2018 and further developed his creative endeavours at The School of Art Photography, Fatamorgana in 2021-22. In 2023 he also finished a one year intensive course in ‘Directing Fiction’ at FAMU International in Prague. He has made multiple short films, noteworthily, he directed the documentary ‘The Greatest Love’ in 2022 and the fiction film ‘Žebra’ in 2023. The latter premiered at Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS in 2024. Esben has also produced, directed and edited several other forms of video content such as art installations, music videos, commercials and event videos. In his creative endeavour his desire is to broaden our perspectives, challenge our modern structures and tell the stories that usually don’t get much space in mainstream media.

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Director Statement

It is the darkness hidden inside us all. It is our fascination with the dark side of life, and our desire to dig deeper into things that we know are wrong or not good for us. Reading Danielas story made me realise that we somehow are born with this. No matter how hard we control, behave and structure around the light and comfortable life, we will always have this darkness inside of us and a desire to explore it. The film is an exploration into this peculiar curiosity and fear.

I’m also interested in how to make a space into a character. The idea of every step up the staircase can be used to visually and metaphorically to see the emotional development in the characters. With the film I want to challenge myself to create a mysterious world that is familiar and alien at the same time, and use the form of the film to tell parts of the story that the characters are not quite revealing themselves.