Loading...
Loading...
Adeel [0:00]: and then yeah, we'll just kind of get into it. Cool, Michelle, welcome to the podcast. Great to have you here.
18263093 [0:08]: Thank you so much for inviting me.
Adeel [0:10]: Yeah, no, I'm excited. I've been looking forward to this. First of all, do you want to tell us a little bit about where you're located and then a little bit about what you do?
18263093 [0:20]: So I'm based in my home country, Malta. I work as a freelancer, like doing 3D layout and previews, mainly for 3D TV shows and feature films, which are mainly targeted towards kids. And on the side, I just do my own personal projects and just do my best to try and bring them to life.
Adeel [0:44]: Yeah, that's great. Yeah, the artist struggle, but no, that sounds great. Well, I I heard about yours through, I have Google alerts set up for Misophonia news and there was press about your work. I I guess do you wanna talk a little bit about your work related to Misophonia?
18263093 [1:05]: Yes, so I found out that I had mesophonia a few years ago and I didn't really know it was called mesophonia. I just knew that when I kind of sat down to share a meal with people, I would get really irritated for no reason at all or just really, really incredibly overwhelmed by certain sounds or noises like the sound of other people breathing. And I thought, wow, I'm being really, really unfair to these people because they're just breathing, you know, or stuff like that. And then, you know, as you do, I stumbled across it when I was like on the internet and it just clicked into place. Like, wow, I had no idea that like other people also suffered from misophonia. And so this project has been a year and a half in the making. And it kind of... The idea came to me because... So, Malta is a really small place. I don't know if you know anything about it, but we're a really tiny island. And we are one of the most dense.
Adeel [2:07]: Yeah, yeah, I know it's an island as tiny. That's right. That's as fascinating that you do work for you. do artwork for you mean something you have your own production studios and stuff there. Or are you doing do you generally do work for outside outside Malta?
18263093 [2:23]: I mainly work for foreign clients. Yeah, there aren't that many animation studios in Malta. It's like a growing industry here.
Adeel [2:25]: franchise, yeah, okay. Yeah. All right, to back to yeah, back to Malta and Misophonia. Sorry. Yeah.
18263093 [2:36]: No, so like we're really small and we are a ton of people living here. Like we are one of the most population dense areas in the world, think. Like definitely in Europe, potentially maybe the world.
Adeel [2:48]: What is the population of Malta?
18263093 [2:50]: I think it's around... it's definitely 500,000 which doesn't sound like a lot but if you had to come here you'd understand and mainly because of our infrastructure it kind of really pushes us all close together
Adeel [2:55]: Okay, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I'm just trying to see what US city it's it's, so Malta, the whole island is comparable in size to smaller US cities like Chicago or Washington DC. So people listening, imagine your entire country is an island the size of a city like Chicago. That's, wow, yeah. It's pretty, yeah, right.
18263093 [3:29]: Yeah, and there's no escape. Like there's nowhere to go for like a spot of quiet or anything like that. And then I moved to like eight years ago, I moved to Denmark for my studies. And it was insane how quiet it was. It was just so quiet. And all of a sudden I felt so much better. Because it's not just like the sounds of like other people eating or breathing. It's also the sounds of traffic or
Adeel [3:35]: Yeah, gotcha.
18263093 [3:58]: just like these really loud repetitive noises which are here daily. And I had like the sudden pressure, like this invisible pressure like removed. And it's true that I used to live in a really small town in Denmark, I used to live in Vibo, which is like this very small, quaint university town. But then I moved to Copenhagen, which is the capital city, and it was still extremely quiet. And then just like having this,
Adeel [4:02]: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
18263093 [4:26]: this comparison. So every time I'd come home to visit and then go back to Denmark and then come home to visit and they used to drive me up the wall. So I just kind of wanted to make this immersive project that would invite other people to experience Misophonia the way we in Monza experience Misophonia like those of us who have it. So I actually made this project with a very small focus group where I took their you know, experiences and opinions on like what bothered them and what really drove them up the wall and what they would like this project to communicate. And then created like this two to three minute animation that's going to be exhibited at SvatoCreative like for six weeks, starting from next Thursday. And it's going to be like projected in this really small, dark, claustrophobic room where people can put on headphones and like see the projection and just really be like immersed in this overwhelming feeling so that they can see for themselves what it's like.
