Author

About the Author /

James is DN’s resident horror fan and is inspired by all academic, formal and Ethan Hawke-related aspects of filmmaking. When he isn’t writing for DN you’ll most likely find him on Bluesky, reading a graphic novel or and being sat on by his cat Peanut.

Music Video

A Honey-Covered Loner Seeks Love in Alice Fassi’s Gooey Practical Effects-Driven Music Video ‘Honey Boy’

Alice Fassi tells DN why she opted for the practicalities of tangible special effects for her sticky, honey-laden music video.

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Animation, Film Festival

10 Must-Catch Shorts From 2024’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival

DN offers up ten recommended short film picks from the 2024 programme at Annecy, the world's leading film festival specialising in animation.

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Animation

Tsz-wing Ho Reinterprets the Geometric Nature of Hong Kong’s M+ Museum in Abstract Animation ‘& More’

Animator Tsz-wing Ho tells DN how she deconstructed the form of the M+ Museum into her fluid shifting short exploring what underpins our material world.

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Awards, Documentary, Film Festival

Elahe Esmaili Documents the Reaction to the Woman, Life, Freedom Movement on a Familial Level in ‘A Move’

Elahe Esmaili explains the intimate, family-centric perspective of the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement that she wanted to capture in her doc short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Liam Pinheiro-Rogers’ ‘London’s Forgotten’ Asks Why the Pernicious Cycle of Knife Crime Refuses to End

Liam Pinheiro-Rogers unpacks the expanded ambitions and creative decision-making behind the uncanny atmosphere of his haunting anti-knife crime drama.

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Art & Fashion, Premiere

Valentina Khodnevich Celebrates the Everyday Routines of Human Life in Her Cyclical 16mm Dance Film ‘Sun’

Valentina Khodnevich explains how she incorporated quotidian movements and gestures into the choreography of her tactile dance short.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Toxic Relationship Becomes an All-Encompassing Nightmare in AJ Prager’s Short ‘Seeing Other People’

Amanda Prager reveals how she translated her experience of being in a toxic relationship into a paranoid fantasy short about escaping a controlling partner.

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Documentary

Neil Fox Posits Why Concert Films and Music Docs Transcend Brand Marketing in New BFI Book ‘Music Films’

Neil Fox talks about shifting perspectives on cinematic depictions of music artists while assessing the role of these undersung films in the creation of myth.

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Art & Fashion

Julia Zlotnick Portrays a Young Man’s Crumbling Mental Health in Frenetic Dance Short ‘Seeking Thomas’

Julia Zlotnick walks us through how she melded the artistic worlds of narrative and dance for her visceral, emotionally charged short about mental health.

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Music Video, Premiere

Okay Kaya Finds Herself Amidst a Surreal, Sweltering Fantasy in Julia Patey’s Music Video for ‘The Groke’

Julia Patey breaks down the creative benefits of her instinctual, holistic approach to crew hierarchy on her inventive, desert-set Okay Kaya music video.

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Animation

Mansi Maheshwari Depicts the Nightmarish Nature of Parental Lies in Feverish Animated Cannes Short ‘Bunnyhood’

Mansi Maheshwari walks DN through how she created the intense and frenetic scrawled animation style of her manic Cannes-selected NFTS grad short.

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Art & Fashion

Nature and Memories Curate a Spiritual Release in Nicola Martini’s Commercial Short ‘The Shape of Life’

Nicola Martini reveals the methods he use to achieve the intense, climactic tonal sensibility of his alpine-set branded short for Serafino Consoli Jewelry.

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