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.

Live Action

Charlie Reader’s Emotionally Charged Short ‘Lobo’ Questions the Struggles of Belonging Through Heart Wrenching Loss.

Charlie Reader talks about the complexities of straddling three languages when shooting his exploration of belonging and the inevitability of change.

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Live Action, Premiere

Serkan Bayrak’s ‘Civil Servant’ Encourages Us to Better Understand Ourselves Through the Eyes of Others

Serkan Bayrak reveals how letting go of the meticulous script structure of his debut short allowed the unique dynamics of his characters to shine through.

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Live Action, Premiere

Jim Vendiola’s Horror-Comedy ‘Pretty Pickle’ Reveals Why Our Lover’s Quirks Are Perhaps Best Left Alone

Jim Vendiola talks about marrying disparate moments of eroticism, mystery, horror and comedy in his unconventional and shocking tale of modern dating.

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Live Action, Premiere

Hilary Eden Immerses Us in the Fervently Charged World of a Y2K Teenager in Nostalgic Short ‘Bellybutton’

Hilary Eden speaks to DN about the power she found in the specificity of her storytelling for her evocative coming-of-age portrait of adolescent girlhood.

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Live Action, Premiere

Hannah Renton Considers the Lasting Impact of Flawed Models of Love in Decade Spanning Triptych ‘Love Is Free’

Hannah Renton breaks down the challenge of building cohesion between the individual yet joined parts of her triptych film depicting the complexities of love.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Young Woman’s Longing for Intimate Fellowship Reverberates Through Julia Ponce Díaz’s Evocative Debut ‘Soredia’

Julia Ponce Díaz shares how personal & observed experiences inspired her fish-out-of-water drama about a self-conscious girl's desperate need for belonging.

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Documentary

NONO & Rodrgio Inada’s Epic ‘Naija Odyssey’ for Whatsapp Reconciles the Fundamentals of Identity and Belonging

NONO & Rodrgio Inada layout the methodical juggling needed to pull off the ambitious multi-country production of their Giannis Antetokounmpo profile film.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Comedian Attempts to Come to Terms With a Recent Traumatic Event in April Moreau’s AFI Short ‘Hysterical’

April Moreau discusses depicting the emotional disorientation of her protagonist's recent trauma under the bright harsh stage lights of a stand-up show.

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Live Action

Moral Corruption Leads to the Dissolution of a Family in Duván Duque Vargas’ Colombian Drama ‘Todo Incluido’

Duván Duque Vargas discusses his nuanced portrayal of the questionable actions used by Colombia's upper class to maintain their positions of privilege.

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Documentary

Nudity Is Stripped of Its Over Sexualised Prejudices in Ross Casswell’s Liberating Documentary Short ‘Naked Woman’

Ross Casswell discusses finding relatable clarity in the collective stories of the three women documented in his exploration of nudity and the female form.

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Film Festival, Live Action

Vathana Suga Suppiah’s ‘Ratthum’ Breaks Free of the Pervasive Shame and Silence Around Infertility

Suga Suppiah discusses using her background in editing to plan the intimate, emotionally charged shots of her poignant Tribeca premiering short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Loïc Phil’s ‘Connection’ Encapsulates the Life Altering Intensity of a Spontaneous Passionate Love Affair

Loïc Phil explains why he wanted to embrace the constraints of shooting on 16mm in order to fully convey the fervor of a life changing mayfly love affair.

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