USA Tag Archive

Live Action

A Grieving Man Confronts Unconscious Desires in Jacob Samuels’ Dark Suburban Comedy ‘I Want My Mommy’

Jacob Samuels guides us through the delicate tonal tightrope of his unconventional tale of grief, cringe-inducing confession and existential woe.

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Animation, Premiere

An Aspiring Accordion Player Falls Prey To Insidious Exploitation in Eva Louise Hall’s Stop Motion Horror ‘Mira’

From a modest thesis project to a celebrated festival short, Eva Louise Hall reveals the unexpected journey of her dark tale of abusive creative relationships.

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Live Action, Premiere

Matthew Rollins Blends Cosmic Seeking and Earthly Comedy in His Spiritual Sci-Fi Short ‘Stellan and the Stars’

Discover how Matthew Rollins harnessed a kinetic, handheld visual style to place us directly inside a jaded DJ's chemically-assisted, disoriented headspace.

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Animation, Premiere

Feelings of Tenderness and Dread Collide in Amanda Bonaiuto’s Surreal Animation ‘Confetti’

Animator Amanda Bonaiuto joins us to discuss how tone and direction has guided her distinct approach to filmmaking and why she's wary of the trap of 'style'.

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Live Action

A Bottle to the Head Fractures Reality in Theodore Collatos’s Surreal Slamdance Winning New York Short ‘Palookaville’

Theodore Collatos discusses reflecting the fractured reality suffered following sudden head trauma through the associational editing of his surreal short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Steph Barkley Wrestles With the Volatile, Physical Language of Sibling Rivalry in Murderous Short ‘Sisters’

Steph Barkley explores how a literal messy fight became a narratively rich metaphorical expression of the oft unspoken love and violence of sisterhood.

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Animation

Cassie Shao Transforms Repetitive Explosive Moments into Narrative Inspiration in ‘This is a Story Without a Plan’

How the repetitive feeling of "watching an explosion slowly unfolding" led animator Cassie Shao to create her experimental mixed media relationship short film.

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Live Action

Riley Donigan Manifests Mental Anguish Through Grotesque Body Horror in His Profoundly Human Short ‘Shithead’

Riley Donigan explains how he utilised slow zooms, frenetic editing and prosthetics to express a struggling young man's accelerating descent into madness.

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Live Action, Premiere

Desire’s Unstoppable Pulse Thrums Through Julia Ponce Díaz & Nico Blanco’s Raucous ‘Cowboy, Choker, Harness & Heart’

Julia Ponce Díaz & Nico Blanco pull back the curtain on their racy queer short, where a bathroom stall takes centre stage at a neon-drenched rave.

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Live Action

Games Night Unravels Into a Brutal Tribunal of Guilt in Alex Sovoda’s ‘Circumstantial Forgiveness’

Alex Sovoda breaks down tension building in a single location, using static wide shots and chaotic close-ups to turn a games night into a pressure cooker.

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Film Festival

Grief, Thrills & Everything In Between: 10 Unforgettable Short Films at HollyShorts 2025

From 427 films at HollyShorts 2025, Directors Notes spotlights 10 essential shorts in this year's dynamic Oscar-qualifying programme.

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Live Action, Premiere

Ira Groza Builds a Fragmented Portal Between Performance, Memory and Truth in Surreal Webcam Short ‘Goosecam’

Ira Groza discusses directing remotely via Zoom to craft her surreal meditation on post-Soviet identity, cultural heritage and a doomed goose.

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