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

Mark H. Rapaport Renders a Disturbing Vision of Family Therapy in ‘Andronicus’

Mark H. Rapaport reveals how he created the portrait-style cinematography which accentuates the tensions in his perverted family drama.

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Art & Fashion

A Stylised Contemporary Female Fighter Is Reborn in Camila Arroyo’s Dance Fashion Film ‘Soldaderas’

Camila Arroyo outlines the intense self-reflection and on the job learning required to feature in and direct her collaborative dance/fashion film.

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Art & Fashion

Sebastian Hill-Esbrand Extols the Need to Proudly Celebrate Diverse Womxn Bodies & Spirits in ‘Booty Freedom’

Sebastian Hill-Esbrand explains why his celebratory dance short spurred him to build a female-centric team of collaborators in front of & behind the camera.

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Documentary

Nathan Long’s ‘Calling Attendance’ is an Unflinching Snapshot of the Harsh Realities of Life for Too Many Children

We talk to director Nathan Long about drawing on the narrative aesthetics of photojournalism for his brutally stark and effective campaign film.

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Live Action

A Young Thief Longs for the Comfort of the Mothers She Steals From in Melissa Anastasi Aquatic Drama ‘Chlorine’

DN talks to Melissa Anastasi about interweaving visuals of water to create a lyrical film about the yearning for nurturing familial bonds in 'Chlorine'.

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Music Video

Lado Kvataniya’s ‘Revansh’ is a Violent Allegorical Representation of the Gritty Reality of Life in Modern Russia

Lado Kvataniya discusses staging a surreal metaphorical portrait of Russian living using 16mm and hidden cuts for Husky track 'Revansh'.

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Music Video

Vira-Lata Linger in the Purgatorial Reality Between Heaven and Hell in Sensorial Music Video ‘Medo’

Directing duo Vira-Lata talk to us about utilising the gritty feeling of authenticity lent by expired 16mm stock in their sensorial Terno Rei music video.

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Live Action

Denzel Whitaker Spotlights the Toxic Collision of Modern Celebrity, Cancel Culture and Mental Health in ‘5150′

We talk to Denzel Whitaker about delving into the power of modern celebrity in our culture and the complexities of race in America in short film '5150'.

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Art & Fashion, Premiere

Adrián Suárez Interconnects the Rich Beauty of Nature and the Human Body in Sensorial Short ‘Skins’

Adrián Suárez discusses conveying the interconnectedness of the human body and the Earth we inhabit in beautifully realised experimental short 'Skins'.

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Documentary, Premiere

Matt Cascella Ennobles Man’s Best Friend in Charming Doc Short ‘Talking Dog’

Matt Cascella enlightens DN on his free-form approach to directing in ‘Talking Dog’, a documentary ode to the dogs of Maine by their human companions.

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Live Action

A Young Woman Falls for the Seductive Allure of a Tilt-a-Whirl in Zoé Wittocks Fantastical Romance Debut ‘Jumbo’

Zoé Wittock provides an insight into the production practicalities of choreographing the many moving parts of her objectophilia romance feature 'Jumbo'.

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Animation

Kai Stänicke Examines Our Destructive Relationship With Time in Reflective Animated Short ‘Pace’

Kai Stänicke details how he drew inspiration from the animation styles of 80s & 90s German abstract films for his admonitory time crunch short ‘Pace’.

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