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, Premiere

Emma Jesse’s Dark Comedy ‘Soggy Biscuit’ Takes a Stomach Churning Look at Peer Pressure Fuelled Male Bravado

Emma Jesse talks through the false preconceptions she had to overcome when making her short exploring humiliating toxic masculinity within male groups.

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Live Action, Premiere

Will Kenning Offers a Fresh Perspective on the Horrors of County Lines Drug Gangs in Dance Drama ‘Tap Boy’

Will Kenning chats to DN about combining the world of tap with the grim reality of exploitation perpetrated by drug gangs for his compelling drama short.

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Art & Fashion

VERSUS Exalt Western Sydney’s Multidisciplinary Pool of Creative Talent in Ambitious Shorts Series ‘Latitudes’

VERSUS discuss the unexpected cohesive aesthetic of their film trilogy showcasing Western Sydney's typically underrepresented and under-resourced artists.

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Documentary

Will & Carly Capture the Worrying Reality of Male Perceptions of Breasts in ‘TITS: A Voyage Into Objectification’

Will & Carly speak about exploring the disparity between the fantasy of the male gaze and the reality of women’s breasts in their social experiment short.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Suburban Father’s Blistering Anger Boils Over into Family Confrontation in Daniel Turvil’s ‘This Much So Far’

Daniel Turvil discusses highlighting the pressure of life in the suburbs in his short about a man unleashing his anger on doll-like versions of his family.

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Live Action, Premiere

Calvin Demba Takes an Algorithmic Look at the Damaging Cycle of Toxic Relationships in Sexbot Comedy ‘BabyDolls’

We speak to Calvin Demba about creating a timeless feeling for his dark AI relationship comedy about a misogynistic man falling victim to his own toxicity.

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Live Action

Ryan Schnackenberg Confronts Filmmaker Rejection Head on in His Excruciating Short ‘The Screener’

Ryan Schnackenberg opens up about needing to confront his own experiences of rejection when making his uncomfortable short about challenging gatekeepers.

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Live Action

A Young Woman Desperately Clings to Hope in a Brutal Reality in Zornitsa Dimitrova’s ‘A Dark Moment of Faith’

Zornitsa Dimitrova speaks to us about crafting a story which forces audiences to experience the shock of deceit in her hard hitting and unapologetic short.

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Live Action, Premiere

The Toxicity of a Strained Father-Son Relationship Comes to a Shocking Head in Ben Tricklebank’s ‘Champ’

Ben Tricklebank breaks down how he built narrative tension that speaks volumes from what isn't said in his exploration of a toxic parental relationship.

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Live Action

Nathan Engelhardt’s ‘Senti L’Energia’ Explores the Blurring Relationship Lines Between Friendship and Love

Nathan Engelhardt reveals the rewarding process of retooling his feature script into an emotive short about love as an all-encompassing energy.

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Live Action, Premiere

Sachin Dheeraj’s ‘Men in Blue’ Viscerally Exposes the Modern Slave Labour Inflicted on Immigrant Workers

Sachin Dheeraj dissects the visual language he used to depict the deplorable story of men stripped of their dignity for profit by modern slavery.

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Live Action, Premiere

Werner Vivier’s ‘Walls Like Windows’ Captures Our Acute Need for Human Connection and Empathy When Navigating Trauma

Werner Vivier walks us through the narrative developing cinematography and surprising shifts of tone of his expectation subverting drama short.

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