Grid Test - Directors Notes

Giada Bossi Blurs the Space Between Film and Music Video in ‘To Call Home Always The Same Place’

Giada Bossi reveals how she and musician Arssalendo built a visual/sonic journey capturing the vibrant euphoria and profound introspection of adolescence.

Live Action, Premiere

Time Stretches and Fractures in Louisa Connolly-Burnham’s Unflinching Exploration of Consent ‘The Ceiling’

Louisa Connolly-Burnham discusses using long takes to place us in the visceral tension of her depiction of a woman's lack of consent being repeatedly ignored.

Live Action

Craig Ainsley Blends Sci-Fi and Morning-After Awkwardness in One Night Stand Comedy ‘Everyone Does It’

Craig Ainsley reveals how a sleep-deprived 4am idea evolved into a sci-fi comedy short grounded in painfully relatable human awkwardness.

Live Action, Premiere

Demitri Zujew Crafts an Emblematic Tale Denouncing the Cult of Strength in His Disturbing Social Allegory ‘Crease’

Demitri Zujew delves into the importance of representing "strong eat the weak" culture for what it is and his use of origami as a potent narrative symbol.

Documentary, Premiere

Martin Marko’s ‘At Sea’ Immerses Us in a Nautical Symphony of Raw Experience and Artistic Intuition

Martin Marko talks about the multi-year journey across sea, editing, sound and image to create his enveloping, unpredictable epic maritime adventure short.

Podcasts

Joshua Trigg’s ‘Satu – Year of the Rabbit’ Is a Triumph of Grit, 16mm and Truly Independent Filmmaking

Joshua Trigg shares how he overcame the logistical nightmares of poisonous wells, a broken camera and losing half the funding for his debut indie feature.

Art & Fashion, Premiere

Riccardo Fusetti Gives the Carefree Lifestyle Fashion Film a Subversive Twist in Multiformat Short ‘Editorial’

Riccardo Fusetti walks through the construction of his lifestyle short which uses 80 AI VFX shots to subvert our expectations of a model's carefree existence.

Live Action, Premiere

Johannes Moe Blurs the Psychiatrist-Patient Dynamic With Devastating Consequences in ‘Lighting Up the Darkness’

Johannes Moe unpacks how Denmark’s mental health system failures reshaped his film and why humour was an essential element of its devastating narrative.

Live Action

Riffy Ahmed’s ‘The Call’ Presents an Improbable Hero in Her Tower Block Meditation on Intergenerational Bonds

Riffy Ahmed discusses integrating magical realism into her short film which offers a fresh take on the emotional dynamics of mother/daughter relationships.

Awards, Film Festival

Directors Notes Presents: The WeAreDN Awards 2025

After the resounding success of last year’s launch, Directors Notes is thrilled to present our 2025 edition of the WeAreDN Awards.

Live Action

Transactional Intimacy Morphs Into a Surreal Meditation on Consumption in Talia Shea Levin’s ‘Make Me a Pizza’

Marxism, melting cheese, and mayhem: Talia Shea Levin takes us inside the saucy structural logic of her deliciously absurdist pizza porno parody.

Live Action, Premiere

Priscilla Galvez Serves up a Fresh Look at Female Creativity in Her Banned Body Horror Debut ‘A Fermenting Woman’

Challenging outmoded perceptions of what’s socially acceptable, Priscilla Galvez explains why being banned by YouTube is a badge of honour for her short.