By: Javier Ferrer R-Rey – Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 07/04/2026 – After winning best student film at the WACO International Film Festival, filmmakers Rana Roy (Writer, Director), Julia Maixer (Cinematographer) and Joan Mao (Editor) sit down to talk about their experience making this film and everything that’s entangled in its haunting story.
Night Feeds is an absolute spectacle to experience. From the images, to the sound design, to the performances and the flawless editing between the “two worlds” all perfectly woven together by writer-director Rana Roy.
This short film will not leave anyone indifferent after the first watch and it will have audiences clench their chest and hold their breath in a couple of scenes. As well as vividly remembering some of the impactful images that Julia Maixer captures with the camera.
Night Feeds follows an Arab-American mother who drowns in postpartum as a night nurse unnerves her and war floods her screens. Her private paranoia bleeds into the violence beyond her walls – blurring nightmare and reality… but is it the madness in her mind or the world around her?
The log-line of the film (which you just read) captures the feeling of the film really well. The filmmaker blends nightmare and reality together in such a seamless way that sometimes you forget which one you’re watching. And this is also in big part thanks to Joan Mao’s work as the editor, who, as she said in the interview, had more than 130 timelines made of different cuts trying to put all the puzzle pieces together.
But the best part of the film, and also of the interview is how well the three filmmakers understand each other and it’s perfectly reflected on the film. Whenever a problem arose on set they solved it in the best way possible, and sometimes it ended up working better than the previous plan towards telling the story. And for this example I have to mention one of the shots in the film in which I thought that the editor Joan Mao stayed on for a long time (which works perfectly for the scene) instead of cutting to some coverage, but it turns out that was the only coverage they had after the entire team of the film brainstormed how to solve the most common problem on set: the lack of time. And the solution was simple, effective and it elevated that shot and the story so much more.
This film is a must-see at HollyShorts, I promise you’ll leave the theatre thinking about the underlying themes that the film covers and also having, what i’d say is “THE” image of the film engraved in your mind.
Night Feeds screens at HollyShorts on the 14th of August at 10pm in the Horror 1 block. Don’t miss it!
TRAILER:
Rating:4/5
INTERVIEW WITH FILMAKERS:
