Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

Robert Piel’s ‘The Lap’ Harvests the Unspoken Fears and Desires Behind a Teenage Struggle for Power

With only four days, expired 35mm stock and an apple harvest dictated schedule, Robert Piel learned to trust instinct over coverage for his coming of age

Awards

Exclusive First Look at the BIFA 2026 Best British Short Film Longlist

Fearless, inventive and wonderfully varied - Directors Notes is proud to announce the 29th BIFA Best British Short Film longlist.

Documentary, Premiere

Sam Baron Unearths an Elegiac Reckoning Within a Decade of Doomsday Predictions in ‘Everything Will Be Totally Fine’

Ten years ago, Sam Baron asked loved ones to predict 2026. Now he confronts the messy, unscripted grief for his late mum hidden in the footage all along.

Live Action, Premiere

Craig Bingham Demonstrates How “Restraint Breeds Creativity” with His Mythic Fantasy Sci-Fi Short ‘FARANOOKA’

Real sparks from an angle grinder, weeks of unnerving sonic experiments and a lead laid bare; Craig Bingham on forging a raw, rusty-bladed mythology.

Film Festival

10 Exciting Shorts to Keep an Eye on from the 70th BFI London Film Festival

LFF’s shorts this year look squarely at the world we live in and invite us to reflect. These 10 titles are thoughtful, gripping and hard to forget.

Live Action, Premiere

Sam Tricomo Asks Audiences to Find Empathy Without Forgiveness in His Darkly Transgressive Pilot ‘Puke Bitch’

How do you make audiences care about people who do terrible things? Sam Tricomo's dark pilot strips away backstory, letting silence and loneliness do the work.

Film Festival, Live Action

Five Shoots, One Year and Zero Fundraising Shape Bertil Nilsson’s Intimate Identity-Shifting Feature Debut ‘Masc’

Ahead of its LFF 2026 European premiere, Bertil Nilsson returns to discuss the instinct-led process which enabled the creation of his debut feature, 'Masc'.

Live Action, Premiere

Subverting Stereotypes and Capturing the Authentic Drunken Perspective in Daniel Chisholm’s Dizzying ‘Don’t Puke’

Daniel Chisholm distils the disorientating, woozy sensation of being smashed into a comic odyssey that lets audiences experience the drunkest night ever.

Live Action, Premiere

A Houseguest Too Many Tips Everything Into Chaos in Kiyan Ahmadi’s Tense & Tender Short ‘PIERRE THE GREAT’

How much can a relationship withstand when an outsider disrupts its delicate balance? Kiyan Ahmadi explores that tension in his cramped, darkly comic short.