“Sister of Mine”, interview with director André Vaara

Selected for Future Frames at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2026, André Vaara presents Sister of Mine, a subtle and emotionally restrained short film that explores identity through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy. Rather than engaging in explicit dialogue about gender and family dynamics, the film relies on gestures, sound, and physical sensations to immerse the audience in the child’s emotional world.

“I wanted to ask what happens when your sibling has access to expressions that you don’t,” Vaara explains. “Is there room to explore another identity as a child?”The story follows a young boy who admires his older sister and struggles with the expectations surrounding his own appearance when the siblings visit a barber. What seems like an ordinary family situation gradually reveals deeper questions about identity, comparison and belonging.

Siblings as Mirrors

The director traces the film’s origins to his fascination with sibling relationships. According to Vaara, brothers and sisters constantly compare themselves with one another, whether over attention, privileges or affection. Gender became the natural extension of that dynamic because, unlike other childhood inequalities, it cannot simply be negotiated. A single visual image became the emotional seed of the project: one sibling secretly cutting the other’s hair during the night. Rather than explaining the gesture, Vaara chose to investigate the emotions that could lead to such an intimate act.

Letting Sound Tell the Story

Dialogue is deliberately sparse throughout Sister of Mine. For Vaara, silence reflects the family’s inability to communicate openly, while sound design becomes the protagonist’s inner voice. “I wanted the audience to stay with the boy all the time,” he says. “The sound design was meant to capture what happens inside him.” Physical sensations also play an essential role. Hair, touch and proximity become narrative tools, allowing viewers to experience the child’s emotions almost viscerally. Vaara believes the short film format offers the ideal space for this kind of sensory storytelling, where atmosphere often speaks louder than plot.

Directing Young Performers

Working with child actors required extensive preparation before filming. Lars and Alma, who play the siblings, are naturally energetic and outgoing, qualities that contrast with the film’s restrained emotional register. Instead of focusing on dialogue, Vaara developed exercises that encouraged stillness and introspection. Rehearsals often involved quietly acting through scenes accompanied by calm music, helping the performers settle into the family’s emotional rhythm. The process, he says, was ultimately about understanding what each child needed to inhabit the relationship truthfully.

Looking Ahead

Following Sister of Mine, Vaara is developing his first feature film with writer Erika Malmgren and producers Annika Hellström and Erik Andersson. The project centres on two young boys whose intense friendship gradually becomes destructive after adults decide to separate them by sending them to different schools. Moving from short films to features presents new challenges. “A feature needs much more than one feeling,” Vaara reflects. “It’s about structure, momentum, and earning the industry’s trust to make it happen.”

Despite the financial difficulties facing independent filmmaking, he remains committed to telling the stories that matter most to him. His experience at Future Frames has reinforced that conviction. Meeting nine emerging filmmakers from across Europe offered not only insight into different national film industries but also renewed confidence in the value of personal storytelling.”It gave me energy to keep believing in my own voice,” he says.

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