Adeel [5:33]: Yeah, and so when they put the headphones on, are they hearing triggers or is it some other stimulation? Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18263093 [5:42]: It's all triggers. Basically, the focus group and I and our moderator, we just took a list of all the sounds that really bother us and they're like, yeah, you listen to it now.
Adeel [5:52]: Yeah, no, I like that. mean, forced exposure therapy for the sake of art is an experience in itself. And then the visuals, are they visual triggers like many of us have? Mesokinesia.
18263093 [6:10]: Yeah, absolutely. So like, when I was doing the design for this project, wanted the visuals to be as upsetting as the noise and as powerful as the noise. And I really went for this kind of niche animation style called Riso animation. So I don't know if you know anything about Riso graph printing.
Adeel [6:21]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No.
18263093 [6:36]: So it's a form of printmaking. It's kind of like marrying an office printer with screen printing. So it's a form of mechanical screen printing. And it really adds this beautiful grain and noise and jitter to the images. And because you have to print color by color, so you can't print all the colors at once. It's layer by layer. There's always an opportunity for misregistration between the colors. So it creates these imperfections that make the final image more beautiful to me. So we animated the whole project, printed it, took photos, and then re-edited it back into the final video just to add this extra layer of annoyance to it.
Adeel [7:11]: Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Fascinating. Yeah. That's, sounds great. I'd love to see that. And that's exhibiting in Malta. So anyone can, who's in Malta. So it sounds like, wait, so you had focus groups locally in Malta with people who had, so how did you find people in Misophonia? I'm curious in Malta.
18263093 [7:39]: Yes. So I posted to lot of like Facebook forums. So I posted to like ADHD in Malta or expats in Malta or women for women in Malta. So illustrators in Malta. So I basically just posted around until people replied saying, hey, this sounds like me or hey, I didn't know I had misophonia, but I resonate heavily with this. So guess I do stuff like that.
Adeel [7:48]: Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool, okay. Yeah, that sounds great. And how did you approach these? I'm sure there's a lot of people doing this for the art. Did you approach the gallery after the work was complete or was this kind of like early on when you had the idea?
18263093 [8:24]: No, I approached the gallery before when I was still in my proposal stage. So they have an annual call for projects. So I pitched it to them. They liked it. We had a talk to discuss it further in depth. And then they were on board with it and they've been really, really helpful. They were the ones who suggested that I make this project with a focus group to have a more community aspect. So it's not just my perspective, but also other people's perspective.
Adeel [8:47]: Yeah. Right, right. Very cool. No, that sounds great. I'd love to be in touch and see how that progresses and maybe send some pictures on opening night and be curious. Hopefully, yeah, I'm sure it's going to get a great reaction. Do you want to know, I guess, do you want to be curious to hear maybe rewinding back to, you said when you first found out it had a name, but curious, when did it start for you? Was it early on in childhood like it is for so many of us or?
18263093 [9:27]: I mean, I think I realized like specific sounds are bothering me when I was about like a teenager, so maybe around 15, 16. And as I got older, I did notice that when my mental health is not doing so well, it tends to bother me more.
Adeel [9:34]: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
18263093 [9:45]: And I wasn't doing very well as a teenager because there's always like a lot of pressure when you're a teenager to do well in school amongst like other things. So it really just tends to like oscillate. Like it's always there, but it tends to oscillate a lot with how I'm feeling at the time, you know.
Adeel [9:52]: Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah, does. mean, I know stress is an exacerbator and there are a lot of comorbid conditions, know, anxiety and whatnot that tend to come along with misophonia. How did, were your triggers mainly at home when it was starting out?
18263093 [10:18]: Yeah, I think just like the biggest one was like family meals. Like I love eating with other people and it's something I really enjoy doing, but it can get a lot. So I usually have to take like frequent breaks or leave early or just not do it as often as I would like.
Adeel [10:22]: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right, right. Did your, what did your family think? Like, or how were your reactions? Were you just kind of like, you know, bottling it up and, or screaming? Yeah.
