Why Make Films: Filmmaker’s Guide to the 25 Most Asked Questions

Below is my own FAQ, built directly from my own experience as an independent Filmmaker and Film Essayist. I’m not trying to explain "why make films"  in a neutral theoretical way. I’m answering from inside the practice—how it actually feels to make films, lose money, get rejected, and still keep going. 

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(images from the set of my short film "Medea")

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1) Why should someone make a film in the first place?

Because they have an urge to tell a story—and the story can only exist as a film. In my view, the real reason isn’t strategy or career planning. It’s internal. Something is inside you, and film is the only form that can carry it properly. If the idea demands cinema, you go out and make it. You’re not “choosing” film like a product category. You’re responding to something that won’t leave you alone. 

2) What motivates people to make films?

The purest motivation is internal: the urge to create something bigger than yourself. In my experience as a filmmaker, it’s the same engine that drives any artist—this need to express something that has pressure inside it. You want to make meaning. You want to take your thoughts, your vision of reality, your emotions, and turn them into something visible. Film is just one of the most intense ways to do that. 

3) Why do artists choose filmmaking over other forms of art?

Because they don’t have a choice. That’s the honest answer. Some stories can only be told through film—and even more specifically, through a particular genre or method inside film. When I was making The Invention of Chris Marker, the story could only unfold as a desktop documentary, because the entire story was happening online. The idea decides the form. Not the ego. Not the market. 

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4) Why do people want to become filmmakers?

There are many motives—some fake, some external, some true. But the truest form, the one I respect, is inward: you become a filmmaker because filmmaking “chooses you.” You have ideas that naturally belong to cinema. You want to tell stories in this language. And eventually you realize it isn’t really a decision. It’s identity. You don’t become a filmmaker because it’s smart. You do it because it’s you. 

5) Why make films if it’s so difficult and competitive?

Because if the motivation is internal, it becomes irrational—in the best way. Every director gives the same advice: “Don’t do it, it’s too hard.” But if you’re a filmmaker, you ignore the warning signs. In my own path, I faced rejections from festivals, rejections from funding, constant difficulty. My first film got rejected by something like 100 festivals. And still—you do it. There’s no stopping. 

6) Why does storytelling through film matter in society?

Because we live in the most visual century so far. Visual communication is everything now. And as artists, we don’t just “entertain”—we show a worldview. In my view, art answers the question of meaning: what is reality, what is life, what matters. Film matters because you get to see the filmmaker’s point of view, and that expands society beyond its closed box. It expands consciousness. 

7) Why do filmmakers say they need to make a specific movie?

Because filmmaking is obsessive. That’s it. The idea becomes relentless in your brain. It doesn’t politely wait until your schedule clears up. It keeps coming back. And eventually you realize: you’re not making the film because you “want” to. You’re making it because the idea won’t leave you alone until it exists. There’s no magic explanation beyond that. It’s pressure, obsession, and compulsion. 

8) Is making films worth it if you’re not going to make money?

Yes. And honestly, I think the question itself is kind of dumb—because what is “worth it” anyway? In my view, the cost of not doing it can be bigger. If filmmaking is in your bones, giving it up is giving up who you are. Maybe that feels fine for a month. But after a decade, it eats your soul. You only live once. Take your shot at fulfillment. 

9) Why make films that don’t make a profit?

Because film is beyond profit. Profit can happen, sure—but it’s not the only kind of return. There’s “soul profit”: fulfillment, identity, happiness, meaning. There’s also camaraderie—working with great people to build something outstanding together. Many films I made didn’t make money, even ones that became known. But they gave me experience, lessons, relationships, and a real-world education that was cheaper than film school. 

10) Why do documentaries matter compared to fiction films?

They both matter equally. The difference is that documentary has a special advantage: you believe it’s real. That belief can create a stronger call to action—especially in “impact documentaries,” where the audience feels they can actually do something in reality after watching. But I don’t rank them morally. Fiction and documentary are both essential. They just hit differently. The power of documentary is the feeling that reality itself is speaking. 

11) Why do people make short films instead of feature films?

Because it’s cheaper to fail. That’s the blunt truth. A feature film without experience is a more painful disaster: more money, more time, bigger collapse. Short films are a way to experiment without destroying yourself financially. They’re also a training ground for the crew, a way to build connections, and a smaller commitment that can still lead to festivals, funds, and the next step. Short films are school—but real school. 

12) Why do independent filmmakers persist despite low budgets?

Because the budget doesn’t change the identity. If the urge is internal, you persist even when the resources are humiliating. In my view, independent filmmakers keep going for the same reason they survive rejection: they don’t experience filmmaking as optional. Low budgets don’t erase the need to create. They just force you to be more inventive, more stubborn, and more personally invested. It’s not a business decision—it’s a compulsion with a camera. 

13) Why do filmmakers want to tell stories about real issues?

For some filmmakers, real issues are the spark. They want to tell a story that matters in the world, not just in imagination. In my experience, reality also brings uncertainty—real life unfolds in unpredictable ways, and that unpredictability creates tension you can’t fake. With fiction, your imagination is inside you and you control it. With real issues, you don’t control anything. And that danger, that risk, is part of the power. 

