After the resounding success of last year’s launch, Directors Notes is thrilled to present our 2025 edition of the WeAreDN Awards. Over the past few weeks we have painstakingly whittled down our 2024 official submissions to a choice list of 28 nominated films, across 9 categories – Drama, Comedy, Buckle Up, New Talent, Animation, Documentary, Music Video, Dance & British – for our expert industry jury – including last year’s only double award winner – to vote on.
Join us at FOMO House Shoreditch clubhouse on the 1st of May at 7pm, along with our nominated filmmakers, cast, crew and industry professionals for a screening of the winning films, celebratory drinks, networking and, most importantly, dancing.
Our Jury
Dave Taylor-Matthews is an experienced film festival organiser and curator based in Bristol, with over a decade of expertise in film exhibition. Currently serving as the Executive Director of Encounters Film Festival, where he’s leading its milestone 30th edition in 2025, Dave also works at Eventive, providing solutions for film festivals worldwide. With an MA in Curating focused on film from UWE/Watershed and extensive programming experience at Bristol’s Cube Cinema, Dave is particularly passionate about social cinema, shared viewing experiences, and the transformative power of film as a medium for community building and cultural exchange.
John Mark Fitzpatrick is an award-winning Irish writer and director. He has been nominated for a BAFTA and a BIFA. His films include Liv (writer/director, Belfast Film Festival 2024, British Shorts Berlin 2025), Outdoors (writer/director, BFI London Film Festival 2022, BFI FLARE 2023, Winner Best Drama Prague Film Awards 2024, Winner Best Drama & Best UK Film WeAreDN Awards 2024, GAZE Int Film Festival 2022, Seattle Queer Film Festival 2022, Nominated Best UK Short at LSFF 2023, Mardi Gras Film Festival, Sydney 2023), Lovestory (writer/director, Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam, Curt 8, Brazil, LSFF 2023, Roze Filmdagen 2023, Mix Milano 2023, Pink Apple 2024), and Wren Boys (writer, BIFA Nominated 2017, BAFTA Nominated 2018, Sundance 2018).
Joshua Trigg is a Welsh filmmaker whose debut feature, Satu – Year of the Rabbit, has earned international acclaim for its poignant exploration of identity and transformation. The film has achieved remarkable success, including a nomination for the UNESCO Gandhi Peace Prize at the India International Film Festival, two British Independent Film Award nominations, and BAFTA/BAFTA Cymru qualification. It also won Best Film at the 2024 Nara International Film Festival.
Our Categories
Drama
MAN>CODE by Adrian Gardner
Pylon by Barnaby Blackburn
Three by Amelia Sears
Housewarming by Liam White
Mud Crab by David Robinson-Smith
Space Plug by Marcus Anthony Thomas
Comedy
Sidney by Iris Breward
His Parents Never Taught Him by Michael Rees
Tell Me Where I’m Going Wrong by Kyle Jon Shephard
Tall Dark and Handsome by Sam Baron
Buckle Up
Sweet Mary, Where Did You Go? by Michael Anthony Kratochvil
Shelf Life by Luke Roulstone
Promise by Sebastian Delascasas
Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Corner Kitchen by Paul Chambers
Animation
ur heinous habit by Eugene Kolb
Threaded by Naaman Azhari
All Gucci My Broski by Harry Plowden
Documentary
Art Chooses Us by Tomas Kamphuis
milk by Miranda Stern
The History of the Carabiner by Gianna Mazzeo
Music Video
The Groke by Julia Patey
Prelude to Ecstacy by Harv Frost
Ecstasy Homosexuality by Ben Galster
GUN by Lado Kvataniya
Dance
TEM PO RA RY by Anna Guseva
Yeah The Boys by Stefan Hunt
Morning Interlude by Sirius
There’s Beauty in the Burn – Adi Halfin
British
Prelude to Ecstacy by Harv Frost
Ecstasy Homosexuality by Ben Galster
milk by Miranda Stern
Tell Me Where I’m Going Wrong by Kyle Jon Shephard
Sidney by Iris Breward
Tall Dark and Handsome by Sam Baron
MAN>CODE by Adrian Gardner
Pylon by Barnaby Blackburn
Three by Amelia Sears
Housewarming by Liam White
Space Plug by Marcus Anthony Thomas
Threaded by Naaman Azhari
All Gucci My Broski by Harry Plowden
Shelf Life by Luke Roulstone
Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Corner Kitchen by Paul Chambers
