Needle and Light: Victoria Villasana

Directed by Felicia Manning

Cinematography by Jesse Aragon

This short documentary explores the creative process of Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana. Her work is vibrant and emotional, with each piece telling a story through the blending of thread and monochrome photos. Victoria’s careful selection of colors, geometric shapes, and forms brings her vision to life. We delve into her sources of inspiration, the power of working with her hands, and her unique approach to art.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Felicia is a self-taught Mexican-American director and writer based in Los Angeles. She is deeply passionate about human-interest stories, particularly those that offer intimate glimpses into everyday life. She founded Feee Films, an independent production company producing narrative-led commercials, branded content, animation and digital content with a focus on authenticity and story.

Her work has been featured in various publications, including Vogue Italia, Beyond the Short, Booooooom, Girls in Film, and Directors Notes. She is a Women in Film Mentee, a Stowe Producers Lab Fellow, selected for the DGA/AICP Commercial Director’s Diversity Program, and shortlisted for the Cannes Lions Young Director Award.

Felicia's short films have gained recognition at renowned and Oscar qualifying film festivals such as HollyShorts, LA Shorts International Film Festival, Dallas International Film Festival, SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Indie Memphis, and numerous others. She is drawn to intimate stories that delve into the complexities of the human condition, often focusing on the experiences of women and BIPOC characters discovering their strength. Felicia is continuing her filmmaking journey with both commercial and feature-length projects within her production company, Feee Films.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH FELICIA

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When did you first become aware of Victoria's work?

I found Victoria’s work through an artist account on Instagram that highlights women artists. Her work immediately struck me and I followed ever since.

What kicked off this project? Did you bring the impetus to this project, or were you brought on more as a facilitator?

I had the inclination to film Victoria’s process and capture her story so I eventually reached out to her directly with a deck and presented my approach.

You chose to shoot Needle and Light in multiple formats - both digital and analog. Do you frequently work in multiple formats or is this your first foray into this creative methodology?

That was an approach that came as a result of Victoria’s work. She uses multiple formats and in working with my DP it made sense to also adapt to multiple formats.

Can you talk about your motivation for choosing multiple formats in exploring Victoria's work? Why was shooting both film and digital the right choice for this project?

I feel like Victoria’s work utilizes two dynamic styles, black and white portraits, many times of important figures, and contrasts that with vibrant thread giving the work a tangible texture. In terms of film, that really translated well into digital as a reflection of the portraits and 8mm film as the grain linking us to her textile material.

How much of the narrative did you establish prior to shooting and how much was discovered in the edit?

I had a pre-interview with Victoria, really just a conversation, where I learned about her process, her point of view, and where she came from. She’s naturally a strong storyteller so all I needed to do was capture her story in person. I had visual references and discussed approaches with my DP in finding a way to reflect the motion of her threading through the swift camera work. However, I wanted much of the content to be capture organically and very doc-style so we discovered the bulk of the footage on-location in Guadalajara with Victoria. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

If you have any connection with a story or subject matter pursue it. Find the most minimal way to tell that story by taking it a step at a time and the project can become a reality. It’s better to make your film than standby for the perfect circumstances. Hacks? You would be surprised who is open to supporting you if you’re really clear on your vision from crew to talent. 

What are you working on now?

Right now, I’m in pre-production on my next short film, BASELINE, it’s a tennis drama where a mom and son meet on the court after some distance. I’m excited to capture a sport on film blended with a dramatic story.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I’ll throw it back to a film that impacted me called THIRTEEN by Catherine Hardwicke. It’s a really raw film following two young girls in middle school and things just spiral out of control. Not only is the film pretty intense, but I love how it was made. Catherine Hardwicke was a production designer that wanted to direct, she wrote the script with Nikki Reed the lead actor who shared her personal experiences for the story, and Catherine intentionally designed the film in a contained way so she could afford to make it.

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SURPRISE

Written, Directed & Produced by Anoushka Zena

Three women arrive at a surprise birthday party for their girlfriend, only to discover it was thrown to reveal they're all dating the same woman.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Anoushka Zena is a London-based director and screenwriter whose work centres on naturalistic, character-led storytelling with coming-of-age themes and the intimate portrayal of nuanced female characters.

She has written and directed four independent short films, Going Nowhere, Fast (2021) , The End of Love (2023), Surprise! (2026) and Until Morning, Margaux (2026). Anoushka is currently in pre-production on her next short film, Skin, which explores self-identity, adolescence, nostalgia, and queer love. This film is supported by Producer Molly Blumsom, House On Fire Productions and SkyeAngel Productions. Anoushka serves as both writer and director on the project.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ANOUSHKA

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Welcome to our Weekly Pick! We first saw your film at our Open Screen event earlier this year. Can you talk about that experience?

I love the concept, it's so refreshing having a free submission, first-come-first-served lineup. Everyone who makes a film deserves a space to bring their cast, crew, and friends together to see their collective work on a big screen. The event had such a nice atmosphere, and I saw a lot of films that night that wouldn't have come across my radar otherwise.

What are your thoughts on the need for more accessible spaces for emerging filmmakers to screen their work?

Accessible spaces are so important for the morale of emerging filmmakers. There’s something incredibly motivating about physically screening your work, feeling the energy in a room, hearing the film through proper speakers, giving it the showcase it deserves after the huge amount of hard work put in from everyone in bringing it to life. It's such a rewarding part of the filmmaking process. 

Apart from Kino, have you tapped into any other creative spaces who take a similar welcoming approach?

Genesis Cinema in Bethnal Green often runs a Shorts Showcase, as does ReDavolt in Hackney Wick. It would be amazing if more small cinema’s opened their doors, even once a month, for these kinds of showcases. In a dream world, I’d love to screen at Close-Up Cinema in Shoreditch or The Nickel in Clerkenwell.

Tell us a bit about the genesis of Surprise!

From the start, I knew I wanted the story to centre queer characters and explore a slightly absurd concept, while keeping the execution grounded in realism. I currently have three other films in various stages of development, all of which lean more toward the genre of drama. I wanted a project I could tap into as almost a palate cleanser, and a dark comedy felt exciting. Surprise! ended up being exactly that. I found it so refreshing to write.

Where did the idea come from?

Not personal experience, unless my girlfriend is leading a triple life behind my back. The punchline of ‘My sister’s a whore’, cutting straight to the title card Surprise! , was actually the first idea that landed, and everything else grew out from there. I was drawn to the idea of revealing the big surprise at the start, rather than building up to it. What interested me most was how each character might respond differently to the same news, depending on the nature of their relationship.

How did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

I wanted the evolving conversations and relationships between the three women to be the heart of the film. Casting the lead girlfriends felt like the biggest challenge, finding actors to naturally embody that dry, sarcastic humour. Jordanne Jones came first, recommended by another filmmaker. Elsa Mills is, incidentally, both my flatmate and a great actress. And finally, Maaike Ter Woort, a close friend of mine, who had actually never acted prior to this film. I was struggling to cast her character and suddenly thought, hang on, she would be absolutely perfect. And she was. She rocked up on the day wearing that party-animal tie, and I knew straight away that she was the right call. The shoot was so much fun, we shot the whole film in ten hours with a skeleton crew of four, and the three girlfriends had such good chemistry that I had to stop myself from sitting down and chatting with them the whole time instead of actually making the film.

While introducing your film at our Open Screen, you mentioned how many LGTBQ+ stories rely heavily on interweaving experiences of trauma into their storylines, but how you wanted to take a different approach. Can you expound on that?

While telling stories of trauma within the LGBTQ+ community will always be essential, I think it’s equally important to centre queer characters in narratives where sexuality isn’t a defining element of the story. Restricting queer relationships to arcs of tragedy or redemption risks conditioning audiences to associate queer cinema with these themes.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Don’t wait for someone to tell you that your script is worth shooting. If you want to watch your own film, that’s reason enough to hit the ground running. Self-funding or financing a project is always daunting and demoralising, but have faith. There are talented and kind creatives all around who want to see your story brought to life just as much as you do, even if it takes a while to find them. Send emails that feel unrealistic. Be persistent if (when) they don’t reply. Message that DOP. Message that Producer. Message everyone you’d love to work with, even the ones you admire that feel unattainable. Have faith in your work, have faith other people will too.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently shooting a film at the end of the month called Until Morning, Margaux, which explores themes of connection, loneliness and expectation. The film stars Rachel Fielding and Raffaello Degruttola. Alongside this, I’m in pre-production for a coming of age short film titled Skin, the story explores identity, nostalgia, adolescence and queer love. Skin is being brought to life by Producer Molly Blumsom, House On Fire Productions and SkyeAngel Productions. More details can be found at @skintheshortfilm on instagram!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

The Eight Mountains, an Italian film co-directed by Belgian filmmakers Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch. I first watched this last year and have thought about it every day since. It’s such a visceral and melancholic film. A lot of the soundtrack is also unbelievably beautiful, with music by Daniel Norgren, particularly the tracks ‘As long as we last’ and ‘Everything you know melts away like snow’. I recommend this film for fans of Aftersun (2022), Close (2022) and Boyhood (2014).

