With The Ministry, I wanted to channel the tension and paranoia of 1970s neo-noirs like The French Connection, Three Days of the Condor, and The Conversation. These films captured a moment of societal unease, which feels eerily resonant today.

Visually, I aimed to create a gritty, oppressive atmosphere by using stark architecture, narrow frames, and confined spaces — all contributing to a sense of entrapment and scrutiny. At its core, the film is a character-driven story about surveillance, complicity, and the corrosive effect of disinformation. In an age where authoritarian tendencies are cloaked in administrative normalcy, I was interested in the psychology of the whistleblower — someone who chooses to quietly resist a system they once served. This is a story about the fragile decisions people make under pressure, and the personal cost of truth in a world where silence is safer than integrity.