About the project
The Unseen Connections in Art
Across the world of cinema, some films are like hidden trails, waiting to be discovered. At times, art pieces seem to speak to each other across ages and space — sharing a mood, a heartbeat, a glimmer of similar light in very different stories. For years, I’ve been developing unique recommendation technologies to reveal these unseen connections, building a bridge between films and creative works of every sort.
Let me tell you how I ended up here.
It was during my university days, at the faculty of history. She stood before me like a frame from a film — a wonderful, seductive young woman who called herself Jennifer online, a future archaeologist, perhaps an ethnologist, maybe even a school history teacher. The late-afternoon sun lingered in her dark-blonde hair as if the light itself were reluctant to let her go. In one hand, she held a 3.5-inch floppy disk containing a “Dear John” letter; in the other, a VHS tape of What Dreams May Come (1998), starring Robin Williams.
“I was going to write much more, but I’m very tired and feel insanely sleepy... Yes... why did I choose this film to give you?” — her letter ended.
My heart shattered — a break sharp and merciless at first, then dull, lingering, impossible to ignore. But in the silence that came many months later, the scene replayed in my mind with a different weight. Out of heartbreak rose a question, insistent and inescapable: about the place creative works — and films in particular — hold in our lives, and the profound meanings they can carry.
I’ve watched many thousands of films since then, and some have stayed with me so strongly that I can’t help but share them. They are often the ones that slip quietly past the spotlight — overshadowed by heavily marketed blockbusters, overlooked because of modest opening-weekend numbers, puzzling «professional» reviews, or, worse, questionable audience ratings.
And yet, these overlooked works are sometimes true cinematic treasures — the kind that stay with you, quietly shaping the way you see stories and the world. Discovering them feels like unearthing rare artifacts buried under layers of dust and time — pieces overlooked by the crowd, yet carrying the weight, beauty, and craftsmanship of something meant to last.
The system I’m developing doesn’t just match films by genre or cast — it looks for deeper connections: shared themes, creative visions (I’ve worked for over twenty years in a production company and know how it works), and distinctive visual and sonic signatures.
I continue to refine this technology and will collect user ratings to provide better, more personalised recommendations for you in the future. At present, access to some interactive features is limited to testing participants and will be made available later.
And yes — I admit I’m in love with Mélanie Laurent, Rose Leslie, Rebecca Ferguson, Eva Green, and Scarlett Johansson. I also have a soft spot for Teresa Palmer, Juno Temple, Charlize Theron, Kaya Scodelario, Emily Blunt, Kristen Stewart, Saoirse Ronan, Milla Jovovich, Stana Katic, Amy Adams, Elizabeth Debicki, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Ana de Armas, Kate Beckinsale, and Peta Wilson. Films and series featuring certain people are also where I’m developing another recommendation approach, one that will keep growing over time.
Why these actresses in particular? At first glance, they come from different countries, cultures, even cinematic traditions. But they share one profound thread: on screen they almost never play «ordinary people in an ordinary world.» Their characters live close to the threshold — between life and death, sanity and madness, realism and myth. Witches and queens, agents and survivors, women from futures that might come or worlds that never were — this is the landscape where they feel most at home.
They aren’t polished into identical porcelain sexual molds, nor trimmed into studio sterility. Instead, accents, scars, height, sharp cheekbones, unique voices and unmistakable silhouettes become part of the story itself. Directors like Denis Villeneuve and Christopher Nolan, and production engines from Screen Gems to Marvel and DC turn to them when they need not just a beautiful outline, but a presence with an internal axis — someone who can carry an entire world on her shoulders.
Many of them entered the profession young, faltered, disappeared for a while, then returned — often stronger, more certain, and more defiant. They stepped into directing, producing, entrepreneurship, activism: environmental movements, campaigns against domestic violence and other humiliating traditions of patriarchal traditional civilizations, battles for gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights. Their biographies, taken together, form a single narrative — a story about women who didn’t just save worlds in scripts, but quietly rewrote the rules of the real industry behind the camera.
And today, each in her own way, they change not only cinema — but the cultural grammar of progressive society, expanding what it means to be a woman on screen and off it. Perhaps that’s why their films resonate with me so much, and why the system I’m building gravitates toward them: not because they are famous, but because they are formidable.
If you notice any mistakes, have ideas or suggestions, or would like to join the closed testing, I’d be happy to hear from you — just drop me a line at: a@skirlan.com
Embark on an exploration through these pages, and together we’ll seek out and uncover the hidden treasures of the cinematic world.