18263093 [10:44]: I'm, yeah, I don't think I communicated it very well. It wasn't like, guys, the specific noises bothering me. It's more like I would just like, build up, build up, build up, have an outburst and you know, your family goes, they're just a teenager and life continues until it happens again.
Adeel [11:01]: Yeah. Gotcha. Did you have siblings as well? Okay, okay. And then she was, I guess, how was she, you know, reacting to your, yeah.
18263093 [11:07]: Yeah, I have an audit to say. I don't think she has the same problem as me with regards to this. I don't think anyone in my family gets as bothered as I do. Oh, sorry. Let me just mute that. Sorry about that.
Adeel [11:20]: Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's okay. It's all right. I had kind of things like that out. So it's all good. And what about at school? mean, were you being triggered at school by the kids or sounds in the classroom?
18263093 [11:42]: No, I don't think so. I mean, I went to a church school. They were relatively strict, so we were quiet when we had to be quiet. Sometimes my class got bit rowdy, but it was okay overall, I think.
Adeel [11:44]: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Did you tell your friends at all or did they know that you were experiencing stuff?
18263093 [12:04]: No, I don't think it ever came up and it's definitely something I became just like more aware of as I got older. So now my friends now definitely know because I haven't shut up about it to be honest, especially because of like this project.
Adeel [12:08]: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, well they better be coming to the show. And did you ever go to see a therapist or get any kind of help for misophonia?
18263093 [12:33]: I mean, I've been to therapy, but not like specifically for this, like just for like stuff in general. It's like...
Adeel [12:41]: Yeah, that's usually what happens is like it's for something else and then misphenomea may not come up, but it's usually not even known by the therapist.
18263093 [12:51]: Yeah, I just, I don't remember if my therapist at the time was aware of it or not. I think she might have become aware of it through me. But like, for me, misophonia is, it is definitely an annoyance. And it is something that on a bad day can really push me over the edge to having like a meltdown.
Adeel [13:00]: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
18263093 [13:14]: But then like talking to other people, think I definitely have it on the easier side than like talking to some of the people in my focus group who really, really, really struggled with it.
Adeel [13:24]: Yeah, gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I guess some of those people that you've met, I mean, must have been, it sounds like you were on those focus scripts and they didn't even really know what it was. Have you been kind of following them since then? Like it's kind of a revelation sometimes when you hear about what Misophonia is. I'm kind of curious if it's kind of helped anybody reach out for help.
18263093 [13:55]: I think the focus group definitely was very validating for all of us. Because a lot of them don't really talk about it much to their closest. Some of them felt a bit embarrassed about it.
Adeel [14:00]: Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
18263093 [14:16]: or they just did not want to be labeled as sensitive or like that difficult person because of their misophonia where they're like, you know, always taking an issue with something which we know isn't the case, but maybe the people around them wouldn't understand that this isn't being a difficult person. It is something that's really, really deeply affects us.
Adeel [14:21]: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
18263093 [14:37]: So I think the focus group was nice to just be in a room with other people like each other and we're like, hey man, I see your struggle and you're not being, you're not overreacting. it's not that we want other people to shut up. We just wish the world would be a little bit more considerate and quieter. So it's not that like, no, don't laugh with your friends or go out to eat or you know. It's more like, don't play music on your phone without headphones in public. Or like, don't honk your car horn unnecessarily. Or, if you have a dog, please don't let your dog bark 24-7. You know, things like that. Quality of life things.
Adeel [15:09]: Yeah, yeah. Speakerphones. Right. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And in Malta, mean, how is mental health, I don't know, thought of, taken? Is it kind of like Russia where you don't talk about it or is it like, you know, some more progressive places where it's more supported?
18263093 [15:42]: I mean, think, you know, awareness is definitely is growing and there's no longer as much of a stigma about going to therapy as there used to be. I think people are understanding more and more like the pressures of daily life and how sometimes you need that like extra support to be able to get through it or learn how to cope with it. So I think it also just depends on the generation and
Adeel [16:03]: Mm-hmm.
18263093 [16:07]: and your circle. But I think it is something that is definitely improving overall over here.
