Meet The Filmmaker: Fashion Film Program
The Fashion Film Program at Lumière Cinema celebrates designers and filmmakers experimenting with the short fashion-film format. Featuring a selection of 36 films from around the world, it offers a rich and diverse panorama of perspectives, disciplines, and narratives.
On Thursday 13 November, FASHIONCLASH and Lumière Cinema co-presented the screening of Rains over Babel. On Friday evening, the six finalists were revealed, followed by the presentation of the FASHIONCLASH Festival 2025 Fashion Film Award and the Kaltblut Magazine Award.
Two FASHIONCLASH-produced films will also premiere during the festival: The Sneeze and HANGMAN & CO., both developed within the Fashion Film Development Program.
The Sneeze by Yala Claessens, Vera van Nuenen & Bent Lochtenberg, offers a relatable portrayal of taking up space, transformation, and queer joy, where mounting discomfort culminates in a sneeze so powerful it propels the protagonist into completely unknown territory. HANGMAN & CO. by Birsu Tamer, Hedzer Seffinga, a& Matti Paffen celebrates analog labor through a recently retired house painter who finds himself lost without his stained uniform. As he struggles with clean, crisp retirement clothes, his workwear comes alive in protest, leading him to reclaim the quiet dignity in the art of labor.
The 36 participating filmmakers represent a truly international selection, including creators from Italy, Russia, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Turkey, China, Lebanon, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and beyond. Together, they demonstrate that fashion film has evolved far beyond promotional content to become a legitimate art form—one that tackles pressing social issues, explores identity and transformation, challenges gender norms, and questions our relationship with both physical and digital realities.
