Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

A Hot Water Bottle Has an Existential Crisis in Jenny Wright & Jake Cunningham’s Animation ‘Blue Bottle’

Jenny Wright & Jake Cunningham break down the reflective sensibilities and minimal animation style of their charming short about independence.

Documentary

Kirby Ferguson Opens up About His Career as an Online Creator and the Decision to Retire From Internet Filmmaking

Kirby Ferguson discusses the multifaceted role of the internet filmmaker across the past two decades in an in-depth career-spanning interview with DN.

Live Action, Premiere

Lewis Attey Tells the Punctuated History of a Lonely Drifter Across His Multi-Year Short Drama ‘Basil’

Lewis Attey reveals the unique production challenges of shooting multiple chapters for his short drama across an eight year period.

Live Action, Premiere

Sylvain Cruiziat Brutally Skewers the Privileged Preaching of the Art World in Unsettling Satire ‘The Raft’

Sylvain Cruiziat talks to DN about critiquing the art world's self-serving response to the refugee crises in his blistering metafictional satire.

Film Festival

Ten Great Films From the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2022

Wild, experimental, funny & never short of imagination DN rounds up 10 favourites from the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen 2022.

Documentary, Music

Theo Williams Skillfully Debunks UK Moral Panic Prejudices in Documentary ‘Terms & Conditions: Deeper Than Drill’

Theo Williams explains how seemingly disparate artists weaved together naturally to form his enlightening documentary about the UK drill scene.

Live Action, Premiere

Alexandra Velasco Depicts a Spiralling Descent Into Madness in Art-Horror Short ‘The Seventh Circle’

Alexandra Velasco reveals how the dark energy of the Baxter-Hodiak house manifested itself within her art-horror film about a murderous man in limbo.

Music

Leo Gorenshtein Questions What Is Enough in Fatalistic 3h Company Music Video ‘Adequately’

Leo Gorenshtein tells DN why he strives to embed multiple layers of meaning in his films to create viewing experiences which reward deeper contemplation.

Live Action

A Chatty Man Instigates an Unsettling Conversation in Larry Ketang & Liam White’s Thriller ‘Punch-Drunk’

Liam White speaks to the narrative importance of the near single-shot cinematography in his tense co-directed short drama about an unexpected meeting.