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.

Film Festival

10 Unmissable Shorts Screening at Encounters Film Festival’s Much Anticipated 30th Edition

Marking its triumphant return, Encounters Film Festival is back in full force. Here are 10 hand picked DN faves from the packed programme which stayed with us.

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Live Action

Rosie May Bird Smith Hatches a Surreal Sisterhood From Biological Clock Anxiety in Comedy Short ‘Egg Timer’

Rosie May Bird Smith discusses rejecting CGI in favour of in-camera effects for the opinionated ovarian eggs in her riotous take on fertility anxiety.

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Live Action

Ali Gill Weighs the Nobility of Truth Against the Power of Conformity in Absurdist Satire ‘Party Animal’

Ali Gill details how the voyeuristic cinematography in his allegorical short framed the descent into political madness of a man whose truth falls on deaf ears.

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Live Action

Jim Hosking Unleashes the Absurdist Alchemy of Musical Legends Stevie & Paul in Revisionist Biopic ‘Ebony & Ivory’

Jim Hosking reveals how trusting his unique instincts and fostering intuitive collaborations allows him to create his polarizing, personal brand of comedy.

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Live Action

Riley Donigan Manifests Mental Anguish Through Grotesque Body Horror in His Profoundly Human Short ‘Shithead’

Riley Donigan explains how he utilised slow zooms, frenetic editing and prosthetics to express a struggling young man's accelerating descent into madness.

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Film Festival, Sponsored

Get Stuck Into These 10 Outstanding Short Films Screening at the 2025 Edition of Bolton International Film Festival

With a varied, engrossing programme sure to delight one and all playing at Bolton Film Festival next month, DN compiles our list of 10 choice, riveting shorts.

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Live Action, Premiere

Albert Bullock’s ‘Love Is Real’ Replaces Cinematic Romanticism With a Striking Dissection of the Nature of Love

Following a split, a disconnected couple set out to confront the mechanics of intimacy in Albert Bullock's compelling exploration of modern connection.

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Live Action

Georgia Small Shoulders the Crushing, Inescapable Weight of a Partner’s Silent Grief in ‘Baby’

Georgia Small details using voyeuristic, lingering camerawork to externalise the internal flood of anguish in her intimate debut short.

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Film Festival, Sponsored

9 Spellbinding Shorts Screening at Conero Film + ADV 2025

As we eagerly await the 3rd edition of Conero Film + ADV DN takes a deep dive into the official selections which demonstrate impact both on-screen & off.

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Live Action, Premiere

Joshua Elias Palmer Carves a Tender, Sombre Portrait of Filial Sacrifice in the Starkly Beautiful and Silent ‘Coda’

Joshua Elias Palmer discusses employing a constrained, anamorphic frame to mirror the emotional confines of a son’s sacrificial caregiving.

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Animation, Documentary

How Do You Animate an Orgasm? Inside Bronwen Parker-Rhodes’ Bold Descriptive Documentary ‘COME’

Rejecting digital perfection, Bronwen Parker-Rhodes details creating a work of intimate revelation and radical honesty through animation and visceral clarity.

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Live Action

The Weight of Horrifc Unspoken Trauma Crushes Small Shoulders in Lado Kvataniya’s Campaign Short ‘Haqqim Bor’

Lado Kvataniya unpacks his visceral, haunting metaphor of childhood trauma where children carry the weight of abuse as literal buildings on their backs.

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