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ROLE PLAY

Directed by Kyle Jon Shephard

Written by Kit Loyd

Produced by Georgina House

A couple’s attempt to reignite their relationship through awkward role-playing spirals into chaos when a mysterious man arrives, leading to dark confrontations and blurred lines between fantasy and reality.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

London-based director and proud squirrel from the Wirral, Kyle Jon Shephard, started out as a comedy writer and actor (after overcoming the initial setback of being banned from taking A-Level Drama as a “known troublemaker”). That background has been pivotal in shaping his sharp eye for performance, keen sense of story and mischievous wit. With a well-observed, dry comedic style, Kyle has gone on to direct commercial projects for major brands including Lego, Tesco, Vinted and British Airways. Kyle is prolific in short-form filmmaking, with work that has received awards and nominations at BAFTA- and BIFA-qualifying festivals, including the Manchester Film Festival Jury Prize Winner 2025, Directors Notes Best Comedy Short Winner 2025 and is a two times nominee of the internationally renowned Webby Awards. Kyle was also recently hand-picked to direct a short film for Channel 4’s 2025 Playground programme. Kyle thrives on scripts and concepts that carry an element of risk and playfulness, and lives to create memorable characters that leave a lasting impression on audiences. His deep love of comedy, cinema and storytelling bleeds naturally onto the screen, where he masterfully captivates attention through his own distinctive style of directing.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH KYLE

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Welcome to Kino Weekly Pick! Your short film Stress Head was an official selection at the 2025 Kino London Short Film Festival and now you’re back with another absurd dark comedy. Can you tell us what draws you to dark and surreal comedy?

Well I guess Simon Mulvaney and I, who I started making films with back when we were kids, always had a very dark sense of humour between us both, and pretty surreal too. I think the darker elements of my humour come from wanting to make people question whether to laugh or not. I’ve never really been attracted to easy gag humour - I like comedy that has a secondary layer. Then the surrealist elements came later on when I started watching more independent cinema in my early-20s - like Charlie Kauffman films etc. 

Tell us about the origins of Role Play. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

Well Kit Loyd (who plays Tim in the short) wrote it. He brought the script to me which I really loved and we just made the decision to go for it and actually get it shot. We did a few rounds table reads and rehearsals, found a decent location and then we just went feet first into shooting it. 

You put your cast in some interesting situations for the role play the film is named after, how did you prepare them for this and how was the experience directing them?

Again that was kind of Kit who put them into those situations I guess. But in terms of preparing them for it, I think I just made sure that when we did the darker elements, they approached their performances from as serious position as possible - reminding them on the severity of what their characters were doing and asking them how they felt people would actually act in that situation. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Role Play and how did you overcome them? 

Creating a film that is completely split down the middle with two opposing genres was the biggest challenge. Usually comedy/horror films are either comedy with a bit of horror mixed into it, or horror with a bit of comedy, but we literally did comedy in the first half, horror in the second which was almost implemented and changed like a light switch. It was a bit of a risk to do that, but I think it worked quite nicely in the end. 

How did you find the film festival journey of Role Play and how do you feel now it’s released publicly?

Yeah really great. For the first eight or so years of my career I never really had much success with film festivals, so it’s nice to finally get my latest films selected for some. It always really nice to hear the live audience reaction to your work - especially for comedy. Makes all that hard work worth while. And for the reception of the film itself, both myself and Kit couldn’t have been happier. I don’t think either of us were quite expecting it to do as well as it did with some award wins etc. Over the moon. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

I guess the main one is listen to your instincts and don’t talk yourself out of them just because other people don’t think in the same way you do. Following well trodden paths is super tempting but your job as a filmmaker is to get a little lost from time to time and explore new approaches. And try to avoid making short films with the mindset of “I’m making this to get into [insert prestigious festivals]", I think you just end up making proper boring stuff like that - go out and take risks, and be playful in your approach. 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Deli Meat (2026) directed by Brick, I think is a masterclass in comedy filmmaking. The plot keeps you gripped and feels fluid and seamless, but the tension and conflict are never far away – it keeps you on your toes. The performances feel totally committed and genuine, and the camerawork is beautifully handled. If you haven’t seen it already… do!

What are you working on next?

Just finished writing four new short films - and plan to shoot all four this year. Which is a bit of an ambitious task but, I like working that way. 

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SEASALTER ROAD

Directed by Will Kenning

Written by Julia Parlato & Mark Rush

Produced by Julia Parlato, Mark Rush, & Will Kenning

Following the sudden death of their mother, a pair of estranged siblings must revisit their family home and fractured relationship.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Will is an award winning director, writer, and editor based in Bedfordshire. Originally trained as a classical actor, he transitioned into film in 2009 and has since directed commercial campaigns for global brands including Häagen-Dazs, Walmart, and Gillette. In August 2025, Will wrapped principal photography on the London gangster feature “Hit”;, starring Robert Davi and Shona McCarty, slated for release in 2026. He is currently in pre-production on his debut feature as writer-director, “Body Bank” - a bloody action thriller shooting in early 2026 in conjunction with Rebel Yeah!. His award-winning short films have screened at numerous BAFTA and Academy Award-accredited festivals worldwide. “Tap Boy” won the 2022 Challenge Alexa Award, supported by ARRI and Directors UK. “Geoff” made the 2019 BAFTA longlist and won Best Short and Best Director at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival 2018. “The Legend of Bob Leonard” won Best British Short at the Satisfied Eye Festival ands screened at over 35 international festivals. Will is also a member of BAFTA Connect.

Julia is an Italian, Maltese actress, writer and producer, born and bred in London. She co-wrote and produced the short drama, Seasalter Road. She recently co-wrote, co-produced and directed a mini-series of comedy shorts with her comedy trio ‘Unhinged Comedy.’ Alongside filmmaking, Julia performs on stage and screen and recently wrapped on the WW1 drama ‘Indian Summer.’ She also runs the writing collective ‘Scene Gym’, workshopping brand new scripts with emerging actors, writers and directors.

Mark hails from Kilkenny in Ireland and moved to London in 2010. He is a writer, producer and actor with over ten years’ experience in the industry. He co-wrote and produced the short drama, Seasalter Road, that was programmed by 18 film festivals across the UK, Ireland and the United States. Notable selections include Exit 6 Film Festival, North East International Film Festival, Dam Short Film Festival, and Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (Semi-Finalist). It recently received the Best International Short Film award at Short. Sweet Film Fest - a US short film only film festival curated by working filmmakers.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JULIA, WILL, & MARK

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Tell us about the genesis of Seasalter Road. Where did the idea come from? 

JULIA: Mark and I were interested in exploring adult sibling relationships and the nuances and shifts that happen within them, compared to childhood dynamics. We’d had a quite a few chats about how our own relationships had evolved with our siblings and how certain patterns still played out into adulthood. 

We were curious to explore our own experiences of these relationships within a narrative where both characters suffer the death of a parent and how this loss can precipitate change between them. Both Liam and Steph are forced to question their own patterns and face their grief in unique and personal ways. 

MARK: I have always found it interesting how we often see our siblings through the lens of childhood. We have these ideas of who our siblings are and often they become fixed in our minds. When in reality, we all change and develop as we grow older and to not allow our perception of our siblings to also change is a disservice.

The initial ideas for a lot of the story came from my mum telling me about doing this exact same process with her sister. She told me how it was hard for them both, but how they appreciated this time together because they knew each other so much better at the end of it.

A particular memory she had was of going through my grandfather's clothes one day to decide which clothes to give away or to keep for us grandchildren. She found he had this coat and tails suit for going out dancing. And even though it was a boiling summer day in July, she decided to put it on, turn on some music, and have a dance around her parents' home. When she told me this story, I could see it play out in my head. It was almost like a short film, and I thought we had to include it in Seasalter Road. And we did adapt it for our story, but I'll let you watch the film to see how!

How did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

JULIA: Mark and I had regular writing and brainstorming sessions, chats over tea, and walks out in the Suffolk countryside to hone our idea into the narrative that it is now. From the outset, we felt the film needed to be subtle and nuanced. In fact, in early drafts, the film had almost no dialogue at all. Once we started reading through drafts and sharing them with Will, what emerged from his feedback was that we needed to develop a pivotal scene where both characters confront each other about their mother’s situation and some of the secrets they have been suppressing are revealed. We workshopped this and crafted it into one of the pivotal scenes of the film, that forces Liam’s character to face up to the emotions he’s been suppressing.   

WILL: A huge factor was our location. My Aunt owned an extraordinary house in Suffolk and after the death of her partner was looking to move out. She liked the idea of capturing the house on film for posterity as it's a home of incredible character. We jumped at the opportunity as we knew it would bring such production value to the short - a real example of how a location can bring added depth to a story. Everywhere you pointed the camera in that place was cinematic. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

JULIA & MARK: Once our film was ready to go, we explored the festival route quite extensively and decided to seek advice from the lovely team at Festival Formula. Being our first short film release, we really benefited from guidance on which festivals to target with our film. Once we finished our festival journey, we started researching distribution platforms to host our film or help broadcast it out into the world. We are delighted to have found ‘Seasalter Road’ a home with Crafty Short Films and to have been selected for Kino’s Weekly Pick!

Did you experience much festival rejection? If so, how did you overcome that?

JULIA & MARK: Overall, we had a positive experience of the festival circuit, with some really nice recognition for our film - including a couple of awards and nominations. We definitely had a few festivals that we would have loved to have been selected for and were disappointed to have missed out on. I think we dealt with that by reminding ourselves that our film had found its audiences and by focussing on maximising our experience and involvement at the festivals where ‘Seasalter Road’ had been selected. What also helped us was reminding ourselves that festivals can have very varied tastes, and they can't always programme all the films they want to. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

JULIA: Go for it! That idea that you’ve had for ages, write it! Festivals, networking events and writing labs are also such a great way to bounce ideas, keep motivated, accountable and find potential creative collaborators.

MARK: Assembling a core team - all of whom care as much as you do about bringing your short to life - is so important. When you find those people who live and breathe the same ideas as you, things really start to click into place. And when you're working on a passion project - possibly without a huge budget - it's even more important to have a team behind you who believe in what you're trying to make.

