Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

Ben Lankester Immerses Us in the Most Challenging Night Shift of a Newly-Qualified Midwife’s Career in ‘Delivery’

Ben Lankester details the multi-tiered sound design that immerses audiences into the frantic intensity of his BIFA nominated maternity ward drama short.

Animation, Awards

How Nina Gantz Found the Perfect Balance Between Sadness and Humour in BIFA Short ‘Wander to Wonder’

Nina Gantz takes DN inside the extraordinary craftsmanship of her stop motion short which offers a poignant exploration of loss for its diminutive stars.

Awards, Live Action

A Belfast Hip-Hop Trio Mount Their Own Form of Protest to Protect Their Heritage in Rich Peppiatt’s ‘Kneecap’

Rich Peppiatt discusses throwing comedic Molotov cocktails to ignite crucial but difficult conversations in his multi-BIFA winning feature debut.

Awards, Live Action

Talking Practical FX and the Power of a Great Title With Eros V Director of BIFA Short ‘Meat Puppet’

Eros V reveals the lo-fi techniques used to bring a possessed puppet to life for his BIFA nominated short about a man-child who desperately need to grow up.

Live Action

A Mother Finds Refuge In Her Own World With Her Blow-up Doll in Chanelle Eidenbenz’s ‘Elephant in the Room’

Chanelle Eidenbenz talks about leaning into cast insights and evolving the script of her drama about a delusional woman’s fraught relationship with her son.

Live Action, Premiere

A First Date Gets Awkward When a Debate Over Eurocentrism in Food Arises in Werner Vivier’s ‘Fine Dining’

Werner Vivier explains the use of a voyeuristic one-shot framing device to subtly examine the theme of racism in food culture in his awkward first date short.

Awards, Live Action

James Krishna Floyd on Moving Into the Director’s Chair for His Multi-BIFA Nominated Debut ‘Unicorns’

With his debut feature up for 7 BIFAs James Krishna Floyd discusses the rich complexity of characters who wear masks and the beauty of realism drag on screen.

Live Action

A Venting Session Between Friends Quickly Spirals Out of Control in Kyle Jon Shephard’s Surrealist Comedy ‘Stress Head’

Kyle Jon Shephard walks DN through the combination of practical and digital VFX behind the titular head in his frantically kinetic stress-fuelled short.

Live Action, Premiere

A Young Woman Reckons With the Questionable Past Behaviour of a Childhood Friend in Hannah Levin’s ‘Golden Child’

Hannah Levin shares how she balanced out the comedic beats, sticking to the story and keeping the narrative moving in her bold, reckoning comedy short debut.