Adeel [16:17]: Yeah. And you talk, do you talk to your parents about, about Mr. Phonia? I know you talk to your friends about him. I'm just kind of curious, within your family, does it, does it come up?
18263093 [16:26]: I mean, it's been coming up a lot more this past year because of this project. So I think they are more aware now that certain sounds really, really bother me or overwhelm me and tire me out. And I think it surprises them a bit. Because like when I was...
Adeel [16:29]: Yeah. Mmm.
18263093 [16:50]: younger I tried to be like this, I didn't always manage, but I tried to be this like more easygoing person. And I think now as an adult where I'm very aware of sensory overload and I have other sensory issues like outside of misophonia, like certain food textures or fabric textures really it come out.
Adeel [17:10]: Mm-hmm.
18263093 [17:13]: And I am more accommodating to myself now because I'm aware of it. So I think they're just surprised where I'm just like, nah, I'm not gonna deal with this, this bothers me. So I'm just gonna leave or do my best to avoid it. Yeah.
Adeel [17:18]: Yeah. Yeah. Go as far as I can in Malta without being in the ocean. Interesting. yeah, you're right. lot of us have other kind of sensory kind of things. Have you heard the term a highly sensitive person?
18263093 [17:45]: No, I don't think I have.
Adeel [17:47]: It's, yeah, it's, it's a, I guess it's a trait and, I mean, it's not some official diagnoses, but it, but it encompasses some of those, those feelings and also just, I mean, I guess a lot of artists would, would maybe identify just being able to like re read the room, at a higher volume than other, like be able to feel what other people are feeling, a lot more intensely than it seems like regular people. so. Yeah, and I'm curious, so about the show, I guess what are your goals for, I other than like awareness, do you have, I guess what's the artist's statement, and guess what would you like to have people experience as they're kind of going through? Because you're going to get a lot of people who have never had Misophonia, but then you've also had, you're to have people who have Misophonia. I'm kind of curious if you have any particular goals that you're trying to get out of them.
18263093 [18:43]: Well the goal is twofold right so for people who are who do have misophonia I want them to to be seen you know I want them to go wow I'm not alone I'm not like crazy or whatever. Like other people experience this and it really is as annoying as I feel it is. And then for the people who don't have misophonia, I want them to go, wow, that really sucks. I'm gonna try to be more concentrated. I'm gonna tone it down a bit.
Adeel [19:12]: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Very cool. Yeah, I know I'm very curious to see how it's going to go. Have you looked at other, because there's now short films about Misophonia in various places. There's one from Iran, is some from the United States. Have you looked around, I guess, at some of the other artistic expressions of Misophonia? Because I love seeing it. I mean, I love seeing that folks like yourself and others are... are using this for an art, because I think it's an untapped landscape.
18263093 [19:49]: I very deliberately did not look at other people's artwork because I did not want my project to be too derivative of their work. I kind of wanted it to be a standalone thing where it felt uniquely our experience as people from Malta. And I didn't want the flavor of it to be influenced by outside projects.
Adeel [19:59]: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's smart. Yeah, and definitely an art project in Malta is going to be unique on just on that merit alone. think a lot of people would be curious, go, what is it like? Yeah, what is life like in Malta? So you're saying, so just for people who... might want to visit Malta one day. mean, it seems like it's pretty loud. are, I don't know, are, there any spots that, favorite spots that you'd like to go to and then we can kind of maybe get into a little bit of your coping methods day to day.
18263093 [20:46]: Well, I really like to hike. I think we have some really beautiful hiking spots in Malta, especially in the north. And it's some of the few times where you can just kind of get away from it all and try seek a little modicum of peace and quiet. So if you're into...
Adeel [20:52]: Hmm. I bet.
18263093 [21:09]: And they're not like huge hikes. think they're pretty accessible for most people. So if you're into hiking or if you're into rock climbing, think Mota is definitely like the place to be. I mean, as for favorite places, this is terrible because I'm really blanking.
Adeel [21:27]: No, sorry. Well, I'm curious, maybe just kind of coping methods day to day. Like, yes, you got some pretty, pretty significant headphones. Is that one of your go-tos, I'm assuming? And kind of how do you deal? And also it like you leave situations too.
