Short Film Tag Archive

Live Action

Taryn Ward Reckons With Disorientating Grief in His Quiet, Contemplative Short ‘NEST’

Immersing audiences in isolating silence, Taryn Ward details crafting his intimate portrait of a man mourning his late brother in his now empty house.

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Animation, Premiere

Inside Mine! – How Louis Morton’s Short Film Explores Capitalism and its Environmental Impacts

Louis Morton on befriending rats underground, adapting a great-grandpa's tale and the hand-drawn process of unearthing a climate parable in his SXSW animation.

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Film Festival

SXSW 2026 Guide: 14 Emerging Filmmakers You Need to Know

With the SXSW Film Festival here again Directors Notes took a deep dive into this year's line-up and selected 14-filmmakers with bright futures ahead of them.

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Live Action, Premiere

Rhubarb’s Vivid Pink Bleeds Into the Murky Darkness of Dementia in Steven Boyle’s Stirring Surreal Short ‘Tusky’

Steven Boyle takes us inside crafting a candlelit portrait of dementia that is both unflinching and strangely beautiful as a farmer loses his grip on reality.

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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, Documentary

Alison McAlpine Finds the Universe in the Unhurried Gaze of Donkeys in Oscar-Nominated Doc ‘perfectly a strangeness’

In the vastness of the desert, Alison McAlpine follows three donkeys into an abandoned observatory and discovers a new language for what a story can be.

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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

Joshua Seftel Finds the Weight of Absence in the Specific and Small in Oscar-Winning Doc ‘All the Empty Rooms’

Stripping back commentary and even dialogue, Joshua Seftel builds a documentary film about gun violence from silence and the objects children left behind.

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Article, Live Action

How the BBC Enabled New Voices to Take Creative Risks with Their Long Story Short Initiative

Jess Loveland, Head of New Writing at BBC Writers, and filmmakers Theo James Krekis & Annabel Vine join us to discuss the Long Story Short Initiative.

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forevergreen_short_film

Animation, Awards

How Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears Turned a “Love-Letter to Stop-Motion” into Oscar-Contender ‘Forevergreen’

Challenged by truth to materials, Nathan Engelhardt & Jeremy Spears developed a unique replacement animation system to give digital assets a physical weight.

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