Female Protagonist Tag Archive

Animation, Documentary

Journey Through a Young Woman’s Battle With Mental Health and Self-Acceptance in Melanie Cura Daball’s ‘Trust Me’

Melanie Cura Daball reveals why an ethical approach was an essential pillar in the making of her hybrid doc about her friend's battle with a bipolar diagnosis.

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Live Action

Bianca Poletti’s Meta Comedy ‘Ultra Low’ Pokes Fun at the Farcical Battle of Indie Filmmaking on a Shoestring

Bianca Poletti explains why she leaned into a grounded comedic style for her short about the self-inflicted mishaps of low budget filmmaking friends.

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Live Action

A Woman Grapples With Her Obsessive Death Anxiety in Charlotte Hamblin’s Tragicomedy ‘Everybody Dies…Sometimes’

Charlotte Hamblin talks about making the move into directing for her semi-autobiographical tragicomedy about a woman concerned that she's a catalyst of death.

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Live Action

A Seasoned Veteran Tries to Adapt to Japan’s Modern Entertainment Industry in Anna J. Takayama’s ‘The Voice Actress’

Anna J. Takayama talks shooting in Tokyo and colour as a narrative tool whilst dissecting the creation of her multi-award winning film about an ageing actress.

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Live Action

Kali Kahn Captures the Nuance of a Girl Growing Into a Woman in Her Coming of Age Short ‘Father’s

Kali Kahn breaks down the technical choices that informed the subtly maturing awareness of the teenage girl at the centre of her poolside drama.

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Live Action

Maegan Houang Depicts the Genesis of America’s Asian Exploitation in Drama ‘Astonishing Little Feet’

Maegan Houang returns to DN and explains how she used confronting POV shots to challenge the viewer in her potent historical drama short.

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Animation, Awards

An Iranian Schoolgirl Weaves Stories Into the Fabric of Her Clothes in Yegane Moghaddam’s Oscar Short ‘Our Uniform’

Yegane Moghaddam reveals the profound real-life anecdotes from Iranian schoolgirls that informed her film which began life as an animated documentary.

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Documentary

Ancient Chinese Tea Culture Lives on in Anna-Claria Ostasenko Bogdanoff’s Cadent Documentary ‘Her Scents of Pu Er’

Anna-Claria Ostasenko Bogdanoff details how she captured sensorial experiences for her documentary unveiling the ancient tea tasting practices of a master.

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Live Action

A Schoolgirl Attempts to Navigate the Reality of Her Fractured Memories in Victoria Singh-Thompson’s ‘14 in February’

Victoria Singh-Thompson talks about crafting a fragmented editing style to convey the dissociative turmoil churning in her traumatised protagonist's brain.

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Animation, Awards

Tal Kantor’s Oscar Nominated ‘Letter to a Pig’ Finds a Schoolgirl Transported on a Traumatic Inner Voyage

Tal Kantor breaks down the brushstroke-infused monochrome aesthetic of her haunting short about identity, collective trauma and the extremes of human nature.

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Live Action

Gabriel Caste’s ‘Are You Awake?’ Explores the Debilitating Nature of Existential Dread Lurking in Our Subconscious

Gabriel Caste tells DN about drawing viewers into his psychological thriller probing the dread of existence which can throw us into a depressive cycle.

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Awards, Live Action

An Unexpected Pregnancy Forces a Single Mother to Cross State Lines in Nazrin Choudhury’s ‘Red, White and Blue’

Nazrin Choudhury discusses crafting the pace of her Oscar nominated short to fully immerse the audience into the precarious life of a struggling young mother.

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