Say Hello to Soham!

The Curse, Mother Teresa, Triple Cheeseburger and Iced Coffees

"Pretty Silly Slambook” - a profile series where we ask our favourite artists, scientists, musicians, and more. It's a bit of a cultural time capsule project.

The idea is to move away from the usual Spotify playlists and Netflix recommendations, and instead, let everyday people like us share their favourite discoveries without any fancy algorithms or influencer stuff.

Today, it's all about Soham Kundu –

My name is Soham, I’m a filmmaker working across narrative shorts while exploring other forms and formats within the audio-visual. I grew up in Calcutta and now I’m now based in London and my works embody both places. 2023 has been an exciting year of fulfilling collaborations and now I’m nearing the end of post-production for our next short ‘Farewell’. (Insta - @farewellshortfilm2023)

I also recently had the chance to direct a music video for an artist and friend I absolutely adore 'The Shivers'.

ACT I

1. What are you currently watching?
   I was catching up on a lot of shows lately. I'm watching 'The Curse' (it’s by creators Nathan Fielder and Benny Sadie and has Emma Stone in lead), and Invincible on Prime. Apart from that, I'm trying to watch a few movies every week. Recent memorable ones have been 'I Have Electric Dreams', a Costa Rican film and 'Afire' a German film.
   

2. What’s your comfort movie?

   umm comfort movie would depend on the kind of comfort I’m needing on a given day lol. I kind of have done multiple viewings of ‘Demolition’, ‘Toni Erdmann', 'Burning', 'Decision to Leave', 'Ilo Ilo', 'Dheepan', 'The Lobster', 'Melancholia', 'Mathias and Maxime', these are the films that are on top of my head which I could go back to. More than comfort, it re-instills my faith in cinema and the power it can possess, as I watch them over and again.
   

3. Be an influencer - give a shoutout to a product you genuinely adore.

   I genuinely admire the SSD hard-drives, it's a boring answer but it's a game changer, I began using them very late. And I also invested in a pair of Mackie speakers after a musician friend suggested them, and oh boy it has changed my movie-viewing experience at home.

4. What are 3 songs that are definitely on your road trip playlist.

   I Love listening to music when I’m on the road, the road has become more synonymous with my everyday commute to work (life lately). The 3 top songs I listen to in this phase of my life are:
   1. Kahlil Gibran by STARFKR
   2. Water Flow by Kline
   3. Looking for Knives by DYAN

5. What’s your MCD order?

   McSpicy Chicken, Wrap of the Day, fries and Sprite. Sometimes I'd switch it with a Triple Cheeseburger and Chicken Nuggets.

ACT II

1. If you had to get a tattoo today, what would you get?

   I like tattoos that have a musical analogy and are related to a phase of my life. If I had to get one today, I'd get one for this band called 'Bright Eyes'; it would just be a pair of eyes but idk how to make it look bright.

2. If you could invite three people, living or dead, to a dinner party - who would it be?

   My uncle, my grandfather and Mother Teresa.
   

3. What do you want for your birthday?
   Being around my friends and family I guess and also a bit of introspective silence lol, I'm aware it doesn't fit in the same sentence.
   

4. What's your favourite nostalgic TV show, cartoon, or video game from your childhood?

   Drake band Josh I suppose, also Oswald also had a sense of calm. Most of the Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Pogo shows bring in a great sense of nostalgia.
   

5. Anything cool you stumbled upon - an article, a song, a book, a recipe, or literally anything.

   There's a recent photobook about the Migrant Workers in Oman which I found really emotional. It just captured a day in the life of these workers when they were on a day out. Usually, you would expect to see images of them at work and feel a completely different emotion. I like how the photographer chose to photograph a day of them just hanging out with each other by the beach, forgetting the burden of their work and it evokes a slightly different feeling of melancholia. I'm really interested in exploring masculine tendencies and I thought these images were a really powerful glimpse into their life and I connected more as they were people from across South Asia who gave up their home and family to go and work in a different place.

ACT III

1. What brings you joy?

   That’s a really broad one. As a filmmaker and artist, taking a piece of work from its commencement to completion definitely brings in a great amount of joy. Especially when you’re creating work with people who understand and care, the kind of adrenaline or dopamine that comes from that is pure joy. On the flip side, having a good meal with my friends and just chatting about random things also brings me joy.

2. If you could tell your past self one thing, what would it be?

   I read somewhere that the advice you’re giving someone is usually the advice you’re seeking. It always stuck with me, and in that context, if I had to tell my past self one thing, I would say that “it's going to be okay”.

3. If you were a tour guide for a day in your hometown, what are the top three must-visit spots you'd recommend to newcomers?

   I would be a very boring tour guide to begin with. I usually remain in the South East of London as Central London makes me quite anxious. And I usually visit the same spots or eating places again and again. The 3 spots would be -
   
   1. In Woolwich, by the river at Berkeley Homes, is a really special spot for me as we shot our recent film there. Sometimes when I feel low, sitting by that river and looking at the sunset lifts me up, I would definitely suggest that spot if you are looking for some introspection time in the bustling city of London.
   2. Tonkutsu Ramen is a go-to eating place as it’s just outside my workplace. They have really great Karaage chicken and ramen of course
   3. BFI Southbank has a really cool vibe, if you are keen on movies and the movie culture.

4. Share a random picture from your gallery.

   

This was my living room on the 3rd of September 2023, at midnight. In the photo is my dear friend Yang who was also the cinematographer for our film Farewell packing all the camera gear after we had just wrapped the production for our film, it was midnight already and we were on a fatigue high but had work to do. We both said that one day we will not have to store gear at our places and we will have the support and funding to not mix work with our personal lives. Then we went on to have a drink and eat some great South Indian food. After which Yang packed all the gear by herself as I had no clue where to put what. She went back home and I slept. It would be great to look back at this picture in a few years to remind us of our journey and our shared dreams and hopes. I’d still store gear at my place again and again if Yang would do the packing lol.

PS: My flatmates were extremely generous to let us keep the living room a mess for 5 days.

Watch all the movies Soham watched here!

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