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.

Music Video

Dillon Francis Flies Through a Mind-Bending Involuntary LSD Trip in Parker Seaman’s ‘LA On Acid’

Parker Seaman walks DN through the construction of the mind melting scenes in his deliriously trippy music video journey through an LA Chinese restaurant.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Man Bungles Through Life With a Complete Lack of Self-Awareness in Jonathan Salmon’s Comedy ‘Life of Brad James’

Jonathan Salmon reveals how he seamlessly tied together the three parts of his comedic anthology following the life of a blissfully unaware man-child.

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Live Action, Premiere

Repressed Family Trauma Rears Its Ugly Head in Tracy Mathewson & Kate Winter’s Psychological Trip Drama ‘ORTOLAN’

Tracy Mathewson & Kate Winter reveal how set design expressed emotional claustrophobia as 3 sisters embark on a psychedelic trip during their mother's wake.

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Live Action

A Mother and Son Embark on a Surreal Day Out in Tom Stuart’s Emotive Comedy Short Debut ‘Good Boy’

Tom Stuart details the awkward practicalities of shooting in the vintage VW van which sits at the heart of his touching surreal personification of grief.

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Live Action

A Primeval Outpouring of Emotions Overwhelms a New Mother in Phoebe Arnstein’s ‘If You’re Happy’

Phoebe Arnstein explains the mix of narrative and documentary techniques she used to capture the authentic performances of her visceral motherhood short.

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Live Action

Adolescent Reality Blurs Into the Surreal in Debby Friday & Nathan De Paz Habib’s Hybrid Music Video ‘Good Luck’

Debby Friday & Nathan De Paz Habib break down the experimental approach they took to fully capture the surreal nature of the whirlwind that is adolescence.

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Live Action, Premiere

Tiger Ji Brings Humour and Heart to Life’s Final Feast With a Bowl of Noodles in ‘Death & Ramen’

Tiger Ji talks subverting common tropes associated with Asian performers in his deliciously dark comedy where Death and a ramen chef share a bowl of noodles.

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Live Action

Beru Tessema’s BIFA Nominated ‘Lions’ Shines a Light on the Disparate Experiences of Poverty in Modern Day Britain

Beru Tessema walks us through giving his actors room to embody the meaning of scenes through improvisation for his short about Britain's dysfunctional systems.

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Live Action

A Woman Wonders if Her New Love Is Scamming Her in Lucy McKendrick & Charles Polinger’s ‘Fuck Me, Richard’

Lucy Elizabeth McKendrick & Charles Polinger talk about creating the fantasies a young woman loses herself to in their twisted long distance romance short.

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Live Action

Ng Choon Ping & Sam H. Freeman’s ‘Femme’ Exposes the Various Disguises We Use to Protect Our True Selves

Ng Choon Ping & Sam H. Freeman reveal how intimate handheld camera work enhanced the tense dynamism of their neo-noir seduction as revenge thriller.

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Live Action, Premiere

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.

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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.

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