Renée Marie Petropoulos

Renée Marie Petropoulos

From First Time Go by Benjamin Duchek

April 3, 2026 · 28 min · Season 4 · Episode 17

About this episode

Filmmaker Renée Marie Petropoulos discusses her award-winning short film SOUVENIR and the complexities of relationship abuse.

Watch This Episode on YouTube When you watch SOUVENIR (2025) , you know you are watching something incredible -- filmmaker Renée Marie Petropoulos brings the power of cinema to the topic of relationship abuse. And what I mean is that she uses the full force of the medium to craft a story of what it really looks like in the modern age. It's like nothing I've ever seen before, and SXSW agrees -- it won the 2026 narrative shorts competition. The jury said, "Led by moving, raw performances, this film meets viewers in an intimate space. Layering the complexities of love, trust, and the vulnerability of being perceived, this short is a beautiful piece of storytelling that sheds light on the most intrinsic and intimidating aspects of relationships and girlhood.” We talked before the festival, but it was obvious that the film is something special. And so is Renée. In this episode, Renée and I talk about: what about SXSW does she love as a festival; how she got started in filmmaking; the success of her thesis film, TANGLES AND KNOTS (2018), and the expectation of a Columbia MFA; the Australian diaspora at festivals like SXSW and what it feels like when taking a film to an international…

People in this episode

Host: Benjamin Duchek

Guest: Renée Marie Petropoulos

Topics covered

  • filmmaking
  • relationship abuse
  • SXSW festival
  • storytelling
  • female filmmakers

Keywords

  • SOUVENIR
  • SXSW
  • relationship abuse
  • filmmaking
  • TANGLES AND KNOTS
  • female filmmakers
  • storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Columbia

Books & works: SOUVENIR, TANGLES AND KNOTS

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