Independent Short Film Premieres & Interviews // Directors Notes

Premiere Category

Freddie Leyden’s ‘Under the Skin of a Guild: Wake of Lost Souls’ Exposes Britain’s Colonial Horrors Through Dance

Freddie Leyden's history reckoning dance film explores the horrific past of Guildhall through heavy contrasts, wide angles and loose camera movement.

Live Action, Premiere

Jamie Fraser Surveys a Cross-Section of British Life in the Charming, Multi-Layered ‘Green Space’

Jamie Frasher shares how he was inspired by the compositions of landscape paintings for his surveillance-like observation of British oddity.

Animation, Music, Premiere

Benn Veasey’s ‘Vibration’ Is a Celebration of Dance and Community Manifested by Artificial Intelligence

Benn Veasey speaks to the narrative substance that needed to underpin the stylish AI generated imagery used in his globe-spanning music video.

Live Action, Premiere

Jim Vendiola’s Horror-Comedy ‘Pretty Pickle’ Reveals Why Our Lover’s Quirks Are Perhaps Best Left Alone

Jim Vendiola talks about marrying disparate moments of eroticism, mystery, horror and comedy in his unconventional and shocking tale of modern dating.

Live Action, Premiere

Hilary Eden Immerses Us in the Fervently Charged World of a Y2K Teenager in Nostalgic Short ‘Bellybutton’

Hilary Eden speaks to DN about the power she found in the specificity of her storytelling for her evocative coming-of-age portrait of adolescent girlhood.

Live Action, Premiere

Dustin Waldman’s ‘Never Fuggedaboutit’ Sees The Sopranos Become a Heated Battleground for American Patriotism

Dustin Waldman speaks about vividly evoking the paranoia of the post 9/11 era in showing a post-production house removing the Twin Towers from The Sopranos.

Live Action, Premiere

Hannah Renton Considers the Lasting Impact of Flawed Models of Love in Decade Spanning Triptych ‘Love Is Free’

Hannah Renton breaks down the challenge of building cohesion between the individual yet joined parts of her triptych film depicting the complexities of love.

Music, Premiere

Daria Geller’s ‘Everybody Knows’ Updates a Leonard Cohen Classic for Today’s Era of Russian Aggression

Daria Geller talks to us about counting the tragic cost of Russian complacency through warm 16mm, striking group scenes and a smart Leonard Cohen cover.

Live Action, Premiere

The Violence of the Milanese Underworld Hits Hard in Vivarinis Film ‘Mascagni’ Symphony | Inno all’Infamia’

Alessandro & Flavio Vivarini discuss creating a haunting ode to Italian gangsters with heavy contrasts, religious images and floating widescreen frames.

Live Action, Premiere

A Young Woman’s Longing for Intimate Fellowship Reverberates Through Julia Ponce Díaz’s Evocative Debut ‘Soredia’

Julia Ponce Díaz shares how personal & observed experiences inspired her fish-out-of-water drama about a self-conscious girl's desperate need for belonging.

Live Action, Premiere

A Tricky Patient Causes a Therapist to Face His Own Issues in Ron Eyal’s Drama Short ‘The Therapist’

Ron Eyal takes DN through how he and his crew approached production to prioritise the actor's process for his tender interior drama.

Animation, Music, Premiere

A Boundless Futuristic City Is Explored in Karl Poyzer’s Sci-Fi Music Video for Ital Tek’s ‘The Mirror’

Karl Poyzer explains how he embraced the freedom offered by animation and free application Blender for his cityscape-based science fiction music video.