Live Action Category

Live Action

Joseph Amenta Tells a Tale of Personal Refuge Within Kiki Ballroom Culture in LGBTQ Short ‘Haus’

Joseph Amenta discusses the research they did into the Kiki Ballroom scene in order to create a faithful representation of community.

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Live Action, Premiere

The Past Never Leaves You in Mahyar Mandegar’s Melancholic Modern Fairytale ‘White Winged Horse’

Mahyar Mandegar discusses colliding fantasy and reality within floating Russian-inspired long takes for his Iranian war childhood fable short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Rachel Stubbings Directs an Explosively Funny Comedy About a Woman Who Gets Stuck in a Toilet in ‘The Bridesmaid’

DN chats to Rachel Stubbings about reality anchored humour and the professional joy of crafting the perfect fart noises for her new comedy short.

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Animation, Art & Fashion, Documentary, Live Action, Music Video

Directors Notes Top 20 Filmmaker Conversations of 2021

Here are 20 of DN's favourite filmmaker interviews from 2021 which exemplify what continues to excite us about the craft of filmmaking.

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Live Action

Koya Kamura Crafts a Humbling Contemplative Drama About Grief in His Fukushima-Set Debut ‘Homesick’

Koya Kamura reflects on his successful decision to make the leap from a decade in commercials into his narrative debut, a drama set in post-disaster Japan.

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Live Action

Tadeusz Lysiak Questions Societal Notions of Beauty and Desirability in Oscar Shortlisted Drama ‘The Dress’

Tadeusz Łysiak discusses working through emotionally demanding scenes with the captivating lead of his prejudice challenging drama.

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Documentary, Live Action

Jonas Bak Casts His Own Mother in Feature ‘Wood and Water’, a Spiritual Piece of Late-Life Slow Cinema

Jonas Bak describes how he wanted to faithfully tell his mother's story through both form and narrative for his debut feature film.

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Tala'vision

Live Action

Murad Abu Eisheh Captures a Childlike Perspective of War with Student Oscar Winner ‘Tala’vision’

Murad Abu Eisheh reveals how he protected his child star from the difficult message of his war-torn coming-of-age short while hewing to her perspective.

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Live Action

Ben Lankester Urges Us to Break the Taboo Around Miscarriage in Tommy’s Advocacy Drama ‘Who’s Counting?’

Ben Lankester discusses deploying a smart reverse narrative, high attention to detail and minimal edits for his affecting taboo-busting drama.

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Live Action

Alex Fischman Cárdenas’ Dance Film ‘Neptune’s Dreams’ Blends Mesmerising Movements With Aquatic Imagery

Alex Fischman Cárdenas reveals how the spontaneous method of filmmaking for his dance short came together cohesively in the editing room.

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Live Action

Reinis Spaile Uses a Grim Milieu to Expose Mundane Relationship Cracks in ‘Young Love in a Dirty Place’

Reinis Spaile talks about his affinity for using film to capture the contrast between a bright young couple and their degrading love.

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Live Action, Premiere

The Boundaries of an Old Friendship Are Tested in Jonas Grimeland’s Nordic Crime Drama ‘Service’

Jonas Grimeland explains how the personal conflict at the heart of his short film was inspired by conversations he had with a police officer.

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