WILL: And keep your shorts short! Programmers may love your film but if they can't fit it in their programme there's nothing they can do about it. A well crafted 9 minute film will do better than an 11 minute one. 

What are you working on now?

JULIA: Quite a mix of work to be honest! To take a slightly different turn, I’ve recently been writing, directing and producing a series of comedy micro-shorts as part of ‘unhinged comedy.’ Collectively, Mark and I have another short drama in early stages of development.

MARK: I'm currently in post-production on my next short film, Wire, which also deals with processing grief but it's told through the lens of the thriller and psychological horror genres. I'm very excited for it to hit the festival circuit so watch this space! 

WILL: I completed a gangster feature called 'HIT' last year starring Robert Davi and Shona McGarty. I'm now in pre production for another feature length action thriller called 'Body Bank' which we hope to shoot this autumn.  

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

JULIA: Recently I’ve really loved ‘The Outrun’. Saorise Ronan gives such a raw performance and the film unpacks a lot around addiction and navigating difficult parental dynamics as an adult. I’m sure you’ve all seen it but ‘One Battle After Another’ was truly brilliant

MARK - I watched ‘Pillion’ recently, which explores sub-dom dynamics in gay male relationships. I've never seen this kind of a story on stage or screen before. It's very graphic, but in reality, it's an unconventional love story that's grounded in some terrific performances. Well worth a watch.

WILL - Check out Darren Aronofsky's thriller 'Caught Stealing'. I felt like it went largely unnoticed but it was so brilliantly crafted, original and funny. Aronofsky should do more genre pieces imho! 

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CHASING NOTHING

Written & Directed by Ben Hands

Produced by Ethan Cartwright, Sador Zerie, & Ben Hands

After a terminal diagnosis, an aging musician finds himself drawn to a young busker — a stranger who may be the last real connection he has left.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Ben Hands is writer-director who began crafting screenplays at the age of 15. He later pursued formal training in his late 20s, studying directing and producing his first two short films during that time. His work is grounded in a deep understanding of the practical realities of filmmaking, shaped by an ongoing career as an Assistant Director.

His short film Chasing Nothing explores themes of disillusionment, mortality, and hope, drawing from personal experiences and marking a key step in his evolution as a filmmaker. Alongside his directing work, he continues to build a career in Assistant Directing while developing a feature screenplay for his next project.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH BEN

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Welcome to our Weekly Pick series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

I started out writing screenplays at 15, long before I had any real understanding of how films were actually made. Later, in my late 20s, I went to university to properly pursue directing. While there, I produced my first two short films, which gave me the foundation and confidence to move forward with Chasing Nothing.

Alongside that, my skillset naturally led me into Assistant Directing, which has since become the backbone of my career.

Can you chat a bit about how you balance your time between AD’ing and pushing forward on your own projects as a director?

AD’ing has actually made me a far more conscious writer and filmmaker. It’s given me a strong understanding of the practical realities of indie filmmaking—budgets, time constraints, logistics—and that inevitably shapes how I approach my own work.

That said, it’s been a while since I last directed. Putting a short film together is incredibly time-consuming and expensive, so finding that balance can be challenging. But I’m very eager to get back into directing as soon as possible.

Tell us about the genesis of Chasing Nothing. Where did the idea come from?

Chasing Nothing came from a very personal place. It began with my own feelings of disillusionment as an aspiring writer and filmmaker, which formed the basis of the first verse of the song featured in the film.

Then, when my grandad was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour, my perspective shifted. I felt compelled to explore themes of mortality and what really matters. The final act—built around the last verse of the song—brings those ideas together, aiming to leave the audience with a sense of hopefulness in the face of life’s most difficult moments.

How did you develop that idea into the short that’s now out in the world?

It was really about distillation. I took three key scenes from a larger feature screenplay and reworked them into a self-contained 15-minute short. The challenge was making sure those moments still carried emotional weight while functioning as a complete story on their own.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences. Did you experience much festival rejection? If so, how did you overcome that?

We’ve had some great festival screenings, along with a few award nominations and wins, which has been incredibly rewarding. Of course, I would have loved even more opportunities, but it’s an extremely competitive landscape right now with so many brilliant films out there.

Rejection is part of the process. You just have to accept it, learn what you can, and keep moving forward. Ultimately, it’s about resilience—rolling your sleeves up and going again.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Start small. Write a micro-short that you can shoot in a single day. Use that experience to experiment, make mistakes, and develop your craft in a low-pressure way—while still enjoying the process. Then build up to something more ambitious.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working across various projects as an AD, while also developing a feature screenplay that I’m really excited about and hope to bring to life in the near future.

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THE ABSENCE OF HEAT

Directed by Harding & Young

Written by Dave Harding

During a drive, an engaged couple engage in a lighthearted conversation that subtly reveals the dynamics of their relationship.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Harding & Young, a director duo born and bred in East Sussex, with backgrounds in commercial and corporate documentary filmmaking, David Harding and Thomas Young seamlessly transitioned from documenting real-world stories to crafting fiction, thriving on small teams and modest budgets. Their commitment to creative storytelling shines through in every project.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH DAVE

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Tell us about the genesis of The Absence of Heat. 

The Absence of Heat was born from an evening of doom scrolling. I (Dave) came across a video of Neil deGrasse Tyson talking about how cold doesn’t actually exist. Me and my partner almost never argue and if we do it’s always over the most mundane things. She often remarks on how I can look a little too deeply into the wording of things rather than the actual subject we’re arguing about. I usually see the humour in these arguments before they’ve even finished, much to her enjoyment.

The combination of these two things led to the bulk of the dialogue being written very quickly in my notes app. A quick polish, plus the fact I’d always wanted to shoot a driving scene, and we basically had a full script the next day.

My friend Zach is an amazing filmmaker and a big car guy so it felt like an obvious collab. We put his dad’s beautiful old car on a trailer on the back of Zach’s van and rigged the camera up. We did a few drives down one of our favourite hometown roads during golden hour and had the whole film wrapped in an hour, thanks to the absolute pros and real life couple Ed and Lily.

The edit also came together super fast the next day, along with writing and recording a short piece of music. It’s probably the quickest and most seamless anything I’ve created has ever come together!

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

So far we’ve only shared it on YouTube, but we’re hoping to have it screened at some festivals over the summer.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Based on our experience of this film, I’d say look for something you notice in the everyday that you find some sort of humour, enjoyment or fear in, and write a small, contained moment in a character’s life. Try to keep it in one location and as simple to shoot as possible.

What are you working on now?

I’ve just written a new, longer short script which totally ignores all of the advice above. It’s a lot more ambitious and is going to take a while to get into production but I’m very excited for it!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

A hugely underrated favourite of mine is A Ghost Story.

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NOW THAT YOU’RE BACK

Written & Directed by Seth Hope Barnard Chodzko

Produced by Seth Hope Barnard Chodzko, Cora Needham & Joe Everitt

After losing a childhood friend to suicide, Connor and Liam reunite for the painful task of choosing his burial clothes — a moment that forces old wounds and unspoken truths to surface.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Seth is a writer/director originally from Kent in the UK who studied at the Northern Film School in Leeds, passionate about creating both documentary and fiction films. Through his work’s particular subject matters and forms I hope to raise awareness and provoke questions in the viewer, positively influencing our precarious world. He also likes to blend documentary and fiction, inspired by the stories and people around him, incorporating reality into his narrative projects.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH SETH

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Tell us about the genesis of Now That You're Back. Where did the idea come from? 

The very initial idea, came to me whilst I was driving on the M62 between Leeds and Manchester, as I often did. It is very scenic and the rolling hills, for some reason, made me think about grief and disconnection, particularly between two men. The first working title was therefore “Rolling Hills” and was about two brothers who had lost their other brother to suicide. Although not directly, suicide has been a consistent event in my life and I have therefore often thought about the culture of it. Further discussing the idea with my mum, she told me about a time she and a friend, had to pick out the funeral clothes for a mutual friend who had died. I found this idea compelling. The unusual process of having to pick out the clothes, to dress a recently deceased loved one. This “task”, also acted as an affective structure for a short film I felt, driving it forward with a clear through line (the task being set at the beginning, and then completed at the end). 

How did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

I wrote the script and pitched the idea to my film school (students and tutors) as part of the graduation films that were to be made. Unfortunately, the film was not selected. This was a really important lesson for me, about rejection. I found it difficult at first but in the end, it was a blessing because it gave me more time to develop the script into something, I believe, was stronger. I was determined to make the film and so, thanks to my piers and the Northern Film School, I shot it after everyone had finished their graduation projects! The film would not be what it is, without that initial rejection and extended time to develop it. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.

Once the film was finished, I jumped straight into entering it into film festivals. This was mainly done by entering via FilmFreeway. I entered as many as I could afford at the time, but also any free festivals that had a category for our film. Other than that, I tried to push it out wherever I could. I screened it at my film school, in a cinema in my home county of Kent, emailed it to friends and family etc. Of course, I also promoted the film via social media, exposing it to the world and hopefully get audiences interested in seeing it!

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

1. This one is very cliche, but the biggest lesson I learnt with this film is, believe in your idea, even if it gets rejected. That was a big one for me. Take it on the chin and move on with pursuing it! No matter what, you will learn and benefit from making the film.

2. Try not to be precious with your script, even from early development. Share your ideas and drafts with the people around you, including non-film buffs! Have conversations about it. Anything I have made has been strongly influenced by the feedback I get from the people in my life. 

3. Start your short film right in the action, and set up the narrative as early as possible. Draw the audience into the world immediately. Let them know what it is roughly about, early on, to keep them engaged, and want to see what happens at the end. In short film, you don’t have time to beat around the bush (in my opinion!).

What are you working on now?

