NFTS Archives - Directors Notes

Ten Eye-Catching Shorts at the 2024 National Film and Television School Graduate Showcase

Covering films featured in the Fiction, Animation and Comedy programmes, DN highlights ten shorts screening as part of the 2024 NFTS Graduate Showcase.

Animation

A Rite of Passage Fishing Ritual Challenges a Father-Son Relationship in Ross Stringer’s BAFTA Winner ‘Crab Day’

Ross Stringer breaks down the deceptively minimal monochrome colour palette he used to tell the thematically rich story of his NFTS graduate short.

Live Action

Yasmin Afifi’s BAFTA Winner ‘Jellyfish & Lobster’ Extols the Joys of Living Without Conforming to Expectations

Writer/Director Yasmin Afifi tells DN why magical realism was the perfect genre in which to tell her dark comedic story about finding joy at the end of life.

Live Action, Premiere

A Screenwriting Professor Experiences a Kafkaesque Descent in Harry Sherriff’s ‘Jeremy: A Nightmare’

Harry Sherriff returns to reveal how his creative development at the NFTS informed his latest nightmarish comedy about a man pitted against his doppelgänger.

The Song of a Lost Boy Short Film Daniel Quirke

Animation

Daniel Quirke Explains How Wax, Religion & DIY Instruments Inspired NFTS Short ‘The Song of a Lost Boy’

NFTS grad Daniel Quirke joins us to discuss his BAFTA-nominated stop motion short about a young choir boy's crisis of faith and journey to self-acceptance.

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.

Animation

Lina Kalcheva Draws From Greek Mythology for Her Romantic Entanglement Stop Motion Short ‘Other Half’

Lina Kalcheva unpacks the philosophical grounding of her NFTS stop motion grad short which presents a world where couples become physically entangled.

Film Festival, Live Action

Grief & Political Rage Converge in Musa Alderson-Clarke’s Searing Cannes Selected Thriller ‘Killing Boris Johnson’

Musa Alderson-Clarke takes DN through the challenge of baking white hot tension into the fabric of his Cannes premiering short about a young man in turmoil.

Film Festival

Ten Tantalising Picks from the National Film and Television School’s 2023 Graduate Showcase

As this year's graduate showcase kicks off, DN delivers a list of ten short films from the latest NFTS cohort that are definitely worth checking out.

Animation

A Young Artist Falls Into Nostalgic Pitfalls in Ewa Smyk’s Wistful Hand-Painted Animated Short ‘Homebird’

Ewa Smyk tells DN how she combined 3D modelling with hand-drawn 2D animation to speed up the lengthy creation process of her NFTS grad short.

Live Action, Premiere

The Ethics of Great Art Are Challenged in Lisa Clarkson’s Philosophical and Seductive Drama Featurette ‘Muse’

Lisa Clarkson breaks down the photographic aesthetic of her 16mm NFTS drama, about a talented art student and his teacher's questionable methods.

Animation

Antonin Niclass Forges a Magical Link Between Strangers in BAFTA Nominated Animation ‘Do Not Feed The Pigeons’

Antonin Niclass unpacks the challenge of blending drawn 2D characters into a fully-crafted stop motion set for his melancholic NFTS short.

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