British documentary-maker Kim Longinotto is known for her observational films frequently focusing on women’s stories. After a degree in English and European literature at Essex University she studied camera and directing at the National Film and Television School. Her 2008 film Rough Aunties won the world cinema documentary grand jury prize at the Sundance film festival, and in 2010 Pink Saris won the special jury award at Sheffield Doc/Fest. Her latest film Dreamcatcher, about a former sex worker who runs a charity that helps women leave the sex industry, won the world cinema directing award for documentaries at Sundance this year. It is available now on DVD.

Comedy: Simon Amstell 

I saw his show To Be Free at Latitude and he was amazing. He’s always been a bit of a hero of mine, and he’s become this image of what I’d love to be more like: somebody who can talk about very personal, sad things, but do it in a way that starts off being very honest then goes into fantasy and humour. He’s dealing with real truths of his life, but at the same time he’s making us laugh with him, and laugh at our own misfortunes. At the end of the gig I thought, if I don’t go to anything else this year I’ve been to that.

Novel: The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro

I’ve read every single book by Ishiguro and each time I think: “Well, he’s not going to surprise me – I know who he is now”, but he never does the same book twice. This one really surprised me. I thought: “God, I would never have expected you to have written this” and yet it feels totally him. It’s about Sir Gawain and it’s set in this mythical fantasy Britain but it’s also very, very real. It’s written in that clear-sighted way that Ishiguro has, where you’re in this book and immediately you’re just living through this land with him.

Event: On Desire at the Folio Prize Fiction festival

This was a panel of four writers at the British Library talking about desire. What I liked about it was that it wasn’t particularly about sexual desire, a lot of them just spoke about writing. By far my favourite was Colm Tóibín: he was talking about writing, but it could have been about making films as well. It was about how you have to completely give yourself up to it, that the writing of this thing becomes more important than anything else in your life. And the way he talks – he was so lucid and every word was like a perfect little stone.

Nonfiction: Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari

This was a revelation. It’s about the war on drugs, and a lot of the TV I’ve been watching over the last few years that I’ve really admired has been on the same theme – The Wire, Breaking Bad – all of those American series that have been brilliant. Chasing the Scream was the perfect book for me, and as I was reading it I kept thinking, oh, yes, of course – it was revelatory and yet “of course”, it was those two things at once.

App: Lazify

This is a Spotify app that will choose a whole playlist for you: I don’t know how a computer knows what you like, but out of 12 hours, about 10 of it is stuff I love. One thing I really like about music in 2015 is, I’ve got these shelves and shelves of CDs, which is such a hassle to go through, whereas I like the idea of a future where you don’t buy and keep things, you just access it on your computer or on your radio and have it when you want it. I know some musicians don’t like it, but I like the idea of having fewer possessions and less clutter.

Film: Boyhood

I really loved this, particularly the end when he finally meets his soulmates, who he can be himself with. It wasn’t this Hollywood ending of boy-meets-girl and they fall in love – it’s just finding people who understand you after a whole lifetime, seemingly, of a succession of horrible stepfathers. I also liked how it was slightly mocking, but you felt that Richard Linklater had been there himself, for example when the protagonist says: “I’m really in the moment” and the girl says: “No, the moment’s in you,” and he goes: “Ooh”, as if she’s said something really clever.