I am writing two short film scripts whilst I travel around South America, which has been a massive privilege. I work in the film industry as a runner back home and it’s really difficult to find the time to work on my own stuff. Both scripts are dramas and will be around 10 pages long. I hope to make them soon after I get back to the UK!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I’m going to try recommend something that hopefully hasn’t been seen by that wide of an audience. Since we’re talking about short films, I would recommend a short by one of my favourite filmmakers, Abbas Kiarostami, called “The Bread And Alley”. It’s simply about a young boy who meets an aggressive stray dog, on his walk home. It forces him into a new situation that he has to deal with on his own. It is such a simple concept yet it takes you through an array of emotions, and is ultimately a great coming of age story! This short, for me, encapsulates exactly what a “strong” short film is, simple and effective in addressing a wider concept/idea. 

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STORM CLOUDS

Written & Directed by Adrian Delcan

Produced by Henrik Larsen & Adrian Delcan

An identical twin assumes his dead brother’s identity to evade the responsibility involved with his weather-controlling gift; the centerpiece of his family’s business.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Adrian is a writer and director from Southern California. He worked as a writer on Judas, the latest game from BioShock creator Ken Levine. He directed the short film Animal Behavior, which screened at festivals including LA Shorts, NFFTY, and PÖFF in Estonia. He was a YoungArts x Ignite Fellow at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. His debut feature film, Old Man, was released by Gravitas Ventures in January 2025.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ADRIAN

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Hi Adrian! Welcome back. Other than making Storm Clouds, what else have you been up to since we featured your previous film Animal Behaviour?

Hi Dustin! It’s a pleasure to be back, thanks for having me. Since we last spoke I’ve moved back and forth between Los Angeles and New York City a few times for work. I’m in New York now. So other than packing and unpacking I’ve been spending my time writing. I’ve actually been working on a feature adaptation of Animal Behavior. 

I also completed another short film; that one is titled Early Human Media. It’s a comedic and surrealist take on a guy going up to a girl’s apartment for the first time. It will be premiering at a festival this March. 

Your work in general has absurd comedic tones with quite dark sharp edges. It's akin to the work of Aster and Lanthimos, yet unique in its own right. How would you classify your style? What are some of the main influences on your style?

I love the work of Ari Aster and Yorgos Lanthimos, they’re absolutely influences so I’m flattered by the comparison. If I had to point to our shared interest it would probably the be the concern for comedy. I really love going to the movies to laugh, and sometimes the best laughs are the ones that make you second guess if you should’ve at all. I often feel that way watching the movies of Aster and Lanthimos, it may be a performance choice or something deeply disturbing. They’re always heightening the reality in ways I couldn’t have expected but never enough to alienate me, and I think that’s because their stories are anchored in deeply relatable characters. These are things I constantly aim for in my writing and directing.

I would say that I make character-driven comedies, often blending thriller, sci-fi, or crime elements. 

Tell us about the genesis of Storm Clouds. Where did the idea come from? How did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

I’m a big fan of science fiction and have always tip-toed around it in my own work, but it wasn’t until I started reading more Stephen King did I feel like there was a way to do it that was true to me. This project came on the heels of that feeling. Before writing there were a few things I knew I wanted to explore in the next project, like having a larger cast, lots of moving camera, and I wanted to involve images of the sky. The sex of it all was something that came later. It was important to me how the family created clouds. There’s a much simpler version of this movie that removes all of the sex and just has the family meditating to conjure the rain, but I felt that framing the ability as shameful and disturbing created good tension. I also thought it would be cinematically interesting to sequence clouds forming this way. 

I can imagine that the concept of this film would be difficult to pitch. How did you get collaborators onboard? Did any of the actors have reservations? How do you build trust with your talent to know that they're in safe hands despite the more absurd and crude elements of the story?

I felt pretty strongly that the script was coming from an earnest place, with a keen interest in exploring the Fontaine family, and that the crude elements weren’t employed as spectacle. So a lot of my job as the director was communicating this vision to my collaborators, and it was through lots of practical discussions did they understand how we’d be treating the subject matter. We also had an intimacy coordinator that helped us breakdown the sex scenes so that it felt like we were just following a cookbook. By the time we got to set it all became very technical: you go there, open the window, put your hand in your pants, and the camera will track with you whenever you’re ready. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences? Did you experience much festival rejection? If so, how did you overcome that?

We had Storm Clouds screened at Whammy in Los Angeles and at the Laugh After Dark Festival in Las Vegas. However, the 24 minute runtime and heavy subject matter definitely made it a difficult short to program at festivals. As much as I tried, I never had a chance at getting this movie under 20 minutes. There was a 50 minute cut, 18 minute cut, 10 minute cut, but in the end the story decides how long it should be, and for us that was 24 minutes. 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

There’s so much to learn in challenging yourself to make an extremely short cut of your movie, even if you immediately revert back to the original version. The search for the most distilled version of your story reveals who you are as a filmmaker. The elements you can’t bear to lose, the ones that make your stomach turn when they’re not in the movie, is your voice speaking.

What are you working on now?

I have a new short film titled Early Human Media that will have its festival premiere this March 2026!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I’ve recently come into the movies of American filmmaker Joseph Losey: The Prowler, The Servant, and many other incredible works of his from the 40s and 50s. If you have a blind spot for this era of cinema, please do yourself a favor and start with his movies. 

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STILL GOT IT

Starring Ronald Pickup & Jackie Howe

Written & Directed by Miles Dickinson

Produced by Sam Simmons-Betts & Matt Ashworth

A cheeky Grandpa seizes a moment of freedom while the nurse is out.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Miles Dickinson is a Leeds based filmmaker with a background in commercial production across branded content, TV commercials, radio and social campaigns. He currently works for the University of Leeds as a Production Lead in their Digital Education team. 

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH MILES

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

Thank you for having me. My name is Miles Dickinson and I’m a UK-based filmmaker. It feels strange to describe myself like this because it’s been so long since I last made a film, and so much of my life has changed since I shot this back at the start of 2019. I started out making short films and music videos after graduating from university in 2015. Over time, I slowly moved away from narrative filmmaking and into agency life, working in commercial production across branded content, TV commercials, radio and social campaigns. During the pandemic, my wife and I relocated from London to Leeds, and sadly the filmmaking side of my life gradually faded away.

Short films have always been a really important part of my development, though, and I’ve often said that one day I’d return and make another short. Some of my best memories are scraping money together and working with friends to create something we felt was worth sharing with the world. That’s exactly what this film is. A passion project made between friends, and at the time it was an opportunity for me to continue honing my writing and directing skills. I made Still Got It over seven years ago, but it genuinely feels like yesterday. Making short films gave me the freedom to experiment with tone and storytelling, while also focusing on performance, pacing and visual language, all without the pressure of scale or commercial clients.

Tell us about the genesis of Still Got It. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

The idea came from spending time with my grandparents and noticing how much of their identity had quietly faded from view as they got older. You meet someone late in their life and you rarely get any sense of who they were before age, illness or routine took over. I kept thinking about how many elderly people are walking around with entire histories, passions, talents and stories that never get acknowledged. With Still Got It, I wanted to tell a story that reveals that hidden inner life in a playful way, rather than something overly sentimental or bleak.

Once I landed on the idea of an older man secretly dancing, the rest of the film grew quite naturally around that. The relationship with Karen, his daughter and carer, became the emotional framework. She isn’t a villain; she loves him. But her care has become controlling. This dynamic gave the film both its humour and its heart. The film I made before Still Got It was called Orchid, which also featured an elderly character. That film was much more serious in tone, exploring grief. After making these two films, it became clear to me that I’m drawn to hidden stories and the emotional depth that comes with ageing and having most of your life behind you. I’m drawn to themes of nostalgia, memory and past experience. You learn things about yourself when you make films!

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Still Got it and how did you overcome them? 

One of the biggest challenges was working with an elderly lead and building a physically demanding dance sequence around him. Ron Pickup was extraordinary, and it was an absolute privilege to work with such an established actor, especially at that early stage of my career. Ron did'nt have to say yes to this film. He chose to do it purely to support me as a young filmmaker, and he did so with immense generosity and kindness. He worked without any ego, without expectation, and with total commitment to the story. Over the course of the shoot, Ron and I became genuine friends, and that trust was fundamental to how the film came together.

Because of his age and the physicality required, his safety was always the priority for us. We approached the dance sequence with careful planning, rehearsal and flexibility, adapting the choreography and coverage to suit Ron rather than forcing the performance to meet a preconceived idea. That allowed the scene to feel joyful and liberated while remaining safe and respectful.

Still Got It became one of Ron’s final screen performances before his tragic passing, which makes the film incredibly special to me. He was a kind, gentle soul, and I feel truly honoured that I had the opportunity to work with him and to capture such a beautiful, playful performance so late in his life.

Another major challenge for me was working with a Director of Photography whom I’d not worked with before, whose creative approach was different to mine. Due to scheduling, I hadn’t been able to spend much time with him prior to the shoot, as I normally would with DoPs I’d previously worked with. On set, we had different ideas around framing, blocking and action, which threw off my process. I’m not taking anything away from his clear talent and all of his ideas were strong, but in my inexperience I didn’t know how or when to push back on those differing opinions. It was a valuable learning experience because, ultimately, I do wish that I’d held firm and stuck to my storyboard. You live and learn!

There were also the usual short-film realities: an extremely tight budget, limited shoot days and a small crew. But we were lucky to have an incredibly committed team who genuinely believed in the project. That belief made a huge difference, and everyone went the extra mile to make sure the film felt polished and emotionally honest.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights?

We didn't screen the film at any festivals. Mainly due to financial restrictions! It's amazing that the film is now starting to be seen all these years later. 

