Live Action Category

Live Action

Thousands of Women’s Experiences Coalesce Into One Exquisitely Painful Day in Bren Cukier’s ‘Thursday’

Bren Cukier shares how the intimate accounts of real women directly informed her film about a woman's isolating experience practising her reproductive rights.

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Live Action

The Gaping Chasm Left by a Missing Girl Is Quickly Inhabited by a Lonely Opportunist in Jimmy Goldblum’s ‘Jude’

Jimmy Goldblum discusses up-ending typical true crime missing girl tropes in his short following a teen girl who inserts herself into a life that isn’t hers.

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Live Action, Premiere

Youthful Abandon Clashes Against the Burdens of Impending Adulthood in Melina Valdez’ ‘Weapons and Their Names’

Melina Valdez unpacks her process of weaving magical realism into a grounded narrative informed by personal experience to portray the tumult of teenage grief.

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Live Action, Premiere

David Robinson-Smith Depicts the Lingering Nature of Trauma and Guilt in His Searing Drama Short ‘Mud Crab’

David Robinson-Smith discusses the considered active cinematography employed in his haunting short where an unreliable narrator recounts a violent assault.

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Live Action, Premiere

An Accidental Murder Leads to Escalating Chaos in James Button & Kristaps Kazaks’ ‘The Corpse Series’

Co-Directors James Button & Kristaps Kazaks talk us through the evolution from short to web series to featurette of their blood-soaked slasher comedy.

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Live Action, Premiere

Aleksandra Kingo Pays Homage to the Fine Art of Avoidance in Comedy Short ‘An Ode to Procrastination’

Photographer/Director Aleksandra Kingo explains the ideas first, technology second creative approach she took for her life imitating art debut short film.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Friendship Is Irrevocably Changed After the Confession of a Dark Desire in Sebastian Delascasas’ ‘Promise’

Sebastian Delascasas speaks about dropping his audience directly into the thorny heart of the deeply unsettling conversation of his friendship testing drama.

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Live Action

A Jaded Jester Discovers a Sinister Plot Against Him in Gareth Bowen’s Darkly Comic ‘The Licensed Fool’

Gareth Bowen distils the infusion of gritty, zoom-lensed camerawork and medieval tomfoolery which underpins his paranoid medieval-set dark comedy.

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Live Action, Premiere

An Expecting Young Father’s Traumatic Past Threatens to Overshadow His Happy Present in Luke Brookner’s ‘Home’

Luke Brookner delves into using 16mm & 35mm to represent the dual timelines of his film depicting the struggle of leaving behind an upbringing in foster care.

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Live Action, Premiere

Nathan Morris’ Morning After Pill Comedy ‘My Eyes Are Up Here’ Exposes the Discriminatory Barriers of an Ableist World

Nathan Morris reveals the essential role his Disability Coordinator played in ensuring the diversity, inclusion and authenticity of his budding romance short.

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Live Action

Cameron Thuman’s Yukon-Set Short ‘Suspended in Space’ Finds Two Skiers Embracing the Magnificent Frozen Winterscape

Cameron Thuman discusses applying an art house lens when capturing a pair of pro skiing friends' exploration of Yukon Territory's majestic landscapes.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Pet’s Ill-Fated Demise Leads a Guilty Housemate to a Bizarre Remedy in Dark Comedy ‘Dead Cat Film’

Josie Charles & Nathan Miller talk to DN about the unwanted attention they garnered filming in public with a taxidermied cat for their quirky comedy short.

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