Debut Feature Archives - Directors Notes

Nina Ognjanović’s Slamdance Debut ‘Where the Road Leads’ Encapsulates the Push-and-Pull of Rural Living

Nina Ognjanović explains creating her Serbian mystery-western through widescreen frames, rigorous location scouting and a less-is-more approach.

Live Action

Natalia López Gallardo’s ‘Robe of Gems’ Depicts the Pervasive Climate of Fear Drug Cartels Impose on Mexican Life

Natalia López Gallardo reveals the intuitive layered approach to cinematic composition and structure she took for her Silver Bear-winning debut feature.

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.

Live Action

Ninja Thyberg’s Debut Feature ‘Pleasure’ Commands Us to Reconsider Preconceived Notions of the Porn Industry

Ninja Thryberg talks about applying her background in photography to reveal the hidden fringes within the porn industry in her provocative debut feature.

Live Action

Alex Camilleri & Jon Natchez Talk the Art of Street Casting and Composing for Stirring Fisherman Drama ‘Luzzu’

Director Alex Camilleri and Composer Jon Natchez discuss crafting the perfect musical statement to underpin their neo-realist Maltese drama.

Live Action

Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović on ‘Murina’ Her Brooding Coming-Of-Age Drama Rife With Passion and Longing

Director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović discusses celebrating the defiant passage into adulthood in her award winning coming-of-age feature debut.

Live Action

Guido Acampa Aligns the Fragility of Human Relationships Against an Ominous Backdrop of War in ‘Inner Front.’

We talk to first time feature director Guido Acampa about working with a dog pack, location as character and leaving an audience with questions.

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.

Live Action

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén Embraces the Freedom of a Sexual and Mystical Awakening in Feature Debut ‘Clara Sola’

Nathalie Álvarez Mesén reveals the considered details which underpinned the creation of her poetic drama about a woman's sexual and mystical awakening.

Debut Feature Tag Archive