Maik's graduation film. A cinematic short exploring how media addiction mirrors substance dependency — told through real behaviour, real pressure, and no easy answers.
A one-person production almost start to finish. As his Bachelor's thesis film at IU Internationale Hochschule, Maik wrote, directed, shot, and edited REWIND himself — casting a friend as the lead to keep the story grounded in something real rather than performative. What crew there was doubled up on roles out of necessity: gear was borrowed where it could be, locations were whatever a student budget and a few favours could secure, and most of the shoot happened around a day job and coursework rather than on a dedicated production schedule.
Frame grabs from the film — add yours here.
Working essentially alone came with its own set of problems. Directing and operating camera at the same time meant every take required trusting the performance without a second pair of eyes to catch it live — most scenes only got confirmed once footage was reviewed later. The lead actress had no professional acting background, which meant building trust and a comfortable environment mattered as much as blocking a shot. And squeezing shoot days in around a full course load meant locations and schedules had to bend to whatever windows actually existed, not the other way around.
Bachelor's thesis — submitted and passed.