18263093 [21:40]: I mean this. I mean, this is actually my girlfriends, because I actually tend to use noise-cancelling earbuds because it's just so hot in water. I sweat so much under these over-the-ear headphones because it gets really, really hot in the summer. So just noise-cancelling earbuds, loops. And yeah, I mean, that's really about it. There isn't much else I can do.
Adeel [21:49]: Earbuds. Yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. mean, speaking of your partner, does your partner know about misophonia? I mean, obviously she does. I'm curious kind of how that dynamic works.
18263093 [22:22]: Yeah, she's also one of the... She doesn't struggle with it at all. And at times I have to be like, Viol, I'm really sorry. I know you're not doing it intentionally, but can you eat quieter? And I feel really bad because she's not eating with her mouth open or anything. It's just... You know how it is. And she's really, really patient with me about it. She's also one of the animators on the project.
Adeel [22:40]: Yeah. Yeah, we know. Okay.
18263093 [22:53]: So we were like three people who worked on it. This was me, her and Yasmin who was the sound designer. So she's very aware of it now.
Adeel [23:00]: Very cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And how did, yeah, I'm curious. I've got a bit of an audio background. I'm curious, how did the sound designer work? Like, where were you getting the samples from? How did you guys process it and put it together? I'm curious if you know kind of about the technical side of it. Okay. Okay, yeah, yeah.
18263093 [23:19]: No, I know nothing about this to be honest. I left it entirely in her hands. She was like part of the focus group so she could also listen to their feedback and their perspective. And then we had like multiple rounds just like iterating on it and just trying to make it as overwhelming as possible.
Adeel [23:30]: Yeah. Yeah, wow, okay, okay. And so everyone's gonna get their own headphones at the gallery, or is there any version that's kind of blasting in a room and everyone kind of goes in?
18263093 [23:51]: Well for the opening night we're having like a screening so it's going to be in a cinema and then from like from then on it's just like on-site in the projection room where there'll be like two sets of headphones so you'll have to take it in turns.
Adeel [23:57]: wow, okay. Two at a time, we got you. Okay, very interesting. No, very cool. Yeah, and so you said, outside of Malta, like you said, Denmark. So this is good to know, I'm planning visits to Europe. Denmark is a quiet place. Is it unusually quiet? Have you traveled to other places in Europe?
18263093 [24:29]: I've been around, most of the holidays I have taken have been in Europe. I would say it is quieter than a lot of other places except on public transport. So like Danish, the Danish are so quiet except on public transport. It's like they turn into completely different people for some reason. Especially on the 5C bus. So for all my Copenhageners out there on the 5C, please shut up.
Adeel [24:33]: Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah. This is good to know. And is it the... Okay. Okay, okay, interesting. And is it, what are the violations? they generally the speaker phones that you know?
18263093 [24:59]: Yeah. either talking too loud on the phone, the speakerphone, or just like Friday night, Saturday night, they just become, they drink a lot. It's a very like heavy drinking culture and they're very responsible and take public transport home, which is great. But then they're not very good at like policing their own volume and their indoor voice just like goes out the window.
Adeel [25:10]: Yeah. watching videos. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, Interesting. So, okay, so I'm curious, I guess your thoughts on misophonia, you've probably done some research on misophonia. Have you thought about, or have you learned about where it might be coming from, kind of maybe what were some of the root causes, if any? The jury's still out on specifics. I happen to think it's a combination of many factors. I'm curious. Yeah, I don't know, have you ever just thought about where you're missing, why you, basically, and kind of why us in general.
18263093 [26:09]: Well, I don't know about other people, but I have diagnosed ADHD. So I definitely think my misophonia comes from my neurodivergence and just the fact that like my body processes things differently from other people. So when I got diagnosed for the first time, because I had to get diagnosed twice, like between Malta and Denmark, unfortunately, I had to do it twice.
Adeel [26:35]: okay.
18263093 [26:36]: So I'm double confirmed. So I definitely have it. So there's no room for doubt. But like my first psychologist said that part of my ADHD is having an oral processing disorder. So I take longer to ingest oral information to understand it. And it affects the way I speak sometimes because I take long to reply or I swap.
