Embodiments are directed to techniques for interacting with a hierarchical video segmentation. In some embodiments, the finest level of the hierarchical segmentation identifies the smallest interaction unit of a video—semantically defined video segments of unequal duration called clip atoms. Each level of the hierarchical segmentation clusters the clip atoms with a corresponding degree of granularity into a corresponding set of video segments. A presented video timeline is segmented based on one of the levels, and one or more segments are selected through interactions with the video timeline (e.g., clicks, drags), by performing a metadata search, or through selection of corresponding metadata segments from a metadata panel. Navigating to a different level of the hierarchy transforms the selection into corresponding coarser or finer video segments defined by the level. Any operation can be performed on selected video segments, including playing back, trimming, or editing.