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.

Animation, Premiere

Thomas Laurance Exorcises Creative Paralysis Through DIY Rotoscoping in His Scatological Satire ‘Tortured Artist’

Thomas Laurance deconstructs the unequivocally independent process of his joyfully crude sub-£100 comedy short lampooning the toxic pressure to make good art.

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Awards, Live Action

Vanity Propels a Disturbing Longing for the Past in Kathryn Ferguson’s BAFTA Nominated Belfast-Set Short ‘Nostalgie’

Kathryn Ferguson dissects the tonal shift in her Belfast-set drama debut where a faded 80s pop star's hope of reliving his glory days hits a chilling reality.

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Live Action

Will Wightman Unleashes the Domestic Disgust of Shared Flats in Insta360 Comedy Horror ‘This Place is a Sh*thole’

Will Wightman explains layering practical chaos with post-production keyframing to craft impossible camera moves in his tale housemate horror.

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Live Action, Premiere

Firas Itani Charts the Invisible Sisyphean Weight of Everyday Labour in Tense Drama ‘Lower Ground’

Denying any relief, Firas Itani uses framing, contrasting colour & relentless routine to depict skewed power dynamics in his portrait of everyday servitude.

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Live Action

Lope Serrano’s ‘The Cause Of The Accident That Started The Fire’ Turns Creative Crisis Into Meta-Narrative Excellence

We learn why Lope Serrano used a printed waveform as a structural guide to make creative paralysis tangible in his celebrated Spanish film industry showcase.

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Live Action, Premiere

Gus Reed Choreographs a Delicate Dance of Discontent in His Enigimatic Disquieting Short ‘Losing Season’

Gus Reed breaks down the precise blocking used to map a psychological power struggle when a woman's stagnation is disturbed by an uninvited visitor.

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Article

Julija Fricsone-Gavriss on the Philosophy of Production Design and Building Worlds That Feel Real

For Julija Fricsone-Gavriss, a set must be an extension of the character. She details her process of building extensive PD boards to breathe life into film

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Live Action, Premiere

Amir Youssef Constructs a Tender Child’s-Eye View of Personal Loss Amongst Historical Rupture in ‘Dawn Every Day’

Using wide lenses and a meticulous B&W palette, director Amir Youssef locks us at eye-level with an eight-year-old boy grappling with a world coming apart.

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Documentary

Anna Fabricius Maps the Female Form as a Landscape of Empowering Transformation in Her Hybrid Short ‘Shaping Change’

Anna Fabricius details how she weaved documentary disclosures with choreographed movement to create her portraiture of the female body's unfolding over time.

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Awards, Live Action

Harry Lighton Navigates the Intersection of Kink and Suburban Mundanity In His Subversive Queer BIFA Feature ‘Pillion

DN alum Harry Lighton discusses crafting a visual language that finds the tenderness within the transgressive intimacy of his tender tale of queer first love.

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Animation, Awards

Baz Sells Crafts an Eden of Queer Black Love in Tender BIFA & BAFTA Nominated Stop Motion Short ‘Two

Baz Sells, Dean Atta & Ben Jackson trace the five-year journey of bringing their animated short to life, a stop-motion tale of self-acceptance and queer love.

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Awards, Live Action

Cal McMau Directs Balletic Violence and Claustrophobic Tension in His BIFA Winning Prison Thriller ‘Wasteman’

Cal McMau reveals how he embraced tight confines when choreographing the violence in his BIFA-nominated debut feature portrait of a merciless prison ecosystem.

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