Adeel [26:40]: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
18263093 [27:05]: words when by accident without realizing or like the beginnings of words. So I do think like my condition of misophonia just does them from from that issue that I have a hard time processing sound in general.
Adeel [27:09]: Mm-hmm. Did you always have that oral processing disorder as far as you can remember? Or was that also something relatively recent?
18263093 [27:28]: I'm not sure because I got diagnosed as an adult. And sometimes when you're a kid and you're experiencing these things, you're not going, well, why is, why am I different from everyone else? Why is this different? You don't, I didn't have those like really self-aware thoughts. I was just like, you know, just, just not really putting two and two together. But now I'm just like more aware and cognizant of these issues now that I can like put a name to it.
Adeel [27:41]: Yeah, yeah Mm-hmm. So how did these two therapists or two psychologists or audiologists, what did they do? Did they prescribe something or did they give you other, I don't know, ways to deal with it?
18263093 [28:13]: They prescribe ADHD medication, which was like a whole journey in itself to like find the right one. Because I think about 20 % of people are treatment resistant. So not every medication will be right for you, either because it either doesn't work or because of the side effects. And when I do take my medication, I am better at coping with overwhelm in general.
Adeel [28:22]: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
18263093 [28:42]: like I'm more on top of it. And when I'm not on it, I get a little bit more bogged down by everything.
Adeel [28:42]: Mm-hmm. Yeah and so by guess by proxy does it help with your misophonia or is it pretty separate?
18263093 [28:55]: I think it just gives me the fortitude to deal with it more. It gives me the patience to withstand it.
Adeel [28:59]: Yeah. Gotcha. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. Yeah, no, you're right. mean, ADHD is probably the most common overlapping condition with misophonia. And so, yeah. And did they give you other, I don't know, other ways to, do they just give you the medication and are, but are there other things that, are there tools that they give you to kind of deal with it? Like... Sometimes you might miss your medication or sometimes you might need some extra support. kind of curious if there are ways to think about it or I don't know, exercises or whatever that they give.
18263093 [29:40]: They were just mainly like medication focused, which is fine. That was mainly like their job and it definitely helped a lot. But they weren't really equipped to give me other solutions, to be honest.
Adeel [29:44]: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Yeah. Gotcha, yeah, Interesting. Very cool. Yeah, so I mean, none of your friends have misophonia, right? It's mainly kind of like focus group kind of a, yeah.
18263093 [30:13]: Actually funny about that, one of my friends learned that they had misophonia and joined the focus group because she was reading the description of what I was looking for. She's like, well, that sounds a lot like me. So she kind of like learned through this project.
Adeel [30:17]: Okay. Yeah. And did you know her quite a bit? Would you hang out a lot beforehand? A long time. Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm curious, looking back, do you guys think about moments when you were both kind of, you know, hiding it from each other almost, or both being triggered at the same time and just not, you know.
18263093 [30:32]: Yeah, we've known each other for about 10 years or something. Well, I think back then our friend group was a bit smaller, like 10 years ago, and over the years it's grown bigger and bigger. I think we're around 10 people now, if not more. So I don't think we were being triggered as much back then, but now we're definitely more aware of it, and we are definitely more aware of each other being triggered and being like, yeah, having a great time.
Adeel [30:51]: expressing it. Mmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Well, it's good. mean, that kind of self-awareness, like, I don't know, com humor kind of helps. So, that is one coping method that, that does come up a lot. and, and, know, speaking of, growing, growing groups, like as your, you know, as this, as this comes out and it's going to be live for like six weeks, are you thinking of doing anything next, whether it's just kind of like, I don't know, creating a group in Malta or, I don't know, ideas for other misophonia projects.
18263093 [31:47]: I mean, I haven't really thought about what happens next because I've just been so focused on, on this project. It's basically been like a year. Yeah. Yeah. I work, I work full time. like as a freelancer, I work around like 40 hours a week, even though it's a freelance position. so I haven't, I've just been so focused on doing this project and like realizing it that I haven't really thought about what's next.
Adeel [31:58]: And you have a day job too, right? it's probably, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
18263093 [32:15]: Even though it isn't intended to be a film, I do intend to submit it to film festivals abroad. So that's kind of how the project is going to take on a life after the exhibition at least. But I haven't really thought about other Missifonia related projects.