We understand that you've sat on this project for quite a while before releasing it online. Would you mind telling us why?

Yes, it's been in a metaphorical dusty box for many years! In all honesty, for a long time I really wasn't proud of this film. I must stress that my disappointment is not a result of any lack of talent or ability in my crew. Far from it. I was blown away by the quality of work they brought to this. I was just disappointed in the decisions I made during the creation of the film and the direction I took it. I felt for a long time that it didn't represent my original vision, and I was frustrated that I'd decided to take a departure from a style of filmmaking I'd worked so hard to hone in my other works.

Letting it breathe allowed me to gain some distance from it and start to appreciate it for what it is, rather than constantly thinking about what I would have changed. All these years later, I now smile when I watch it because these are great memories for me, and I really am now proud of what we achieved with it. Yes, it's not exactly how I'd imagined it, but it has plenty of charm, it looks beautiful, and it's an entertaining short film – in my humble opinion, of course!

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Great question! My advice would be to work with people more talented than you. When you find them, reach out, be genuine, meet with them, become friends, and make sure that you're creatively aligned. Don't be afraid to send scripts to agents, ask for favours, and wheel and deal. So many of my opportunities came from this way of thinking. I learned so much by surrounding myself with people who were better than me, who had more of an education in the arts than I did. I desperately wanted to study Film Directing at the prestigious National Film and Television School. I applied every year for about five years and heard nothing back. So instead, I decided to work with alumni from the school on many of my short films – what's the difference?

What are you working on now?

Nothing at the moment! Who knows, being selected for KINO's Weekly Pick might bring my inner filmmaker back to the surface. Maybe it's time to dig out some of my old scripts and go again...

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I've been out of the game for a long time now so nothing hot off the press to recommend. But, doing some digging back through my old liked shorts on vimeo I've found a couple worth mentioning here. Hala (2016) by Minhal Baig is fantastic. I absolutely love Mixtape Marauders (2018) by Peter Edlund. Milton (2019) by Tim Wilkime is great fun too. My good friend Mark Van Heusden makes great films too. 

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CRUSTS

Directed by Alfie Dale | Written by Ben Ferrity

Produced by Archie Sinclair, Chuckie McEwan, Ben Jacob-Smith & Ben Ferrity

Words and sandwiches are shared round a grave as an Irish family tries to grieve the untimely death of a loved one.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Alfie Dale is an award winning director from London. He is drawn to character driven films. Alfie’s last short was 'My Brother Is A Mermaid' premiered at the BAFTA qualifying Iris Prize Film Festival, where it won Best British Short Film, the Audience Award and the Youth Jury AwardThe film went on to win the main prize at the BAFTA qualifying Norwich Film Festival, received a Special Mention at Academy Qualifying Flickerfest, and won Best Short at The Casting Director’s Association Awards. The film received nominations at over 15 other BAFTA/Academy qualifying festivals, and played at over 50 other festivals globally, picking up several more awards, before being picked up online by Director’s Notes and Omeleto.

Ben Ferrity - Born and bred in Belfast, Ben is a Northern Irish Writer-Producer with a passion for using comedy drama as a means to explore painful and sensitive issues. Outside of writing, Ben develops and script edits TV dramas and feature films as a Development Executive for Working Title Films. His credits include The Iron Claw (A24), The Zones of Interest (A24), Sherwood (BBC1), Six Four (ITVX), and the hit true crime documentary series Accused: Guilty or Innocent (A&E Networks).

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH BEN

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Tell us about the genesis of Crusts. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

Crusts was inspired my (Ben's) family's experiences with grief and loss. Before I had ever been to a wedding I'd unfortunately been to too many funerals to count and I always found myself remembering the awkward mundane chatting over shitty sandwiches after the burial rather than any of the service or outpourings of grief and I thought there was something profoundly funny and sad about that - about getting emotional remembering an egg and cress sandwich as a touchpoint for someone's funeral. 

Northern Ireland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world and if you speak to anyone there they've likely experienced it or know someone closely who has. Grief is always experienced individually and it's particularly stark after a suicide. The characterS in Crusts are loosely based off members of my own family and their reactions to a tragic death. Some prefer to go into overdrive with busying themselves rather than sit with their pain, others like to make light of tragedy as a shield, some are angry at the circumstances of the death, and others may just be too young to fully process things. 

I wanted to combine these two elements - the banality of some our rituals surrounding death and the individual grieving processes of others that sometimes collide - into a snapshot that captured how I felt when a family member of mine tragically passed away and that's when I came up with the idea and setting for Crusts. I got emotional once walking through a graveyard on my way back from work eating a crappy meal deal sandwich. It made me remember my uncle for some reason and I knew there and then what the final scene of the film would be. Eating and crying. It's oddly cathartic. 

Once you had the script how did you go about finding your key collaborators

Alfie and I met at one of CenterFrame's networking events and together pitched the film to a community of filmmakers who then voted to allocate funding.

I was aware of Alfie’s commercial work and the success of his previous BAFTA Long listed short MY BROTHER IS A MERMAID. After securing funding with CenterFrame, Alfie introduced us to Grey Moth who have a brilliant track record of producing some of the UKs top short films. That's how we met Archie and Chuckie - such a pleasure to work with and bring on as producers. Their relationships with crew, kit houses, and post production facilities was instrumental and they were just a delight to have on board throughout!

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Crusts and how did you overcome them? 

Honestly, the weather. We wanted to strike an beautiful, slightly jarring, slightly ethereal aesthetic for the film and once we found the church in Ballintoy it was clear that we needed to shoot there at whatever costs. Unfortunately, up on the North Coast of Ireland, one moment you've got thick fog where you can't see a metre in front and then next it's splitting sunshine as we encounter. Makes continuity a nightmare but in the end it was differently worth it for the scenery!

The other big obstacle was cast. We were so drawn to Claire, Anna, Louis, and Riona as performers that once we'd seen their tapes we would have moved heaven and earth to make sure their availabilities all matched up. Especially with Louis and Riona, who play the younger characters Fergal and Sorcha, you need actors with such incredibly maturity to pull off those complex emotional shifts and so we felt very lucky to have found such rising stars.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

We couldn't have done as well as we have on the festival circuit without the support and knowledge of Grey Moth Films who have had such success with their other short films, and of CenterFrame, who have boldly reframed how short films can secure funding.

The funding from CentreFrame enabled us to apply to a substantial number of festivals (and make the film itself!) which, combined with Grey Moth's understanding of the market, enabled to screen the film in numerous countries, at Oscar, BAFTA, and BIFA qualifies across the world, pick up several awards, and have the film Longlisted for the British Independent Film Award for Best Short. All of that helped us secure a final home for the film on Omeleto which we couldn't have been happier about and it's been amazing to see online audiences engage with the film and comment such lovely feedback to us!

A festival highlight would have to be Fastnet Film Festival in Cork. They turn the whole village into a cinema, with pubs, churches and even farms putting up screens. It's also a complete laugh with everyone at the pub in between screenings, whether you're Paul Mescal or a first time filmmaker!

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

Keep your short short! There are times when shorts need be over 15 minutes but most of the time you're going to better retain your audience (and likely have better success with festival programmers) when they're under that runtime. If you can spare it, a little payment for the crew - even if it's symbolic - across the board can go a long way to creating a fun, productive atmosphere on set. Oh and make sure you don't skimp on catering!

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

I love shorts when they have a sense of scale - whether in the backdrop, genre, or ambitious premise. Some of my favourites are below: 

- Meat Puppet by Eros V 

- The Golden West by Tom Berkely and Ross White 

-  Le censeur des reves by Leo Berne

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The World Beyond Me

Written & Directed by Ashwin Agrawal

Produced by Julia Verdin

In the unforgiving world of Kamathipura, Mumbai’s notorious red-light district, a young woman clings to fragile moments of hope while trapped by sex-debt bondage in the grip of her ruthless pimp.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Ashwin Agrawal is a Mumbai-based indie filmmaker. He studied filmmaking at the Sundance Collab Program and Raindance Film School, and is currently mentored by Peter Markham, the renowned filmmaking coach from the AFI Conservatory.

His first short film, Crossroad, won numerous awards at international film festivals. His debut feature, Broken Mirror, received recognition at the Los Angeles Film Awards in 2024. He also won the Audience Choice Award for his short film Half a Bite at the Emerging Lens Cultural Film Festival in Canada, a Canadian Screen Award-qualifying festival.

As an independent filmmaker, Ashwin often seeks collaboration to reduce the cost of production while building meaningful creative connections. He believes filmmaking is an multi-functional craft, where every person involved is essential to the life of the film.

Under Peter Markham’s mentorship, Ashwin has delved deeply into the craft of cinematic storytelling—studying the rarely taught discipline of narrative point of view and its articulation on screen. His work explores the flow of energy within a film, the resonance of images, tonal shifts, and the shaping of theme through cinematic language.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ASHWIN

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

I am an acting coach and film director based in India. I began my filmmaking journey in 2022 with my short film Crossroad, which I wrote and directed, casting my own students in the lead roles. The film performed well across several smaller festivals and marked the start of my directorial path.

Following that, I directed my first feature film, Broken Mirror, a story centered on body dysmorphia. The film reached the final stages of consideration at Directors’ Fortnight but, though it did not make the official selection, the experience deeply shaped my artistic growth.

I went on to direct The World Beyond, and soon after, I joined the Sundance Collab program for film directing. There, I met my current mentor, Peter Markham — a former AFI Conservatory coach and teacher of acclaimed director Ari Aster. I have been training with Peter remotely for over a year now, and his guidance has significantly refined my craft and cinematic vision.

