MINDFUL was conceived when I had first become interested in meditation in 2018. In my process of learning from others about it, I was struck by the frequency and ease at which many from the West seemed to impart their extensive pseudo-knowledge on the practice – one whose cultural origins lie in the East. Amused by such encounters, I was thus motivated to make a film that captures their absurdity. In MINDFUL, Rodrigo is an insecure, try-hard archetype who shows off his ostensibly expansive knowledge of meditation to his peers, prescribing it like it is the latest trend. Yet, his desperation for validation eventually alienates them. A hypocrite who instructs others to be mindful, ultimately it is Rodrigo’s lack of mindfulness towards social dynamics that leads to his demise. MINDFUL for me was primarily an exercise in cinematography and writing: as a predominantly one-shot film, the camera movement – carefully choreographed with the dialogue – reflects the trajectory of the protagonist’s control, both internally as well as over his peers.