It’s like baking a cake

Ryan Gander Ryan Gander is an artist living and working in Suffolk and London. He has established an international reputation through artworks that materialise in many different forms from sculpture to film, writing, graphic design, installation, and performance.

He first joined the jury at Suffolk Shorts in 2021 and has returned in 2025 for our new category - Unique Perspectives: films on the fringe from a diverse range of perspectives. Unpolished and imperfect films are welcomed from the art, performance or experimental categories. 

He says  “Filmmaking is like baking a cake - if it’s not sweet enough you can add some more sugar. It’s a malleable process.” 

All the best chefs experiment, and experimenting with ideas is what artists and short filmmakers do too. Even if you make mistakes, you push the boundaries, that’s the courage of the artist. But you can only push the boundaries if you understand the language. Gander has always talked about the importance art history, yet he manages to steer away from stereotypes. He admits it’s very hard to imagine something completely new, but encourages filmmakers to look to the past to understand the narrative language of film before turning their camera onto a subject. Especially now that anyone can be a filmmaker.

“As far I am concerned, a good film is the thing that you are pointing the camera at, not just the way you are pointing the camera, and not just the kind of camera it is.”

If you’ve made a film you think fits the criteria we are all looking for and that Ryan will be judging, submit it now.