14) Why make films when social media videos get more views?

Because it’s not about views. That’s the answer. If your goal is views, you can optimize content and chase numbers. But filmmaking, in my view, is not the same game. Film is not a dopamine slot machine. It’s not designed to win the feed. It’s designed to express something, to build meaning, to create a world, to leave a trace. Social media can be huge—but it’s not the reason cinema exists. 

15) Why choose filmmaking as a career path?

I don’t see it as a career path. I see it as a calling. A career path is predictable: you do X and you get Y. Filmmaking isn’t like that. It’s uncertain, illogical, unstable. If you want a “career path,” you can make wedding videos and build a content pipeline. That’s valid—but it’s different. Filmmaking, to me, is not something you choose because it’s safe. You choose it because you can’t not choose it. 

16) Why do people study film in school?

To get the base knowledge, meet others who are serious, and build connections. Film school can be a safe container to learn with support from more experienced people. But in my opinion, it’s also unnecessary. If you want to learn film—go make a film. It will be cheaper and it will save you time and money. Society tells people “go to university,” so they do. But cinema is learned by doing, not by collecting theory. 

17) Why is film considered a powerful medium for communication?

Because it’s visual. It’s direct. In film, you don’t require the viewer to imagine the whole thing—you put it in front of them. Sound and image deliver meaning immediately. In my view, this makes film one of the most straightforward forms of communication: you’re not describing an experience, you’re showing it. That’s why cinema hits people so fast. It bypasses debate and goes straight into perception. You can’t “unsee” a scene that lands. 

18) Why do films have such a strong cultural impact?

Because of how society is built now: mass communication, mass visual culture. Images shape us. And film is the most potent combination—sound and image together. In my view, that combination is almost unbeatable in terms of impact. Films become reference points people share without realizing it: quotes, scenes, emotions, archetypes. Even when people don’t “analyze cinema,” they live inside its language. That’s why it spreads culturally. It’s not subtle. It’s embedded. 

19) Why do people make experimental or art films?

Because they have no choice. Experimental work happens when the filmmaker doesn’t accept the standard language of cinema as “enough.” In my view, some people simply can’t fit into the mainstream narrative grammar. They need to invent a new form, a new rhythm, a new logic. That’s why art films exist—not to impress a niche audience, but because certain ideas cannot breathe inside conventional storytelling. Sometimes the experiment is the story. The form becomes the meaning. 

20) Why do filmmakers sacrifice time and money for their projects?

Because the sacrifice is the price of staying honest. In my experience, filmmaking costs you things: time, money, energy, comfort, stability. But if the project is tied to your identity, you don’t experience it as “optional spending.” You experience it as survival. You do it because the alternative is worse: living a life where you abandoned your own creative core. Filmmakers sacrifice because the work is not separate from the self. It’s a life structure. 

21) Why do people make films to express personal experiences?

Because personal experience is raw material. Humans naturally turn their lives into art—writers do it, painters do it, everyone does it. In my own filmmaking practice, my latest film about my sister Shira is exactly that: a personal experience. I grew up with a sister with a rare syndrome and disability, and I felt that perspective could be valuable to share. Not that many people have that experience. Film lets me translate it into something others can feel. 

22) Why is cinema a universal language?

Because most people can see and hear, and film gives a direct experience. You’re showing people a slice of something that mimics reality—sound, image, behavior, emotion. In my view, cinema reduces the language barrier because the main communication is sensory and emotional. You don’t need perfect translation to understand a face, a silence, a look, a threat, a laugh. That’s why films travel across borders. You can subtitle words, but you don’t subtitle feeling. 

23) Why do some filmmakers feel they must tell their story now?

Because sometimes the zeitgeist is right. Timing isn’t just marketing—it’s reality lining up. When I made The Invention of Chris Marker, the world was in COVID lockdown. Everyone lived on laptops. YouTube culture was booming. The collision of technology and storytelling made the desktop documentary feel inevitable. And with my documentary about my sister Shira, the timing felt right because the world became more open to stories from the outskirts of society—people rarely centered in cinema. The moment calls the film forward. 

24) Why make films that challenge mainstream narratives?

Because if you don’t like the mainstream narrative, this is your chance to change it. In my view, filmmakers challenge mainstream stories when they feel like outsiders—when the dominant story doesn’t fit their reality. And if you feel that mismatch, you’re probably not alone. There are more people like you. Challenging mainstream narratives is not rebellion for aesthetics. It’s representation of truth as you see it. Cinema becomes your weapon against the story you were handed. 

25) Why do audiences care about what filmmakers create?

Because people love movies. That’s the simplest answer. Audiences care because films give them something: escape, meaning, identity, emotion, a mirror, a window. In my view, people don’t just “watch content”—they form relationships with stories. They remember characters. They remember scenes. They remember who they were when they saw a film. Filmmakers create these experiences, and audiences return to them because cinema becomes part of how they understand life. Movies aren’t disposable to the human brain. 

If you’re interested in how essay filmmaking continues on the computer screen, read the next article on desktop films (screenlife).

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About the Author

Matan Tal — Film Essayist & Filmmaker

I have written this guide to clarify why people make films, based on my experience, teaching, and practice in independent cinema.