Most recently, I directed a poetic short film titled Where the Waves Forget. Peter Markham loved the film and is serving as its Creative Consultant, continuing to mentor me on the project’s artistic development.

Tell us about the genesis of The World Beyond Me. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that’s now made its way out into the world?

One ordinary day, I parked my car near Mumbai’s Kamathipura at 4 PM and noticed a sex worker standing by a wall. When I returned at 8 PM, she was still there—her face weary, her expression sombre, untouched by the passing hours. That moment struck me deeply. It wasn’t just her exhaustion; it was the realization that her world and mine, though physically separated by mere steps, were universes apart. While I could move freely, she seemed confined to those lanes, locked out of the life many take for granted.

This haunting realization gave birth to The World Beyond Me. I wanted to go beyond the surface, beyond what society sees and labels. Who was she behind the Prostitute Label, behind the weary face and the stereotypes? What were her dreams, hopes, and desires?

Too often, filmmakers dehumanize sex workers, portraying them as mere objects, stripping away their dignity and identity by using derogatory terms like “whore”. I wanted to change that narrative. The World Beyond Me tells the story of Sangam, not as a victim but as a person a woman with a longing for freedom, for something beyond the confines of her world.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making The World Beyond Me and how did you overcome them? 

The biggest challenge was balancing authenticity and sensitivity. We were very mindful of how we portrayed trauma and violence—most of it is conveyed through close-ups of Sangam’s face, focusing on her emotional state rather than the physical acts. Working with a low budget and ensuring that we did justice to the complexity of Sangam’s story also posed logistical and creative challenges, but it was a deeply fulfilling experience.

Another challenge was changing weather we were shooting at the end of rainy season so there was a lot of inconsistency in the lighting conditions.

The budget forced us to get creative. For the crucial beach scenes, our crew stripped down to just the essentials: me on camera, my assistant, and our lead actress. It was a marathon of multitasking—directing, operating the heavy gimbal, and problem-solving with a team of three. We captured the magic, though I felt the strain in my back long after the shoot wrapped.

I did the color grading of the film instead of spending money to hire a color artist and I believe I did pretty good job on that.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

The Jorney was difficult at first some top channels rejected the film and it left me disappointed and then there was this shortframe channel in UK they accepted the film and also Klipist another good platform in UK and recently I released it on my own channel and it seems to be doing pretty good for the start.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

The biggest advice I’d give to short filmmakers is: let your film begin as soon as possible skip long opening credits. Don’t make the audience wait to enter your story.

Another common misconception is that you need a “hook” at the beginning. Many filmmakers fall into this trap and end up diluting the authenticity of their work. If you watch Miller & Son, the Oscar-winning short by Asher Jelinsky, who also happens to be my coach there’s no flashy hook. It simply begins with a man going about his daily routine in his father’s garage, yet it pulls you in through truth and tone.

One of the most important yet overlooked aspects of directing is understanding the Narrative Point of View (NPOV) who is taking us through the journey, the emotion, the experience of the story. Sometimes it’s a single character, sometimes two (as in buddy stories), or even an ensemble.

The character we’re aligned with should guide the camera its movement, lens choice, and proximity/distance, sound mix, editing. For instance, in a film like American Honey, the NPOV is with Star, the lead girl. It’s what’s called a “Follow and Accompany” NPOV — the camera travels with her, not just after her.

Another great example is in Blue Valentine: when Ryan Gosling’s character pleads not to break up, he’s shot in a close-up — we’re emotionally close to him. Michelle Williams, however, is framed in a medium-wide shot, distancing her both emotionally and visually. Their differing shot sizes express their relational distance.

There’s a lot more to explore in understanding NPOV — it’s one of the most powerful tools a director has to make the audience feel exactly what they intend.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Miller & Son – Short film – Student Oscar winner – Helps understanding how tonal shift happens in film

Contrapello – Short film – Oscar Nominee – Helps understand how simple story with 2 simple location can carry so much depth

Roma- To understand NPOV – 3 rd person objective and 3 rd person intimate only it never shifts to other NPOV styles like first person or other.

Nomadland- Amazing acting great microstories on face and blend of documentary fiction storytelling.

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THE PEARL COMB

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Written & Directed by Ali Cook

Produced by Ross Williams & Matthew James Wilkinson

In 1893, a fisherman’s wife becomes the first person to cure someone of tuberculosis. A doctor, intent on proving a woman’s place is in the home and not practising medicine, investigates - only to discover the source of her unearthly power.

ABOUT THE FILM

The Pearl Comb was an Official Selection at our 2025 BIFA Qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival, having been nominated for 6 awards, and winning Best Production Design and Best Cinematography.

It premiered at FrightFest and Tampere, making quite a dent in the festival circuit. Highlights include winning a Méliès d’Argent Award – Best European Fantastic Short Film at Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival, winning Best Cinematography & Best Horror Short at Flickers Rhode Island’s Vortex, winning Best After Hours Short at Cleveland International Film Festival, and many, many more…

The film was recently Oscar Shortlisted and BAFTA Longlisted.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

The Pearl Comb follows Cook’s BAFTA-longlisted short The Cunning Man, which screened at 88 international festivals, including Cinequest, FrightFest, Cleveland, and the BAFTA- and BIFA-qualifying Norwich Film Festival, winning 33 awards and earning a Méliès d’Argent nomination.

Cook first broke out as a writer-performer with seven of his own comedy series, including Channel 4’s Dirty Tricks, which was nominated for a British Comedy Award. As an actor, he is known for playing Sgt. Paul McMellon in the BAFTA-nominated Kajaki and as series regular DCI Simmons in Ragdoll for AMC/BBC One. He will soon appear as Ben in Channel 4’s Falling, written by Jack Thorne.

Cook’s next directorial project will be the feature The Grimoire, co-written with Eric Garcia (showrunner of Netflix’s Kaleidoscope) and produced by Chris Curling at Zephyr Films. Curling has produced more than 60 films, including Oscar-nominated The Last Station, starring Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer and James McAvoy, and The Miracle Club with Maggie Smith and Kathy Bates.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH ALI

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Hi Ali!

We're excited to be featuring The Pearl Comb as our Weekly Pick. Not only because it's Oscar Shortlisted and BAFTA Longlisted, but because it's a film that we believed in even before its recent success. 

Can you tell our audience a bit about yourself and all the hard work tha’s led to this point?

Originally, and for a long time, I was a professional magician. I was very lucky to be on TV as a magician, which is like the holy grail for most of us. I ended up making seven TV series for a company called Objective Productions. My old boss there was Andrew O’Connor who famously invented Peep Show; he’s a very clever TV producer. One day whilst we were making a TV series, he said: “You know I think you’d be a good actor.” And the cameraman said: “I think you’ve got a good face to be a villain”. These comments kind of stuck with me so I started acting, kept writing and here I am.

Tell us about the genesis of The Pearl Comb. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that’s now made its way out into the world?

I’ve always wanted to portray mermaids authentically, as brutal killers like in the original folk tales, not as Disney princesses.

Then I heard the true story of the Edinburgh Seven: The first seven women to qualify as doctors in the UK. The medical profession did everything they could to stop them from practicing and the female doctors of that time had to come up with inventive lies to justify the work they were doing by claiming to be midwives or natural healers.

It felt like the right time to bring these stories together - especially now, when there’s a bigger conversation happening around gender, power, and the way women have historically been overlooked, misunderstood, or even seen as threatening or strange, just for being different.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced during the making of the film? 

Creating a convincing mermaid on screen!

Also, the mermaid shooting out of the water during the boat scene springs to mind. It’s such a pivotal scene and the sequence was shot in a studio, with all the water effects achieved digitally. The challenge of creating that moment, making the digital effects blend seamlessly with the performance, gave me a whole new appreciation for how visual storytelling can transform a scene.

How did you overcome them? 

It took months of discussion and inventive work with the SFX and VFX teams. I had to trust my imagination and the brilliance and experience of the team. When you believe in your instincts and you surround yourself with people who bring their own spark, the work starts to flow naturally.

Can you talk a bit about your process and how you balanced your performance with your role as director?

Preparation was crucial for me so that once I was in front of the camera, I could fully focus on the performance. I also found it invaluable to have someone I trust watching the monitor and giving me feedback, which I did.

Being an actor myself, I know how vulnerable it feels when all eyes are on you. Therefore, I know the best approach is to constantly reassure your actors and give them encouragement. Strangely, being in the ring with the other cast makes it feel more like a team effort for me, as if we’re all in it together. It really works well.

Who was the first collaborator to come on board the project and how did their early adoption help propel you forward?

Our storyboard artist Daniel O’Donnell-Smith and Koala FX.

We knew from the outset that the project would involve a significant amount of VFX, so it made sense for us to get to grips with this early on. Having a tight shot list allowed us to have conversations with Koala at an early stage and work out how to approach the work as economically as possible while still giving the story what it demanded.

Can you chat about your producers Ross and Matthew, how they came aboard the project and what they brought to the table?

I first met Ross on a short film I wrote called The Cunning Man. He did such a fantastic job that I knew I wanted to collaborate with him again on this project. When Ross had to jump on to the series Funny Woman, Matt Wilkinson came on board.

I’ve known Matt for years and have acted in several of his films. Even though this project was a short, he treated it the same as a feature and held me accountable to a tight shoot and post-production schedule. It really felt like I was responsible for delivering and that was a good push.

If I’ve done my research correctly, I believe you premiered at FrightFest, yes? How was that experience?

Yes, FrightFest was our first screening and UK premiere. Being recognised by one of the world’s top-reviewed genre festivals means so much. Genre films often push boundaries and take risks, and to have our work acknowledged in that space was so exciting.

