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Alumnus shares his journey as a freelance director and photographer

Alumnus shares his journey as a freelance director and photographer

Published: 13 Mar 2023

Kristijonas Dirsė

Brunel was the only university in London that offered a joint-degree programme, combining Film and Music Studies. It was one of the best choices I have made.

Kristijonas, Undergraduate, Alumni

Director and Photographer, Freelance

Film and Television Studies and Music BA - 2014

From Lithuania

Which country do you currently live in?

France

Tell us about your educational and/or career journey since you graduated from Brunel?

In 2014 I moved to Paris, where I spent a year learning French and doing some volunteering as a videographer for independent film projects promotion. Later I found a part-time job as a video editor, and enrolled to Université Paris 8 Masters programme in Film Directing. After finishing the degree, I began to freelance as a director and photographer.

What’s been the highlight of your career journey so far?

I’m very excited to participate in my first professional film pitching session. In less than a month I’ll be pitching my short film "Reminiscence" at The Baltic Pitching Forum. It is a platform of networking and collaboration for short film projects from the Baltics. The main goal of the Forum is to facilitate interaction, cooperation and coproduction between short filmmakers from the Baltics and the rest of Europe.

How would you say your Brunel experience has helped you to get where you are today?

While studying at Brunel, I worked on interdisciplinary art projects and festivals with students and lecturers from the School of Arts (including Jennifer Walshe, Christopher Fox, Bob Gilmore and Colin Riley). The Psychogeography module taught by Will Self had a great influence on my work.

Why did you choose to study at Brunel and why would you recommend Brunel to others?

After graduating from Art School in Lithuania, specialising in music conducting, I knew I wanted to switch to filmmaking, but couldn’t imagine dropping music out of my life. It was something I was studying for over 12 years and I felt that I still had a lot to learn about it, especially about contemporary music. Brunel was the only university in London that offered a joint-degree programme, combining Film and Music studies. It was one of the best choices I have made.

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