Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

The Gaping Chasm Left by a Missing Girl Is Quickly Inhabited by a Lonely Opportunist in Jimmy Goldblum’s ‘Jude’

Jimmy Goldblum discusses up-ending typical true crime missing girl tropes in his short following a teen girl who inserts herself into a life that isn’t hers.

Art & Fashion

Adi Halfin Finds Grace Amongst the Sweat in Her Kinetic Gym Fashion Short ‘There’s Beauty in the Burn’

Director Adi Halfin talks about the challenges of creating a choreographic language that blended workout and dance for her energizing Calia fashion film.

Live Action, Premiere

Youthful Abandon Clashes Against the Burdens of Impending Adulthood in Melina Valdez’ ‘Weapons and Their Names’

Melina Valdez unpacks her process of weaving magical realism into a grounded narrative informed by personal experience to portray the tumult of teenage grief.

Live Action, Premiere

David Robinson-Smith Depicts the Lingering Nature of Trauma and Guilt in His Searing Drama Short ‘Mud Crab’

David Robinson-Smith discusses the considered active cinematography employed in his haunting short where an unreliable narrator recounts a violent assault.

Art & Fashion

Shapxo’s Fashion Film ‘Chasing the Drums’ Envisions a Pan-African World Where Light Is Born From Darkness

Shapxo breaks down the surreal, visually lavish Pan-African inspired world he created for his ambitious fashion short shot on the platform of a working subway.

Article

Multi-Award-Winning Composer Hollie Buhagiar on the Art of Crafting Bespoke Scores for Film, TV & Games

Hollie Buhagiar reveals her approach to composition, her feelings about temp score and AI music generation, and the joy of experimenting with new instruments.

Live Action, Premiere

An Accidental Murder Leads to Escalating Chaos in James Button & Kristaps Kazaks’ ‘The Corpse Series’

Co-Directors James Button & Kristaps Kazaks talk us through the evolution from short to web series to featurette of their blood-soaked slasher comedy.

Documentary

Gianna Mazzeo Chronicles an Unsung Symbol of Lesbian Community in Kinetic Doc ‘The History of the Carabiner’

Gianna Mazzeo details the importance of queer oral history when creating her film about a uniting and proud symbol of lesbian self-expression and community.

Film Festival, News

WeAreDN Awards Winners Announcement

And the WeAreDN Awards winning films are...