In the spirit of our Oscar month film issue, SOMA asked several up-and-coming auteurs about their relationships with cinema. 1 What’s your favorite recent film? 2 What’s the last film you saw? 3 Who’s your favorite director? 4 What’s your favorite film genre? 5 What do you love about movies? Photography by Laura Hollabaugh

Caveh Zahedi, 48, Filmmaker
1 Synecdoche, New York. 2 The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. 3 Lars Von Trier. 4 Metaphysical comedies. 5 That they preserve time.

Cassandra Michel, 25, Filmmaker
1 Milk. 2 8 1/2. 3 Terrence Malick 4 I don’t really have one. 5 I love stories and it’s a powerful way to tell and experience a story.

Julian Vargas, 24, Director/Art Director/Actor
1 I’ve Loved You So Long. 2 Jawbreaker. 3 Igmar Bergman. 4  Don’t have one.  5 It’s the most accessible art form.

Kristina Willemse, 23, Filmmaker
1 Amelie. 2 Brick. 3 Michel Gondry for his music videos—hi-ya! 4 “Dramedy” (a blend of drama and comedy). 5 I love movies because of their intricacy. They are able to describe feelings and ideas that no other art form can.

Barry Jenkins, 29, Filmmaker
1 Synecdoche, New York. 2 La Mission. 3 Claire Denis. 4 New Wave. It may as well be a genre. 5 Their ability to draw metaphor from human actions. 

Ambika Jain, 24, Filmmaker
1 Slumdog Millionaire. 2 Cochochi. 3 I don’t have just one favorite director. 4 Dramatic narrative. 5 Movies are a combination of many of the things I love, such as storytelling, music, photography.

Colin Blackshear, 29, Artist/Filmmaker
1 There Will be Blood. 2 Elephant. 3 Somewhere in-between Stanley Kubrick and Terry Gilliam. 4 Dark humor/psychological thriller. 5 Their ability to take the viewer on an unexpected adventure.