With Joe Fereday
How did this film come together?
Rodent started as a bit of a creative itch—I’ve spent years filming the natural world, but I wanted to try something different: a short that felt like a nature documentary had wandered into a psychological thriller. With that in mind, I pulled together a brilliant (and slightly fearless) team, secured independent funding, and we dove into production. We were lucky enough to work with the legendary Art Malik, whose voice gave the film exactly the eerie gravitas we were after. It was a tight, focused shoot, full of creative problem-solving and the occasional “What are we doing?” moment. But the end result is something we’re really proud of—strange, striking, and hopefully unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Did anything unexpected happen as you were making this film?
Our baby was born much earlier than expected... just before filming was about to begin!
What's the best filmmaking advice you've ever received?
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast
Elling Lien