Adeel [32:29]: nice. Yeah, yeah. And is there any way that listeners here can help other than if they're part of a film festival, will there be a, I don't know, guess, there be a compo, will it be on Vimeo or something? at some point, will there be like a way for others to kind of experience it?
18263093 [32:54]: Yeah, so like after it's done, the Film Festival circuit, which usually takes around a year. I do intend to put this online. Yeah, it's a really long time and it's such a bummer, I know, that people have to, like the general public have to wait a whole year to see something because certain film festival regulations. Yeah, so catch it at a film festival near you.
Adeel [32:58]: Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Well, unless it's near us. Yeah, let's see. Right, Right. They over it. It must be like an embargo. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Well, hopefully it'll get it. Have you submitted it yet? You said you're going to submit it or you haven't submitted yet, right? Or... Okay.
18263093 [33:21]: I submitted it to one film festival yet, but I'm talking with a distributor and I just need to finalize it with them so that they can take on the distribution.
Adeel [33:30]: Oh, wow. Okay. Well, that's pretty cool. I mean, do you have connections like that that you can find a distributor that does that? Or are there a lot of smaller distributors that kind of specialize in the kind of work you're doing that's kind of niche?
18263093 [33:43]: Yeah, mean, there are definitely dedicated animation short film distributors who will submit it to Festivus on your behalf.
Adeel [33:46]: Yeah. okay. Very cool. Okay, yeah, well, I think most people listening will be, yeah, we'll look out for this. Because, yeah, there are, like I said, are Miss Funny short films. They haven't made it near me yet. So I'm hoping somewhere here in Minnesota, yeah, we'll be able to experience that. And now I know that it's gonna be all triggers and I'll be mentally prepared.
18263093 [34:18]: Yeah, so if you do have misophonia, maybe don't go watch it or take earplugs because it is a bit brutal to be honest.
Adeel [34:27]: Or you're just to know what you're getting into. So how long is it by the way? I'm just kind of curious how long. Okay, okay, yeah.
18263093 [34:31]: It's only three minutes. So at least you don't have to brace yourself 30 minutes of triggers. It's only three minutes.
Adeel [34:39]: Yeah, yeah, Very cool. Okay. No, that sounds fascinating. yeah, but I mean, is there anything else you want to share with us or plug? We'll have links to all this stuff as much as is available in the show notes that people can at least kind of share and hopefully it'll get around to our friends of friends of friends who might be in Malta to get them to see your work. Yeah, anything else you want to share?
18263093 [35:11]: So the exhibition is going to be open from the 27th of November to the 11th of January. And you can also buy one or several of the Risa Graf prints that went into making this project on my coffee. Or you can see more behind the scenes of what went into the project on my Instagram, at funeralbiscuit.
Adeel [35:28]: yeah, okay. Okay, and is there, I'm assuming there's a link to your My Coffee through your Instagram so people can find it. I'll put links anyways to all this stuff. Okay, okay. Okay, okay, yeah, well either way, yeah, you can, yeah, sometime before this goes live, which will probably be, you know what, actually, so this is going live, your show is going on the 27th, right? Okay, so that's just next week, so.
18263093 [35:45]: That's a good point. It's very new, so I think I still haven't linked it on my Instagram. I need to go do that.
Adeel [36:04]: Yeah, was planning to do an episode this week and then I think, yeah, maybe right before your show goes live, we can have this episode up. That'll be right before Thanksgiving over here. And so it's good to have a new show out before Thanksgiving because people are trying to avoid listening to their families eat dinner. But that's perfect timing. Yeah, we'll put this live then. Yeah, I'd love to get links and I'll put them in the show notes. And yeah, I wish you the best of luck and... here and then at the film festivals and I hope to see it soon. And I am just very grateful that artists are picking up on Misophonia and trying to express it in a way that resonates with them and then like you're doing with a focus group, resonates with people in the community. So I think it's really important to get out and have people kind of viscerally understand it.
18263093 [36:38]: Thank you so much. Thank you, it means a lot to me.
Adeel [37:02]: All right, and cut. And that's kind how I know to edit. I'll just hit the stop. There we