Student Film Archives - Directors Notes

A Communication Breakdown Reveals the Simmering Toxicity of a Relationship in Vida Skerk’s Cannes Premiering ‘Ether’

From NFTS first year film to Cannes red carpet: Vida Skerk reflects on embracing subtlety over spectacle for her history making La Cinef selected short film.

Live Action

A Darkly Obsessed Woman Contemplates the End of Everything in Matthew B.C.’s Comedy Short ‘Death!’

Matthew B.C. tells DN how he and his crew maximised their minimal budget to create a high-quality short that's both funny and unsettling.

Live Action, Premiere

Gregory Shell Manifests the Destructive Nature of Violence and Trauma in His Emotionally Charged Short ‘Fire’

Gregory Shell explains why he was determined to work with non-actors for his film about a young man struggling with life after returning from military service.

Animation, Awards

José Prats Reminds Us To Honour Our Parents With His BAFTA Nominated Short Film ‘Adiós’

When BAFTA recognition means your grandma finally understands your job: José Prats on bridging personal filmmaking and professional acclaim.

Awards, Live Action

A Singular Young Man’s Resiliency Captures the Collective Horrors of War in Franz Böhm’s ‘Rock Paper Scissors’

Franz Böhm breaks down how he built two distinct visual worlds in his BAFTA nominated Ukraine war drama where a makeshift hospital faces enemy attack.

Film Festival

Presenting 10 Emerging Fresh Voices From London Film School’s 2025 Graduate Showcase

DN curates 10 of the most visually arresting and narratively impressive short films from the 2025 London Film School Graduate Showcase.

Animation

A Child Navigates a Fantastical Dreamscape to Escape Their Harsh Reality in Leo Metcalf’s ‘A Time Before’

Leo Metcalf breaks down the mixed media approach to the dreamlike, experimental world of his immersive childhood trauma short.

Live Action

A Mother Finds Refuge In Her Own World With Her Blow-up Doll in Chanelle Eidenbenz’s ‘Elephant in the Room’

Chanelle Eidenbenz talks about leaning into cast insights and evolving the script of her drama about a delusional woman’s fraught relationship with her son.

Live Action, Premiere

Jordan Chandler Plunges Us Into a Mother’s Relentless Surreal Nightmare in Her Psychological Wild Ride ‘Brutal’

Jordan Chandler talks about channelling her righteous indignation into her blistering thriller about a mother on a Sisyphean quest to save her missing child.

Live Action, Premiere

Strut Into the Sordid Fetishised Underworld of LA’s Karaoke Bar Scene in Naomi Christie’s ‘Object of Desire’

Naomi Christie speaks about the micro-aggressions and lived experiences which informed the seedy reality of her darkly comic tale of race objectification.

Animation

Naaman Azhari Explores the Gulf Between a Mother’s Expectations and Her Son’s Reality in Rotoscoped Film ‘Threaded’

Naaman Azhari champions the creative flexibility of the bare bones live action footage underpinning the rotoscoped animation of his mother/son drama.

Live Action

A Risk Averse Sceptic Unwittingly Finds Himself Part of a Wellness Cult in Leo Villares’ Comedy Short ‘The Farm’

Leo Villares details the creeping zooms accentuating the dark comedic anxiety of his protagonist as he wrestles against the teachings of a wellness cult guru.

Student Film Tag Archive