Surreal Archives - Directors Notes

A Confused Monster Finds Herself Adrift in a Surreal Seaside Town in Olivier Richomme’s Disorienting Short ‘Mush’

Drawn to the faded heyday glamour of Blackpool, Olivier Richomme explains how he transformed seaside banality into a surrealist meditation on monstrosity.

Live Action, Premiere

Picket Fence Perfection Unravels in Julia Godfrey & Will Abbott’s Unsettlingly Suburban Nightmare ‘Flattened’

Julia Godfrey & Will Abbott talk about creating a disorientatingly cohesive world where two friends manically unravel in the 24 hours after a hit and run.

Live Action

Transactional Intimacy Morphs Into a Surreal Meditation on Consumption in Talia Shea Levin’s ‘Make Me a Pizza’

Marxism, melting cheese, and mayhem: Talia Shea Levin takes us inside the saucy structural logic of her deliciously absurdist pizza porno parody.

Live Action

Brennan McGee Charts a Bizarre Journey Through the Human Psyche in Uncanny Short ‘Wesley Loses His Penis’

Brennan McGee reveals the formalist approach he took when shooting his psychologically absurd dark comedy about a man's surreal quest to find his member.

Live Action

A Venting Session Between Friends Quickly Spirals Out of Control in Kyle Jon Shephard’s Surrealist Comedy ‘Stress Head’

Kyle Jon Shephard walks DN through the combination of practical and digital VFX behind the titular head in his frantically kinetic stress-fuelled short.

Music Video

Damiano David Enters a New Career Chapter in NONO & Rodrigo’s Transformative Music Video ‘Silverlines’

Directing duo NONO & Rodrigo Inada peel back the wide-lensed, 90s influenced visual style of their music video for Damiano David's debut solo single.

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

Torn Between Ambition and Life’s Competing Demands a Woman Faces Her Fragmented Personas in David Findlay’s ‘Faces’

David Findlay discusses the melding of music and sound design integral to his fast paced descent into the surreality of a woman's frantic subconscious.

Live Action

Decisions Are Made by Bickering Committee in Samuel Häkkinen & Henna Välkky’s Comedy ‘Verdict 30001: The Cookies’

Samuel Häkkinen & Henna Välkky talk pre-shoot planning and splitting creative responsibilities on set for their dark comedy poking fun at decision paralysis.

Live Action

David Robinson-Smith’s ‘We Used To Own Houses’ Vividly Conveys the Despair of Those Caught in the Housing Crisis

David Robinson-Smith shares how he moved between the dual realities of his acerbic housing crisis short where a landlord is confronted by his evicted tenant.

Animation, Music Video

The End of the World Births a Burning Passion in Marek Partyš’ Zany Collage-Like Music Video ‘Burnout’

Marek Partyš walks DN through the extensive planning required to achieve the light and playfully surreal collage style of his Island Mint music video.

Live Action

A Lonely Spinster Slowly Disappears Into a Void of Insignificance in Luke Roulstone’s Comedy Horror ‘Shelf Life’

Luke Roulstone describes crafting the gungy, mouldy aesthetic which dominates his comedy horror where an ignored woman finds herself disappearing.

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