Live Action Category

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Awards, 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.

Read more

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.

Read more

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.

Read more

Awards, 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.

Read more

Live Action

Gabriel Caste’s ‘Are You Awake?’ Explores the Debilitating Nature of Existential Dread Lurking in Our Subconscious

Gabriel Caste tells DN about drawing viewers into his psychological thriller probing the dread of existence which can throw us into a depressive cycle.

Read more

Awards, Live Action

An Unexpected Pregnancy Forces a Single Mother to Cross State Lines in Nazrin Choudhury’s ‘Red, White and Blue’

Nazrin Choudhury discusses crafting the pace of her Oscar nominated short to fully immerse the audience into the precarious life of a struggling young mother.

Read more

Awards, Live Action

An Insuppressible Barrage of Grief Courses Through Misan Harriman’s Oscar Nominated Debut Short ‘The After’

Misan Harriman explains the narrative and emotional importance of the shocking opening to his Oscar nominated Netflix short starring David Oyelowo.

Read more

Live Action, Premiere

A Relationship Revelation Leads to a Spiral of Insecurity in Sam Baron’s Tragicomedy ‘Tall Dark and Handsome’

We chat to Sam Baron about his love of subversion in comedy and digging into the paranoid fragility of the male ego in the conclusion of his Amit Shah trilogy.

Read more