At the same time, we premiered at Tampere Festival in Finland which is known for high-end art-house cinema. So, it was an honour to play both on the same weekend.

A lot of filmmakers believe they need to hit the world’s top festivals first. They often blow their submissions budget in the Sundance level festivals, and they wait to submit to (or skip altogether) second tier/genre/community festivals. But that doesn’t seem to be the approach you took. 

The Pearl Comb has played quite a range of festivals, almost like working your way up the circuit. Can you chat about the approach you took to festival submissions?

I worked with Rebekah at Film Festival Doctor and trusted her strategy. We mainly hit the genre festivals first. When we started getting reviews that this is just as much a drama as a fantasy, we showed it to the drama festival organisers to expand the range of festivals. We just wanted to get it as far and wide as possible. Anything else was a bonus.

The festival circuit is a whiplash whirlwind - doldrums of rejection vs peaks of awards.

Most filmmakers can’t help but to compare themselves to their peers since we all advertise our successes on social media, but oftentimes keep our struggles hush-hush.

During your festival journey, what has been the hardest pill to swallow, and how did you keep going despite that setback?

I’m also a stand-up comedian, and the experience of trying out brand-new material is very similar and can feel quite scary! Ultimately, you have to say that new joke on stage and the audience either love it or they don’t. It’s the same with a short film. The overall motivation to keep going is that when it does kick in, it’s the greatest feeling in the world!

And now the question everyone has been waiting for... How did you manage to get your film released on Disney+ in multiple countries?

By the time the film had built momentum on the festival circuit, we already felt very happy with where things were. Then I came home one day to an email with an offer to stream on Disney which was completely unexpected. All interest is fantastic, but this was especially exciting.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing emerging filmmakers at the moment, and as someone who’s been able to cut through the noise, what advice would you give to those hoping to follow in your footsteps?

My advice would be to get the story right first within the genre you are trying to master. Even if it’s a film you make on your iPhone with a budget of £500; if it’s a great story with great dialogue it doesn’t matter. The number one issue is people often shoot something where they have a premise or a theme, but no real story or ending.

What aspirations do you have for what’s next?

I have a supernatural horror feature, The Grimoire, in pre-production with Zephyr Films so we’re heading full steams towards that!

How helpful has The Pearl Comb been in getting you on a trajectory of being able to actualise those aspirations?

This was the first film I’ve directed, and pardon the pun, I threw myself in at the deep end by taking on a high-end project with a lot of VFX. I wanted to see if I could handle that level of pressure. Now that I have that experience behind me, and with the encouraging response the film has received, I feel reassured both in myself and in showing others that I can do it again.

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Dear Departed

Written & Directed by Lauren Sims

Produced by Louise Dennett & Richard Sims

A girl who recently lost her Grandfather discovers a hidden post office where you can send and receive letters to a loved one who has passed on, but, she receives the wrong letter.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Lauren Sims is a writer, director and editor residing in Hampshire. She graduated last year from Ravensbourne University with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Film Production. She has recently founded her production company 'Blue Bucket Productions' with her family.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH LAUREN

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

I’m Lauren and I am an independent filmmaker from Alton.

I am one of the founders of the production company Blue Bucket Productions and the writer/director and editor of Dear Departed. I am a huge film nerd and would live in the cinema if I could. I also love to play the piano, I composed most of the melodies used in the film that our talented composer, Gary Bamford, turned into the beautiful score that it is. 

Tell us about the genesis of Dear Departed. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

The whole genesis of Dear Departed is a letter that I wish I could send to my Grandpa. We lost him almost 3 years ago. There is so much I didn’t get to say. I was on a train thinking about what I would say to him if I could write him a letter that he could receive. Any one who knows me, knows that I am constantly creating stories in my head and looking for the film in everything. So I thought, no one is going to watch a short film about me writing and receiving letters from my Grandpa, where is the story? So I came up with the main protagonist gets the wrong letter and two families are entwined. The floating letters was one of the first things I came up with. I made a pitch deck and pitched it to my dad. I had magical post office stills and The Grinch post office for inspiration. Now, in our family, they will give me their honest opinion. So when my dad told me he loved it I knew I had something. Dear Departed was really born when my grandma said let’s do it. Then we started this magical and crazy whirlwind. 

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Dear Departed and how did you overcome them? 

One of the main obstacles was making a fantasy world with floating letters on a budget. My mum and I sourced props all over charity shops and a family member even found the golden letterbox whilst on a trip in yorkshire. My dad and boyfriend made the post office door and my sister, who also plays the lead, painted it. 

I also had a very delicate subject matter in which it was a year since he passed and the main character, Paige, is based on my sister and myself. The funeral scene was done in one take, from a director’s point of view, it was a perfect take because of the raw emotion. But from a sister’s point of view, it was heart breaking. I was quite distanced emotionally from the reality of the story because I had written it and had created the world. But moments like that affected me massively on set. We overcame this as a team and a family. 

Time for shooting the post office was also a big obstacle over two days. the original idea was to wallpaper the whole room, then our DP, Scarlett, came up with the amazing idea of rotating the set 90° for each angle we needed, so the four walls you see of the post office, is the same wall! 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release. 

We’ve had the most incredible journey of getting our film to audiences and I am so so grateful. We had the premiere at the REEL cinema in Farnham where we celebrated with cast, crew, family and friends from all over. The fact that everyone was there that evening to support us overwhelmed me in the best way. You can tell I had the best time beause I barely took any pictures! I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of submitting to film festivals through FilmFreeway. Some of my favourite highlights is definitely attending Wellsboro film festival in America. Ollie, my boyfriend, and I went there for a few days where I got to be with my people. Talking film all weekend was a dream and you could tell the festival organisers truly cared about independet film. Being nominated for Best Indie Short Film at the Cannes Film Awards in Nice this year and attending the Birmingham Film Festival gala where I was nominated for Best First Time Filmmaker was also a whirlwind. Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton were also amazing to attend and run by truly passionate organisers. A big highlight for me was when a woman at the Crystal Palace film festival came up to me after our screening and said how moved she was and said ‘I’m going to go write my letter when I get home’. Getting the film on Amazon Prime Video was also a very proud moment! 

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

 My advice is use who you know. I used my whole family; from my dad being executive producer to my mum being script supervisor and props master. What locations do you have access to? Our local bookshop, Goldfinch and St.Peter’s church, where I attended at primary school, were all a huge help and we used my families house for many scenes. 

Use creative ways to screen your film. We used the church we filmed in for a screening and Q&A and opened it up to the public. 

BTS is golden. We made a bts film that we showed at our premiere, audiences want to see how you made it and you need stills for promotion. 

Prep prep prep and know what you want. If you don’t have the answer, communicate and say you’ll get back to them when you know. 

Never keep your actors in the dark, go straight up to them after a scene. 

Just reach out to people, what’s the worst that can happen? 

Never stop developing your craft and learning, my friend and I went to the Raindance Saturday Film school a few weeks ago and we left so fired up that we’ve now written a short film we’re co-directing and producing together early next year!

I was made to make movies and want to keep making them, so please feel free to reach out as there are movies to be made! 

Any film recommendations? 

 Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City’ was a big inspiration for me. The black and white scene with Margot Robbie pulls at my heart strings through the beautiful score and symmetrical camera shots and I wanted to convey the same feeling in my film. 

Films that have stuck with me over the years have been ‘A Promising Young woman’, ‘The Iron Claw’, ‘Anora’ and ‘The Brutalist’, I think everyone should watch them. 

I recently watched ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’ and how did I wait so long? It’s brilliant and I can’t wait to watch it again.

‘Sinners’, ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘Weapons’ and ‘I Swear’ have been my highlights in cinema this year. 

I personally think that last year was outstanding for movies and I can’t wait to see what 2026 brings.

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Kino Short of the Week - Best of 2025

In 2025 our Kino Short of the Week series featured shorts of all genres ranging from drama to comedy, from fashion films to documentaries and more. 

We continued to feature films on a non-exclusive basis, including distributing films via our own channel and, to help maximise viewership for filmmakers, helped support releases from Omeleto, Dust, and Directors Notes as well as those filmmakers who chose to self-distribute on their own channels.

We of course think every film we selected is worth a watch, but here’s 10 films from our online distribution platform that stood out this year!

10. MILKING THE DOG

Directed by Joe Murphy

Produced by Joe Murphy & Clare McCahery

Phil Rochester battles to conquer Manchester's toughest standup contest, revealing the relentless drive of an artist to perform - even when he's not thanked by audiences for doing so.

9. BUSY

Written & Produced by Megan Smith

Directed by Jane Moriarty

Emma-Leigh and her friends decide to put their next date in the diary, but it proves harder than they anticipate.

8. PLOP

Directed & Produced by Darius Shu

Written by Arron Blake

A desperate woman from the society of rejected singles, known as the Leftovers, takes a bold leap of faith on a revolutionary new dating app, risking everything for one last chance at love.

7. FREEDOM TO BE ALONE

Written & Directed by Alexandre Laurent

Produced by Maël Hajos

Jade opens up through a poem, sharing her story of an intense relationship with a former lover, marked by a toxic hold fuelled by stereotypes and the societal pressure to avoid being alone. Their breakup, far from being a tragic end, becomes a liberation a journey back to herself where solitude emerges as a soothing and healing remedy.

6. DECKSDARK

Written, Directed & Produced by Kane Wilson

Co-Produced by James Freeman

In a dystopian realm where consciousness is encased within neural implants, Logan, a solitary Decksdark, finds himself intertwined with an ethereal entity.

5. AMIGO

Directed by James & Harrison Newman

Written by James Newman & Tom Waterhouse

Produced by Guy Lindley

'Amigo', the rent-a-friend app has taken London by storm. An unfriendly Amigo's life comes crashing down when he finds out his life is a lie.

