Writer-Director 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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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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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, Live Action

Meyer Levinson-Blount’s Oscar-Nominated Short ‘Butcher’s Stain’ Asks Who Gets Blamed When Tragedy Strikes

With close-quarters craft, student director Meyer Levinson-Blount transforms collective trauma into an intimate portrait of one man's quiet fight for dignity.

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Live Action, Premiere

A Real Life Marketplace Encounter Leads to the Wildly Entertaining Fever Dream That Is Olivia Accardo’s ‘Baby Tooth’

Olivia Accardo reveals how her encounter with a local seller led to her absurdist comedy short offering a potential boat buyer way more than he anticipated.

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Awards, Live Action

Julia Aks & Steve Pinder Turned Bloody Shame Into Period Parody in Oscar-Nominated ‘Jane Austen’s Period Drama’

Corset comedy, cramps and Academy glory; co-directors Aks & Pinder unpack the pun-inspired joyfully bloody road of their hilarious Oscar-nominated short.

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Live Action, Premiere

Emotional Repression Becomes Public Health Crisis in Emma Doxiadi’s Allegorical ‘Something Like The End of The World’

Personal heartbreak unfolds into urgent social commentary as Emma Doxiadi's genre-straddling short transforms emotional asymmetry into literal collapse.

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Live Action, Premiere

Matt R. Smith Takes Us on a Gripping Ride Through a Stylish Tense Nightmare in WTF Horror ‘The Parish’

Matt R. Smith leads DN through building the disturbing atmosphere of his Lynchian-inspired short where a struggling man confesses his darkest recurring dream.

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Live Action, Premiere

Radical Vulnerability Powers a Deliriously Earnest Exploration of Selfhood in Collaborative Drama ‘The Unexpressed’

Dancing between sincerity & surrealism 'The Unexpressed's' creative collaborators discuss rejecting conflict in favour of shared unravelling in their sismance.

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