Female Protagonist Tag Archive

Live Action

Amrou Al-Kadhi’s ‘Original Sin’ Stages a Tragic Mother-Son Bloodbath as Hollywood Melodrama in Short Film Form

A Muslim mother and her drag queen son go to war for cinematic immortality in Amrou Al-Kadhi's WePresent commissioned chamber piece.

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Live Action, Premiere

To Immortalize Their Love a Couple Turn to a Struggling Artist With Dark Intentions in Femke Huurdeman’s ‘Carve’

Inspired by a cute keepsake for couples, director Femke Huurdemen's writing debut is the twisted tale of an artist taking her work a little too seriously.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Teenage Couple’s Young Love Meets a Harsh and Unsettling Morning After in Liz Rao’s ‘The Truck’

Eschewing traditional car shots, Liz Rao reveals how she mirrored the restrictions of regressive laws by trapping her characters in a tense confined space.

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Live Action, Premiere

Randa Ali Traverses a Delicate Exploration of Memory and a Daughter’s Mourning of Her Estranged Father in ‘Mango’

Randa Ali’s 'Mango' depicts the delicate bonds between memory, loss, and the spaces that hold them, as a woman returns to her family house for the last time.

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Live Action

Grace Tan Transforms Trauma Into a Story of Visceral Reclamation Through the Radical Power of Queer Pole Dance

Grace Tan navigates personal grief and the physical vocabulary of pole dance to transform Madison Godfrey’s memoir-in-verse into a triumphant short film.

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Live Action, Premiere

One Room, Two People and Everything Left Unsaid in Iris Breward’s Fly in the Ointment Short ‘Afterplay’

Iris Breward digs into her method for crafting a comedy of avoidance where a couple in a bed, post-coital, deploy every weapon except honesty, and both lose.

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Live Action

An Intimate, Evocative Dive Into Fertility, Fear, and Women’s Agency Through Magical Realism in Rita Heer’s ‘Abja and Her

Rita Heer breaks down the practical effects process behind using floating resin and edible jelly to physically manifest a woman's egg freezing trepidation.

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Awards, Live Action

An Unlikely Friendship Blossoms in Lee Knight’s Touching Oscar-Nominated Short Film ‘A Friend of Dorothy’

Clearing the set to calm a nervous icon, Lee Knight reflects on creating a deeply safe and supportive environment for an absolute acting legend to shine.

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Live Action, Premiere

Carissa Gallo Navigates Inner Turmoil and External Expectations as a Woman in Shutting Off Drama ‘Someday It Is’

Carissa Gallo explores the quiet tension of inner conflict vs outward perfection as a woman's deep malaise prompts her to flee her life for a desert motel.

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Awards, Documentary

Hilla Medalia on Silent Protest, Sorrow and Her Oscar-Nominated Documentary ‘Children No More: Were and are Gone’

Hilla Medalia discusses filming a female-led Tel Aviv vigil where silence becomes the most radical, devastating protest against the killing of innocents.

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Awards, Live Action

Natalie Musteata & Alexandre Singh Weaponise Absurdism Against Authoritarianism in ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’

Oscar-winning writer/directors Natalie Musteata & Alexandre Singh on building a Swiss-watch satire where a slap is currency and a kiss is a capital offence.

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Awards, Documentary

Georgie Wileman & Matt Houghton Transform Personal Pain with Radical Intimacy into BAFTA Doc ‘This Is Endometriosis’

Informed by her lived experience, Georgie Wileman joined forces with Matt Houghton to forge a new documentary language elucidating an invisible illness.

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