Nalini Malani: Of Woman Born: a stand-out event at the 2026 Venice Bienalle. Video artist Malani’s immersive ‘animation chamber’ uses iPad sketches in overlapping sequences to explore male violence against women. Her focus on embodied trauma reminds me of my films: It Started With a Murder and The Betrayal, but whereas mine focus on personal autoethnographic traumas, Malani highlights the ubiquity of global male violence. It has inspired me to think about site-specific approaches for my next film, which will be incorporating drawn animation.

30 years ago, on 13 February 1996, my life irrevocably changed when my ex-husband attempted to murder me. He nearly succeeded, and I was deeply traumatised by this event. I had just been commissioned to direct this Levis commercial featuring an empowered central female character, so I poured all my energy and emotion into its animation, and made my character an all conquering, survivor. The commercial won numerous international animation awards, but what I remain most proud about is that I was able to use its animation process to express my resiliance and to turn my trauma into something life-affirming and creative.

Reflections on making The Doomsday Clock, a film about multilateral disarmament that I was commissioned to make by the United Nations in 1986. The film is based on the actual Doomsday Clock, a device created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to chart the likelihood of technological Armageddon (represented by midnight on the clock). In 1986, the clock was set at 3 minutes to midnight. In 2025, it was 89 seconds to. On Jan 27 2026, it was...

“There is but one reality and that is the truth and each of us are aspects of it — like facets of a gem. As filmmakers and artists, all we can hope to do is to be as true to ourselves as we are able, and in so doing find a resonance with others — like the refraction of light in a well-cut diamond. Only a facet that is truthfully defined can hope to reflect light inwards. The only thing that matters is the truth. Be true to oneself.”

I received a BAFTA nomination for my American Football titles (1994-1998) during a devastating period: my abusive husband had attempted to murder me in 1996, a doctor over-prescribed me drugs leading to addiction, and by 1997 this medication caused a hand injury that ended my animation career. Years later, I reflect on this BAFTA nomination as part of my recovery narrative and celebrate that I am alive to remember it at all, rather than focusing on the professional achievement itself. This experience is further detailed in my forthcoming book on trauma and animation.

My reflections on a 1985 Observer feature about a 'crisis' in UK art schools. In 1984, Margaret Thatcher appointed media mogul Jocelyn Stevens to commercialize the Royal College of Art. Courses were slashed and market-driven requirements on students imposed. As a film student there, I resisted all arbitrary directives while making my graduation film 'Carnival.' My defiance proved right—the film was groundbreaking. It springboarded my successful career, which ended catastrophically in the 1990s due to me experiencing domestic violence trauma and an overwork-related injury. In 2023 I returned to the RCA to do my PhD on trauma and animation and found better support for students but shorter courses. The Observer article's critiques feel more relevant than ever in our hyper-commodified age.