Live Action Category

Live Action, Premiere

Nicole Rixon & Ryan Goodman’s ‘Portrayed’ Captures the Relentless Scrutiny Placed on Women in Politics

Nicole Rixon & Ryan Goodman talk about marrying shooting medium with concept for their uncomfortable one-shot drama about skewed gender dynamics.

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Live Action

Vira-Lata & Youth Express the Vibrancy of Mexican Culture in Their Co-Directed Branded Short ‘Nuestras Manos’

Vira-Lata tell DN how they collaborated with Youth to capture the colourful authenticity of Mexico's cultural heritage for their short film.

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Live Action, Premiere

Ramiel Petros’ Touching Student Oscar/BAFTA Drama ‘Aziz’ Takes Three Friends On a Devastating Desert Road Trip

Ramiel Petros details bringing 1980s Iraqi history vividly to life in his mournful, based on a true story short about friendship, war and grief.

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Mother Dearest

Live Action

Joseph Chebatte Provides a Compelling, Rule-Breaking One-Man Monologue with Short Film ‘Mother Dearest’

Joseph Chebatte digs into the 180 rule breaks, jarring tone shifts & compelling Charles Alexander performance which underpin his gangland soliloquy short.

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Live Action

Andzej Gavriss Reveals the Untold Story of PTSD in His Powerful Ukraine Refugee Short ‘Uprooted’

Andzej Gavriss describes how he channelled the devastating stories and experiences of Ukrainian refugees into his powerful campaign film.

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A Man's World

Live Action

Jens Josephs’ ‘A Man’s World’ Places Sergio Leone’s Aesthetic Within a Bizarre L.A. Apartment Dispute

Jens Josephs takes us inside the satisfying zippy style, over-emphasised sound design and rapid-fire dialogue of his zany western-comedy hybrid.

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Live Action

Marco Lawson’s ‘The Dinner’ Perfectly Captures the Dangerous Mix of Social Anxiety and Heavy Drinking

With dark lighting, close angles and an improvisatory feel, Marco Lawson explains how he expertly captured the awkwardness of keeping up with the in-laws.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Starving Wolf Crawls Inside Human Skin in Solmund MacPherson’s Absurd Comedy ‘Wolf in Dude’s Clothing’

Solmund MacPherson reveals how the farcical nature of everyday life inspired his short film about a wolf hiding inside a human skin.

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The Plains

Live Action

David Easteal’s Intimate Transportive Commuter Epic ‘The Plains’ Shows Us How Less Can Easily Be More

David Easteal returns to DN to discuss shooting almost entirely from the back of a car for his truly transportive hybrid docu-fiction feature debut.

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Live Action

The Masked Serial Killer Just Won’t Stay Down in Alex Montilla’s Inventive Comedy Slasher Short ‘Overkill’

Alex Montilla throws light on how he overcame a major technical setback for a pivotal scene mid-production on his inventive self-aware comedy slasher.

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Live Action, Premiere

Gregory Foltynowicz’s Arthouse Film ‘Lachesis’ Piercingly Ponders If We Can Control our Own Future

With Academy Ratio, stark black-and-white images and high-contrast camerawork, Gregory Foltynowicz explores the inevitability of fate.

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Live Action, Premiere

Jermaine Manigault’s Experimental Short ‘Not Black Enough’ Cathartically Confronts Blackness in America

Epic long takes, musical pastiche and minimalist music, Jermaine Manigault reveals the tools he used to create a unique portrait of what blackness means.

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