Curiosity, Reality, and the Stories We Don't Want to See- Looks Like Work, Season 3, Ep 9
Some people make art to entertain.
Others make it to agitate.
Tal Barda makes it to reveal what we’d rather not see.
In this episode, I sit down with Tal—award-winning filmmaker and relentless truth-seeker—to talk about what it means to document the unseen. From Gaza to Israeli prisons, from ultra-Orthodox communities to immigrant families clinging to two cultures at once, Tal uses her camera like a scalpel: cutting through numbness, denial, and the illusion of neat narratives.
We talk about what it’s like to grow up between countries, between languages, between versions of belonging. And how that outsider-ness can become its own kind of compass.
This episode is about art, yes—but also about responsibility. About choosing to look, when looking is the hardest thing. And about the cost of staying curious when the world wants you to look away.
Inside this conversation:
The ethics of witnessing and storytelling during times of crisis
What happens when a film changes meaning after it’s made
How curiosity can lead to both connection and conflict
The spiritual weight of documenting trauma—and staying human through it
Using film to create nuance in a polarized world
Belonging as a shapeshifting experience
Why “reality” is often what we most try to ignore
How voids (emotional, political, existential) can be necessary—and generative
Tal’s question cuts deep and wide:
👉 “How am I witnessing whatever is taking place and the violence around me—and doing enough? Am I allowing myself to deal also with my personal issues and questions through these stories?”
This is an episode for anyone whose work involves holding complexity. For those who ask hard questions, even when there are no answers. For the ones who know that storytelling is never neutral—and choose to do it anyway.
"I'm always looking at reality, but the reality that most of us prefer not to see or to ignore."
Resources & Mentions:
I Shall Not Hate - Tal's documentary about a Palestinian doctor from Gaza (currently screening in 50 cinemas across France)
Prison series "Tזalmon" on Channel 11 (contact Tal if you want to view it internationally)
"Criminal File 512" series about the crime world
Pecha Kucha Festival (Tel Aviv)
Follow Tal's work through Instagram
Catch up on previous seasons of Looks Like Work wherever you get your podcasts: Spotify | Apple | Podbean
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Check out The Curiosity Lab and CuriosityGPT
