Handwritten text on black background reading 'How To Shoot & Ghoot.'

directed by Charlie Kaufman

written by Eva H.D.

In How To Shoot A Ghost, two ghosts wander Athens, haunted by their longings and mistakes, finding poetry in the city’s difficult history and uncertain present.

Award badge from Woodstock Film Festival 2025, recognizing winner of Best Short Narrative, featuring a peace sign with leaves around it.

Scott Macaulay, Filmmaker Magazine

“How To Shoot a Ghost is a film about personal observation and historical memory, but it’s also a film simply about looking. As shot by DP Michał Dymek and scored by Ella van der Woude, the film is a lovely cascade of decisive moments, finding the sublime even during dark times.”

Mark O'Connell

“The whole thing is so melancholy and dark and haunting, in its poetic evocation of Europe’s cursed past and heartless political present. It really got me”

"I’ve found myself moved to something beyond language for how much is layered and rendered immediate and profound [...] With How To Shoot a Ghost, the lyrical storytelling recalls, for me, the work of Charles Burnett in a kindred fashion, though entirely apart. I am full of awe."

Canisia Lubrin
“In a blend of street photography, archival footage from Athens’ history, and original narrative material shot on location by Michał Dymek (“The Girl with the Needle,” “EO”), this evocative meditation on memory and loss recalls the hybrid fiction works of Chris Marker or the ruminative, temporal poetry of Alain Resnais’ “Hiroshima, Mon Amour”

Ryan Lattanzio, Indiewire
"Athenians will be impressed to see their city exactly as it is – perhaps without the "veils" than we might want to lay over it due to experiential association"

Eleni Tzannatou, Kathimerini
"In 27 minutes, the film explores mortality verse by verse, image by image, creating a beautiful piece that harmonizes with the music. The result is a sense of serenity amidst the bustle of the streets."

Cristina Salmerón, Chilango
"The short film is a mnemonic herald that unites countless aesthetic and cultural references in a single context, as if they were outside of chronology as we know it. Jessie Buckley and Josef Akiki as the leads move us simply with glances, pursed lips and a penetrating chemistry that doesn't require direct dialogue and is reaffirmed with a poetic and powerful narration that envelops us as both comfort and warning."

Thiago Nolla, CinePop
"[How To Shoot A Ghost] has the musicality of a Greek elegy, in which the dead speak as if they've understood too late that meaning is an invention of the living. [...] Kaufman crafts a short film that rejects conventional melancholy, preferring the sublime absurdity of an existence that continues even when there is no one left to witness it."

Alisson Santos, MDH Entretenimento
"How to Shoot A Ghost is about the freeing sense of letting go. [A] bittersweet, surrealist ode to the act of living. "

Akash Deshpande, High on Films
"An exciting visual and sound poem"

Alberto Barbera, Director of the Venice Film Festival — who also named How To Shoot A Ghost as one of his three favourite films shown at the Biennale this year.
“A playful, melancholy short that turns moviemaking into a séance, asking what art can capture and what always slips away”

Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
"[The screenplay] is of a rare beauty. It's been a long time since I've read something so poetic, something that made me so happy and fulfilled. I adore Eva H.D.'s writing; it's daring, and I've worked with Charlie before. He's a director and screenwriter, she's a poet, it's a special combination, they create precious little gems of pure art."

Jessie Buckley interviewed by Silvia Locatelli, Elle (Italy)

UPCOMING SCREENINGS

OCT 24 AFI Fest American Film Institute, Los Angeles

NOV 5 Paradise Theatre, Toronto

NOV 7 & 9 American Film Festival Wrocław, Poland

NOV 16 International Film Festival Glasgow Glasgow, UK

DEC 7 Irish Film Institute, Dublin

DEC 10 Onassis Foundation, Athens, Greece

Press Contact

Nicole Kerr

Kerr Communications

nicole@nkerrcommunications.com

Charlie Kaufman

Director

Charlie Kaufman is the writer and director of films including ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK; and ANOMALISA; and author of the novel Antkind.

Eva H.D.

Writer

Eva wrote the book Rotten Perfect Mouth and the short film Jackals & Fireflies.

Isabelle Deluce

Producer

Isabelle is a filmmaker that produces ambitious international independent projects. She is in pre-production for the French-language feature Tandis que lui (dir. Elisa Gilmour) and collaborating with Chayse Irvin and Jac Martinez on a series of experimental projects, including a contribution to Kahlil Joseph’s BLKNWS.

Emily McCann Lesser

Producer

Emily is a producer born, raised, and based New York City. Her films have screened at prestigious festivals including Venice, Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, and Outfest. Her development slate has received support from the Sundance Institute, the Academy’s Nicholl Fellowship, the Gotham, Film Independent, and Cinereach, among others.

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In How To Shoot A Ghost, two ghosts wander Athens, haunted by their longings and mistakes, finding poetry in the city’s difficult history and uncertain present.

“How To Shoot a Ghost is a film about personal observation and historical memory, but it’s also a film simply about looking. As shot by DP Michał Dymek and scored by Ella van der Woude, the film is a lovely cascade of decisive moments, finding the sublime even during dark times.”

“The whole thing is so melancholy and dark and haunting, in its poetic evocation of Europe’s cursed past and heartless political present. It really got me”

"I’ve found myself moved to something beyond language for how much is layered and rendered immediate and profound [...] With How To Shoot a Ghost, the lyrical storytelling recalls, for me, the work of Charles Burnett in a kindred fashion, though entirely apart. I am full of awe."

"Athenians will be impressed to see their city exactly as it is – perhaps without the "veils" than we might want to lay over it due to experiential association"

"In 27 minutes, the film explores mortality verse by verse, image by image, creating a beautiful piece that harmonizes with the music. The result is a sense of serenity amidst the bustle of the streets."

"How to Shoot A Ghost is about the freeing sense of letting go. [A] bittersweet, surrealist ode to the act of living. "

"An exciting visual and sound poem"

“A playful, melancholy short that turns moviemaking into a séance, asking what art can capture and what always slips away”