Author

About the Author /

MarBelle has a strange compulsion to watch as many films as he can get his hands on and find jobs that give him a legitimate excuse to drill filmmakers about their work. Directors Notes is the multi-decade incarnation of this disorder and remains so much cheaper than film school.

Live Action

Cultural Heritage Frustrates a Teen’s Attempts to Solidify Her Identity in Josza Anjembe’s ‘French’

Josza Anjembe speaks to DN about finding one’s cultural identity, her move into fiction filmmaking and using cinema as a weapon on short film ‘French’.

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Film Festival, Live Action

A Man Suffers a Crisis of Communication in Benjamin Cleary & TJ O’Grady Peyton Comedy ‘Wave’

Co-directors Benjamin Cleary & TJ O'Grady Peyton discuss their funny and moving short about a man isolated by the barrier of an unintelligible language.

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Film Festival, Live Action

A Down’s Syndrome Boxer Must Withstand a Pre-Bout Battle of Wills in Bugsy Riverbank Steel’s ‘Fighter’

Ten minutes before a match, a Down’s syndrome boxer fights for his right to get in the ring in Bugsy Riverbank Steel’s visceral short.

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Film Festival, Live Action

An Iranian Wife Embraces an Opportunistic Route of Escape in Kaveh Mazaheri’s Award Winning Short ‘Retouch’

Kaveh Mazaheri discusses working within Iran's censorship system and staging a convincing accidental death for his multi-award winning short 'Retouch'.

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Live Action

A Woman Tries Not to Drown in a Sea of Guilt in Nickolas Duarte’s ‘Trouble Will Find Her’

Nickolas Duarte explains how he was able to embody guilt as a foreboding, pervasive presence in his melancholic character drama ‘Trouble Will Find Her’.

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Animation, Film Festival, Podcasts

DN352: In Conversation with Legendary Filmmaker Chris Shepherd

DN caught up with Chris Shepherd to reflect on his celebrated career and return to the hybrid world of animated/live action violence in 'Johnno’s Dead'.

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Film Festival

23rd Encounters Short Film & Animation Festival Wrap Up

DN looks back at some of our favourite shorts from this year’s bevy of films at the mighty Encounters film festival.

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Live Action

Clim & Jade De Robles Find the Fun in Falling out in Sumptuously Styled Frenemy Short ‘985 Days’

Clim and Jade De Robles explain how they found the fun in falling out in their sumptuously styled surreal frenemy short '985 Days'.

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Live Action

Jiajie Yu Contemplates the Isolating Strangeness of Solitude in a Bustling Neon City in ‘Aliens’

Jiajie Yu tells DN how taking a free-form approach to production enabled him to transport viewers into a world of disquieting disconnection.

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Music Video

Watch Sparks Chase an Elusive Parisian Bird in Joseph Wallace’s Enchanting Stop Motion Puppet Music Video

Read how Joseph Wallace transformed Sparks into puppets for an enchanting stop motion chase through 1930s Paris in 'Edith Piaf (Said It Better Than Me)'.

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Documentary

Aurélien Heilbronn Takes an Exhilarating Look at Illegal Motorbike Racing Gangs in Doc ‘Street Racers’

Aurélien Heilbronn discusses documenting the lives of the thrill seeking teens behind the Dominican Republic's illegal motorbike street races.

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Documentary

Bas Berkhout Takes a Playful Dive Beyond the Artist’s Creative Process in ‘The Story of Jon Burgerman’

DN quizzes Bas Berkhout about the origins, processes and intentions of his ongoing short documentary excavation of the inner lives of popular creatives.

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