Directors Notes // The Home of Independent Filmmaking

From “Back Alley Head Job” to SXSW Award-Winner: Lee Lawson on the Evolution of ‘Man Eating Pussy’

Lee Lawson discusses the practical effects and unexpected tenderness behind the provocative premise of her SXSW award-winning short, 'Man Eating Pussy'.

Live Action

Max Clendaniel Wields a Cheesy Horror Prop as an Ego-Shattering Weapon in Improvised Comedy ‘Dummy’

Max Clendaniel's improv comedy magnifies the fine line between an actor's vanity & their justifiable concerns about how a director depicts them onscreen.

Live Action, Premiere

Who Gets Believed? Susan Wokoma Confronts the Adultification of Black Children in ‘Dark Skin Bruises Differently’

Drawing on her childhood, Susan Wokoma writes, directs and stars as a teacher torn between instinct and complicity in a staffroom deciding a girl’s fate.

Live Action, Premiere

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.