Live Action Category

Live Action, Premiere

The Toxicity of a Strained Father-Son Relationship Comes to a Shocking Head in Ben Tricklebank’s ‘Champ’

Ben Tricklebank breaks down how he built narrative tension that speaks volumes from what isn't said in his exploration of a toxic parental relationship.

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Live Action

Nathan Engelhardt’s ‘Senti L’Energia’ Explores the Blurring Relationship Lines Between Friendship and Love

Nathan Engelhardt reveals the rewarding process of retooling his feature script into an emotive short about love as an all-encompassing energy.

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Film Festival, Live Action

Michelle & Noel Keserwany’s Golden-Bear Winning Poetic Short ‘Les Chenilles’ Weaves a Delicate Thread

Berlinale Best Short winners Michelle & Noel Keserwany talk to DN about using both essay and fiction forms to create a touching tale of feminine solidarity.

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Live Action

Haunting Visions Seep Into the Mind of a Lonely Drifter in Eli Powers’ Psychological Horror ‘Skin & Bone’

Eli Powers tells DN how leaning into the genre elements of his concept enabled him to creatively flourish when mapping out the script of his tense horror.

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Live Action, Premiere

Sachin Dheeraj’s ‘Men in Blue’ Viscerally Exposes the Modern Slave Labour Inflicted on Immigrant Workers

Sachin Dheeraj dissects the visual language he used to depict the deplorable story of men stripped of their dignity for profit by modern slavery.

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Live Action

Samm Hodges Explores the Lasting Impact of Generational Male Violence in Immersive Drama Short ‘Tender’

Samm Hodges breaks down how he used the tension of a seemingly one-shot film to embed the audience in the chaotic world of his protagonist's turbulent life.

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Live Action, Premiere

Werner Vivier’s ‘Walls Like Windows’ Captures Our Acute Need for Human Connection and Empathy When Navigating Trauma

Werner Vivier walks us through the narrative developing cinematography and surprising shifts of tone of his expectation subverting drama short.

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Live Action

Abi Damaris Corbin Honours Marine Veteran Brian Easley’s Tragic Story in Gripping Heist Thriller ‘Breaking’

Abi Damaris Corbin discusses the careful blocking, Demme-inspired close-ups and deep collaboration which underpin her portrayal of a larger-than-life heist.

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Live Action

Erik Odom Excavates the Enduring Effects of Shame in Thrilling Horror Drama ‘Box on the Hill’

Actor Erik Odom tells DN why rehearsal time with his scene partner was key to the success of his directorial debut about shame manifest in demon form.

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Live Action

Jimmy Olsson Explores the Delicately Shifting Father-Daughter Bond in ‘Last Weekend With Jenny and John’

Jimmy Olsson speaks to us about drawing on his own fatherhood anxieties when constructing his drama about a maturing daughter pulling away for her father.

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Live Action, Premiere

Seamus Murphy’s ‘Henry Needs a New Home’ Is a Farcical Tale of One Man’s Battle With a Metallic Antagonist

Filmmaker Seamus Murphy talks to DN about the painstaking production design which set the stage for his absurd comedy short starring Nicholas Hope.

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Live Action

An Author’s Hope for Isolation is Disturbed by a Strange Couple in Alex Fofonoff’s Cosmic Horror ‘While Mortals Sleep’

Alex Fofonoff breaks down the refined screenwriting process that birthed his eerie and otherworldly 16mm cosmic horror short.

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