Author

About the Author /

Sarah is a true multi-hyphenate within the film industry. Alongside her role as Associate Editor & Head of Outreach for Directors Notes, her extensive festival experience ranges from MC and juror duties to previously serving as Deputy Director of Brighton Rocks, where she helped steer its growth into a BIFA-qualifying event. Sarah also produces for Brighton film collective The Imaginary Project and contributes as a freelance writer for publications including 1.4 and Shots Magazine.

Film Festival

Grief, Thrills & Everything In Between: 10 Unforgettable Short Films at HollyShorts 2025

From 427 films at HollyShorts 2025, Directors Notes spotlights 10 essential shorts in this year's dynamic Oscar-qualifying programme.

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Article

Anna Smith on the Girls On Film Podcast & Awards, Feminist Film Criticism and Navigating Industry Bias

Anna Smith joins DN for a conversation about her career and building the Girls on Film Podcast and Awards into an important force in the cinematic landscape.

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Live Action, Premiere

Ira Groza Builds a Fragmented Portal Between Performance, Memory and Truth in Surreal Webcam Short ‘Goosecam’

Ira Groza discusses directing remotely via Zoom to craft her surreal meditation on post-Soviet identity, cultural heritage and a doomed goose.

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Live Action

Oli Beale Weaponizes Words With Chilling Precision in Double-Edged Revenge Short ‘Good Luck Fuck Face’

Oli Beale unpacks the enjoyable process of brainstorming cancel-worthy barbs for his payback comedy, where humour and cruelty balance on a razor’s edge.

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Live Action

Danny Jelinek Ships a Gamified Nightmare of Technocapitalism in Saturated Satire ‘Word of Mouth’

From sunny visuals to surreal decay, Danny Jelinek breaks down the dystopian world of his comedy about an AI-driven mobile app that commodifies conversations.

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Live Action, Premiere

Ethan Edwards Crafts a Biting Literary Duel of Confided Secrets Revealed in Razor-Sharp Two-Hander ‘Goose’

Edwards reveals how he discovered the perfect psychologically damning secret and why he avoided traditional rehearsals to craft an authentic battle of wills.

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Live Action, Premiere

Abigail Wilson Revs up a Visceral Battle Against the Self in Adrenaline-Fuelled Action Short ‘Overdrive’

Abigail Wilson reveals how an apathy to mainstream depictions of menstruation fuelled her high-octane fight for bodily control allegorical short film.

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Live Action, Premiere

Dexter Demme & Jack Depp Pit Pride Against Absurdity in Their Tense Couples’ Mexican Standoff Comedy ‘Tug of War’

Dexter Demme & Jack Depp unpack the seemingly absurd marital standoff in their comedy short where a beloved forgotten item exposes relationship fragility.

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Live Action, Premiere

tao/s Present a Raw Portrait of Family Turmoil Born of Mental Illness in Personal Short ‘Very Still, Very Quiet’

tao/s explain why the one-shot was the most authentic way to capture the emotional chaos of a family trying to cope with their mom's mental health disorder.

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Live Action, Premiere

The Newman Brothers Expose the Exploitative Absurdity of the Gig Economy in Satirical Short ‘Amigo’

The Newman Brothers reveal how their rent-a-friend satire evolved from TV pilot to a sharp social commentary comedy about convenient, predatory tech platforms.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Veteran’s Hallucinatory Homecoming Unfolds in Suad Gara’s Intimate Portrait of Invisible Battle Wounds ‘Qaragh’

Suad Gara opens up about embedding within a Lezgin community to craft her PTSD meditation short, blending ritual, memory and psychological fragmentation.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Pregnancy Scare Descends Into Cinematic Comedy Chaos in Chad Corhan’s Rapid-Fire Absurd Short ‘Gas Station Sushi’

Chad Corhan explains how intensive same-room writing sessions shaped his breakneck surreal comedy about social anxiety during an existential personal crisis.

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