Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

Political, Powerful and Playful: 10 Captivating Shorts from Bolton International Film Festival 2026

From bold animation to hilarious comedy-horror, DN picks out 10 favourites from Bolton Film Festival's 2026 vibrant and surprising shorts showcases.

Documentary, Premiere

‘Fjallferð’ Finds Song, Storm and Community Strength in the Mountains of Iceland’s Annual Sheep Round-Up

Three Self shooting directors, $6.5k and six days of unpredictable Icelandic weather. Caution Media on why scale is a question of ambition rather than budget.

Live Action

Theo Matza Zooms in on Digital Deception and Tourist Naivety in His Paris-Set Catfishing Comedy ‘Faux Amis’

Theo Matza flips the fantasy of Paris and rewrites the rules of catfishing through an unexpected story of digital deception and toxic friendship.

Animation

The Seven Year Intergalactic Journey of Shahaf Ram and His Independent Animated Space Opera ‘Orange Story’

Shahaf Ram reflects on the seven years in the making solo journey of his animated DIY space opera — an intimate story of heartbreak told on a cosmic scale.

Live Action, Premiere

Jasper Martin Finds Comedy in the Sisyphean Horror of AI Customer Service in ‘Listen Then Repeat’

Jasper Martin maps out using live off-stage cueing and intentional dialogue mistakes to build tension in his satirical AI customer service nightmare.

Brief Somebodies - a short film by Andy Reid

Live Action

Andy Reid Calibrates the Cost of Making Something Honest in His Meta SXSW Short ‘Brief Somebodies’

Andy Reid confronts his own experience of sexual assault by staging a film rehearsal where two actors negotiate the ethical boundaries of depicting trauma.

Live Action

Anna Hopkins Cooks Up Connection After Closing Time in Restaurant Set Two-Hander ‘Dish Pit’

Eschewing restaurant chaos for stillness, Anna Hopkins’ short film finds drama in small gestures, shared meals and intimate conversations after closing.

Live Action

Natural Selection Comes to Homeroom as Kyle Sims Pits Teacher Against Student in His Wordless Thriller ‘Galapagos’

A snake that wouldn't strike, a craigslist rabbit and a wordless script — Kyle Sims takes us inside his unnerving tale of shifting classroom power dynamics.

Documentary, Premiere

Jacque Rabie Sets Aside Judgement to Find the Man Inside Japan’s Museum of Sex Dolls in ‘Hyodo’s Paradise’

Jacque Rabie discusses trust, intimacy and confronting his own relationship with sexuality while making a doc about the man behind Japan's museum of sex dolls.