Speakeasy with - Tal Harris and Kasia Kowalczyk

Husband and wife filmmakers Tal Harris and Kasia Kowalczyk are just two of the Atlantans premiering their short film "The Bread Squeezer" at the 30th annual Atlanta Film Festival.

How hard is it to be a short filmmaker in today's indie-film scene?

Kasia: It's very disjointed and everyone argues about who is "indie" and what that means. On top of all that, you have to contend with most of the population not even knowing where short films are screened and why they are made.

Tal: I think it's harder today because of the sheer numbers. Sundance alone got over 4,000 short film submissions for the 2006 festival. This means that it's more difficult to get your short seen by people in the industry.

Are shorts just as difficult to make as features?

Kasia: I actually think shorts are harder to make because it's not as sexy as making a feature. People aren't as willing to loan you goods or services or cut you great deals because you can't offer them much exposure.

Why have you chosen to focus on making short films?

Tal: It is the best way for us to learn filmmaking. If I went to one of the best film schools, it could easily cost me $100,000 in tuition, housing, film costs, etc. So rather than go that route, we decided to spend our money on making films. We figured we needed to make at least two shorts before we were ready to develop a feature.

"The Bread Squeezer" screens before the feature Fatwa, 9:45 p.m., Sun., June 11, at Landmark Midtown Art Cinemas.