Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

A Harrowing Phone Call Leads to an Illegal Immigrant’s Worst Nightmare in Joshua Okwuosa’s Suspensive Short ‘Okem’

Joshua Okwuosa discusses choosing a claustrophobic 4:3 ratio for his tension fuelled film about a Nigerian immigrant faced with a devastating situation.

Live Action

Reality & Fantasy Blur for a Delusional Production Assistant in Thomas May Bailey’s BIFA Nominated Debut ‘The Talent’

Thomas May Bailey speaks to DN about harnessing the metaphorical potential of a VP stage as the setting for his debut short exploring ambition and desire.

Live Action, Premiere

A Knockabout Game of Football Becomes a Playground for Toxic Masculinity in Rumi Kaul’s Coming of Age Drama ‘Cage’

Rumi Kaul breaks down the underlying themes of youth and its progression to toxic masculinity he sought to reckon with in his vibrant playground drama.

Is There Anybody Out There? director Ella Glendining is a disabled white woman in her twenties with long blonde hair, short, unusual looking legs, and a few tattoos on her arm. Ella sunbathes on a sandy beach. She looks blissful, basking in the sunshine. A sliver of sparkling blue ocean can be seen in distance.

Documentary

Ella Glendining’s Debut ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ Is a Captivating Battle Cry for the Disabled Community

Ella Glendining speaks about bringing together the patchwork elements of her empowering documentary about her search for someone else with the same disability.

Live Action, Premiere

Two Thirty-Somethings Find Themselves in a Purgatorial State in Tom Gentle’s Existential Relationship Short ‘Close’

Tom Gentle deconstructs the thematic significance of the purgatorial communal stairwell setting of his existential short about a relationship crossroads.

Live Action

Savanah Leaf’s Blistering ‘Earth Mama’ Lays Bare the Struggles of Marginalized Motherhood in a Flawed Care System

Savanah Leaf details how shooting 16mm benefited her gritty, surreal debut feature which shines a unique authorial lens on motherhood, race and class.

Music

A Woman Traverses Dimensions to a Place of Frozen Time in Kyryl Volovych’s Ghostly Music Video ‘The Sister Of’

Kyryl Volovych reveals the inspiration he drew from Stalker and The Seventh Seal when creating his ethereal, science fiction-inflected ĠENN music video.

Live Action

Kerry O’Neill’s Euphoric Dark Comedy ‘Walk Out Nice and Smooth’ Explores the Moral Ambiguity of a Mother’s Love.

Kerry O’Neill discusses building an atmosphere of chaotic adventure in her short about a mother & her adolescent child's mission to sell a stolen laptop.

Animation

Tom C J Brown’s Painterly BIFA Animation ‘Christopher at Sea’ Portrays a Nautical Journey of Self-Discovery

Tom C J Brown tells DN why animation was the perfect artistic conduit to convey the melodramatic realism of his BIFA nominated short film.