Artist-in-Residence: Maksim Shved

As a part of our ongoing interviews with Artists-in-Residence at the Jacob Burns Film Center, we recently caught up with Artist-in-Residence Maksim Shved to talk about his current work.

1. How did this residency come about, and how did you learn about the Burns?

I first heard about the residency from Ryan Harrington (JBFC’s Director of Film Programs and Curator-in-Chief) when my colleague and I were presenting our pitch for our documentary project Flow in the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (CPH:DOX). Ryan liked the idea of our film and invited us to participate in an artistic residence in New York. It sounded a bit fantastic to me but I decided to use the chance and wrote to Ryan. And here I am! 

2. Can you tell us a bit about the film you are working on during your residency?

3. What are some of the most interesting things you’ve learned while working on your film?

4. What do you want viewers to learn from your film?

There are universal topics of beauty in human beings and the struggle with evil that I like to show in my works. But as a Belarusian filmmaker, I want to put my country on the map and shed light on the dramatic events that have unfolded.

5. If you had not had this opportunity, how you would you go about completing your film project?

6. Which filmmakers or artists do you most admire/draw inspiration from?

Most of all, I like the Polish school of documentaries: Marcel Lozinski, Pavel Lozinski, Jaczek Blawut, and works of the younger generation, for example: The Pawnshop by Lukasz Kowalski.

7. Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Happy to be here.