Live Action Category

Live Action

Bianca Poletti’s Meta Comedy ‘Ultra Low’ Pokes Fun at the Farcical Battle of Indie Filmmaking on a Shoestring

Bianca Poletti explains why she leaned into a grounded comedic style for her short about the self-inflicted mishaps of low budget filmmaking friends.

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Live Action

A Woman Grapples With Her Obsessive Death Anxiety in Charlotte Hamblin’s Tragicomedy ‘Everybody Dies…Sometimes’

Charlotte Hamblin talks about making the move into directing for her semi-autobiographical tragicomedy about a woman concerned that she's a catalyst of death.

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Live Action

A Seasoned Veteran Tries to Adapt to Japan’s Modern Entertainment Industry in Anna J. Takayama’s ‘The Voice Actress’

Anna J. Takayama talks shooting in Tokyo and colour as a narrative tool whilst dissecting the creation of her multi-award winning film about an ageing actress.

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Live Action

Paul Chambers’ ‘Three Bull-Mastiffs in a Kitchen Corner’ Viscerally Portrays a Life in the Grip of Addiction

Paul Chambers discusses the 16mm camerawork used in his hard hitting experimental drama capturing a young man's spiralling loss of control to addiction.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Vulnerable Man Attends a Self-Help Class to Address His Declining Mental State in Ned Donohoe’s Drama ‘The Forum’

Ned Donohoe delves into the delicate balance of critique and empathy he sought to strike in his short about the shady world of personal development forums.

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Live Action

Kali Kahn Captures the Nuance of a Girl Growing Into a Woman in Her Coming of Age Short ‘Father’s

Kali Kahn breaks down the technical choices that informed the subtly maturing awareness of the teenage girl at the centre of her poolside drama.

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Live Action

Maegan Houang Depicts the Genesis of America’s Asian Exploitation in Drama ‘Astonishing Little Feet’

Maegan Houang returns to DN and explains how she used confronting POV shots to challenge the viewer in her potent historical drama short.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Couple’s Therapist Brings Them Together in the Most Unanticipated Way in Daniel Sinclair’s ‘The Breakthrough’

We speak to Daniel Sinclair about managing the fine line of grounded comedy in his tonal mashup short where a couple reach an unexpected therapy breakthrough.

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Live Action

Vincent René-Lortie’s Oscar Short ‘Invincible’ Tenderly Depicts the Duality of a Troubled Teen’s Mental Health Crisis

A deeply personal film years in the making, Vincent René-Lortie details the intimate approach needed to bring the true story of his troubled friend to screen.

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Live Action

A Schoolgirl Attempts to Navigate the Reality of Her Fractured Memories in Victoria Singh-Thompson’s ‘14 in February’

Victoria Singh-Thompson talks about crafting a fragmented editing style to convey the dissociative turmoil churning in her traumatised protagonist's brain.

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Live Action, Premiere

Christopher Pickering Blows the Lid off the Secret Science Behind Snack Serving Sizes in Short Film ‘Jimmy Boden’

Christopher Pickering reveals how he arrived at the deceptively profound concept of his short exposing the bizarre method for determining snack serving sizes.

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Live Action

A Shared Loss Forges an Unlikely Bond in Lasse Lyskjær Noer’s Oscar Nominated Dark Comedy ‘Knight of Fortune’

Lasse Lyskjær Noer speaks to capturing the cathartic release of comedy even in the depths of despair for his short about two widowers struggling with grief.

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