Live Action Category

Live Action, Premiere

Gerardo Coello Escalante Transforms Childhood Status Symbols Into Devastating Class Commentary in ‘Business Trip’

Gerardo Coello Escalante dissects how he confronted cultural malinchismo through his story of a sneaker revelation that unravels a Mexican boy's worldview.

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Live Action

Sci-Fi IVF Mystery Meets YouTube Storytelling in Uzo Oleh’s ‘Beth’, Channel 4’s First Digital Original Drama

Director Uzo Oleh & producer Yaw Basoah discuss the impact of subtext in their emotionally charged short made as Channel 4's first digital original drama.

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Live Action

Daisy-May Hudson’s ‘Lollipop’ Is a Heartbreaking Portrait of Maternal Resilience and Devastating Systemic Failure

Daisy-May Hudson opens up about turning pain into power in her feature where a young woman struggles against a broken system to regain custody of her kids.

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Live Action, Premiere

Nat Gee Explores the Invisible Violence of Dismissed Female Pain in Her Atmospheric Psychological Thriller ‘Buried’

Nat Gee details shooting on 16mm & cutting 4 minutes from her edit to help audiences deeply connect with her maverick winemaker's psychological fragmentation.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Lovelorn Girl Vies for Her Boyfriend’s Attention in Ada Player & Bron Waugh’s Whimsical Comedy ‘Spare Part’

Ada Player & Bron Waugh explain how they adapted their stage monologue for film, found London's loneliest brutalist locations and crafted a loveable doormat.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Second-Hand Sale Gone Wrong Véras Fawaz’s ‘Warm’ Traps You in a Terrifying Game of Power and Control

Exploring the invisible grip of social and parental power, Véras Fawaz reveals how a news story inspired his tension fuelled psychological thriller.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Neglected Young Man Seeks Belonging in the Wrong Place in Jeroen Kooistra’s Desolate Debut ‘Triton’

Jeroen Kooistra recounts how a shared creative itch evolved into his stark short film exploring how our need for belonging can be manipulated to serve others.

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Live Action, Sponsored

Jordon Scott Kennedy Reignites the Joy of Working Class Childhoods in His BBC Comedy Short ‘Rocket Fuel’

Jordon Scott Kennedy shares his frustration with typical social realist films and his desire to tell joyful working class stories which embrace a child's POV.

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Article, Live Action

Brent Michal Presents An Off-Beat Excursion Into Modern Love In Toxic Romance Short ‘Ponytailhead’

Brent Michal gets down to it about his latest short, an intimate and pretty gnarly take on modern love between two unpredictable and semi-questionable lovers.

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Live Action, Premiere

Jack King Traverses the Moral Wilderness of Childhood Cruelty in His Unsettling Drama-Thriller ‘Predators’

From abandoned snakes to abandoned morals: Jack King discusses crafting a dark, child-led world of ethical ambiguity in his BFI-backed suburban short.

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Live Action, Premiere

James Nicholas Green’s ‘Victory To The Mimers’ Turns Silent Art Into a Roaring Satire On Class, Solidarity & Family

James Nicholas Green gives DN the low-down on his comedic take on England's 1980s class struggle which moves the political fight from the pits to the stage.

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Live Action, Premiere

Eva Blackwell-Rogelj’s ‘Watering Hole’ Scrutinises the Blurred Divide Between Female Empowerment and Exploitation

Eva Blackwell-Rogelj unpacks how she dove deep into the opaquely murky waters of female sexuality vs male objectification in her troublingly familiar short.

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