4. FLORESCENCE

Written and Directed by D I • A L  (Alice Gatti & Diego Indraccolo)
Produced by Peter Wilson

A visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of the cultural, biological, and symbolic roles that flowers play in our understanding of gender and sexuality. Blending elements of a fashion film, short documentary, and experimental visual essay, Florescence dismantles the simplistic, often gendered associations that flowers have been assigned throughout history.

3. CONTEMPORARY

Directed by Zaeem Asad

Produced by Emma Raz

This short documentary explores the transformative power of art through the stories of three groundbreaking UK-based artists—Denai Moore, a vegan Jamaican chef revolutionizing cuisine; Mr Cenz, a graffiti artist reshaping urban landscapes; and Bimini, a drag performer pushing the boundaries of identity and performance.

2. SATISFACTION

Directed by Bailey Tom Bailey

Written by Christopher Buckley

Produced by Marek Lichtenberg & Nathan Craig

Georgian England. A society lady raises her pistol to duel with her aristocratic mentor over a grave insult.

1. ALONE ACROSS GOLA

Written, Directed & Produced by Jude Kriwald

Edited by Christian Burnett

This gripping short documentary follows Jude’s extraordinary solo journey through Liberia's dense Gola rainforest - a landscape uncharted by roads or paths, where every step meant battling through thick undergrowth with nothing more than a bicycle and a tent.

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SHORTS CLOSE TO HOME

Kino is of course run for the benefit of filmmakers, by filmmakers.

While it didn’t quite feel right patting ourselves on the back for our own work by including these in our Top 10, we’re proud of our Kino Original work from festival director & CEO Dustin Curtis Murphy, the work of our Senior Festival Programmer Gillian Harker and Festival Programmer Mark van Heusden.

JINX

EVERYTHING IS OUT TO GET ME

I UNDERSTAND

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Decksdark

Written, Directed & Produced by Kane Wilson

Co-Produced by James Freeman

In a dystopian realm where consciousness is encased within neural implants, Logan, a solitary Decksdark, finds himself intertwined with an ethereal entity.

ABOUT THE FILM

DECKSDARK first came across our desk when it was in post-production and seeing completion funds via our Short Film Fund. We shortlisted the projected, and while it did not win the funding, we screened the film at the 2025 edition of our BIFA qualifying film festival as part of the Lovers & Ones That Got Away screening block which featured exclusively films either produced via our fund (a.k.a. “Lovers“) or shortlisted for our fund (a.k.a. “Ones That Got Away“).

Other festival highlights include winning Best Short Made in Wales at the BAFTA-qualifying Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, winning several awards at BIAFF, and winning the Big Picture Film Festival. It was nominated at SCI-FI LONDON, the BIFA qualifying Sunrise Film Festival, Waco Independent Festival, Northampton Film Festival, and a Smei-Finalist at Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival. The film was handpicked and given 5 Stars at Short Films Matter.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Kane Wilson is a filmmaker from rural Leicestershire, England. Growing up surrounded by open landscapes and quiet spaces shaped his sensitivity to mood, silence, and human behaviour. He began making films as a teenager, quickly gaining recognition for his experimental approach to storytelling and earning Student of the Year in college.

Kane’s films inhabit dystopian worlds that feel uncomfortably close to our own. His work examines how technology reshapes intimacy, memory, and identity, always anchored by an emotional core.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH KANE

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

I’m a UK-based writer and director who came into filmmaking in a fairly hands-on way. I started making shorts young, mostly through trial and error, and that process of experimenting and learning by doing has stuck with me. Early on I realised I was less interested in polish for its own sake and more interested in mood, character, and what sits beneath the surface of a story.

My work often leans toward dystopian ideas, but it’s really about human connection within those worlds, how people cling to intimacy, routine, or escape when systems start to fail them.

I’ve just finished a new film called We Dream in Colour, which has been an incredible experience to make. It pushed me creatively and emotionally in ways I couldn’t fully expect, and I genuinely can’t wait for people to see it and bring their own interpretations to it.

Tell us about the genesis of Decksdark. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

"Decksdark" was born out of my fascination with the rapid advancement of AI and the way technology shapes our lives. We live in an era where the world is completely reliant on technology, and our everyday existence is intricately woven with it. This film explores the desire to break free from that digital grip and live off-grid, away from the pervasive influence of a technology-driven society. Decksdark is a future where escaping that control isn’t easy, and Neural Implants become devices of societal oppression rather than tools for human evolution.

In today’s hyper-connected world, we ironically find ourselves more disconnected from each other than ever. Strangers remain strangers, and our ability to empathise and communicate on a deep, human level is diminishing. I see younger generations losing their connection to nature and their belief in the unexplainable magic of the world around us. Through "Decksdark," I wanted to create a beacon of hope, a reminder that true freedom lies in understanding oneself and reconnecting with the natural world, the only reality that cannot be manipulated by technology.

We're of course very familiar with this film as it was also shortlisted for our Kino Film Fund, and although it didn't win the funding in the end, we did feature it as an Official Selection at our 2025 festival. What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Decksdark and how did you overcome them?

The biggest obstacle on Decksdark was fairly simple but significant: we were filming in a very remote part of Wales, and we only had three days to make the film. That immediately shaped every creative and practical decision.

We got through it with a lot of preparation and a genuinely brilliant crew who were ready to adapt to anything the location threw at us. On the creative side, I designed the story so that character and atmosphere could do most of the heavy lifting, rather than relying on scale. In the end, those limitations pushed us to be more focused, and they played a big part in defining the tone and identity of the film.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

Decksdark had a really strong journey to audiences. It began on the festival circuit, where it was fortunate enough to win at a BAFTA-qualifying Welsh film festival, which gave the film an incredible early boost.

As a fitting send-off to its festival run, the film was then selected to be showcased on DUST, the largest online platform dedicated to sci-fi short films. Seeing it reach a wider audience has been hugely rewarding. It’s now passed 80,000 views, which is far beyond anything I initially imagined for the film.

Licensing popular songs for use in a short film is something that's typically unaffordable for most filmmakers, but you have a pretty amazing story about how you got permission to use the Joy Division track. Can you tell us about it?

A lot of filmmakers shy away from using well-known music because licensing can feel intimidating or completely out of reach, which can be true for some films, but with shorts there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

My approach was to take the time to properly understand how music licensing works for film.

It can feel complex at first, but once you get past that initial barrier, you realise there are people on the licensing side who genuinely want to help independent filmmakers, especially when it comes to short films.

Once you’ve made contact, I’d always suggest arranging a quick ten-minute phone call and simply shooting your shot. Speaking to someone directly makes the process feel far more human, and that personal connection often goes a long way in building trust and opening doors.

With Decksdark, I initially secured a licence that covered the festival run only. When the opportunity came to release the film on YouTube, I was worried that extending the licence would come with huge additional costs. Instead, I found the process long, but straightforward, and the agreement could be extended without dramatically changing the deal. That experience really changed how I think about using existing music in independent films.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

I’ve always been drawn to telling stories where the world feels bigger than the film itself, so audiences leave wanting more. No matter where an idea starts, whether it’s a concept, a character, or even a piece of music - my biggest advice is to keep bringing your focus back to character. Ask yourself what you’re actually trying to say to the audience through that character’s journey.

I’d also say: don’t rush casting. Getting the right actor changes everything. When the performance is right, the film opens up in ways you can’t always plan for, and your role as a filmmaker shifts from controlling every detail to discovering new possibilities within the story.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist? Give us one Hollywood feature, one short, and one indie feature.

Go and watch Children of Men if you haven’t. If you have, watch it again. And if you can recite most of the scenes like I can, drag someone along and insist they experience it with you. Who you watch a film with, completely changes how it lands, and Children of Men manages to give you something new every single time.

For a true indie feature that inspired parts of Decksdark, I’d recommend The Survivalist. It uses its environment brilliantly, feels properly lived-in, and features some fantastic performances - including a very early, very memorable Mia Goth.

For a short film, check out Dogbone by Austen Taylor Pease. It’s a film that pulls every possible emotion out of its central character and delivers something genuinely honest. Austen and his team are absolutely ones to watch.

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Alone Across Gola

Written, Directed & Produced by Jude Kriwald

Edited by Christian Burnett

Alone Across Gola is an award-winning adventure documentary by debut filmmaker Jude Kriwald. This gripping short film follows Jude’s extraordinary solo journey through Liberia's dense Gola rainforest - a landscape uncharted by roads or paths, where every step meant battling through thick undergrowth with nothing more than a bicycle and a tent.

His clothes drenched with sweat, Jude carried his 53kg bike over fallen trees, navigated ravines with collapsed bridges, and faced life-threatening moments. It’s an adventure that pushes the limits of endurance, self-reliance and the human spirit, and often has Jude asking “is this route even possible”, all whilst filming the endeavour totally unsupported.

The film goes beyond clichés of gnarly adventure to offer a reflection on the struggles of pursuing childhood dreams that often get sidelined by the pressures of modern life. Through moments of profound introspection, Jude’s journey asks: What happens when we step off the beaten track of our careers and everyday routines to follow the dreams we thought we’d left behind?

ABOUT THE FILM

ALONE ACROSS GOLA won Best Micro-Budget Short at our BIFA qualifying film festival this past summer 2025. Other festival awards highlights include winning Best Short Documentary at the London Global Film Awards and Best Documentary at Phoenix Rising Film Festival and Feel the Reel Film Festival. It was nominated for Best Documentary at Cambridge Short Film Festival and selected for the Royal Geographical Society Preview - Explore Symposium.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Jude Kriwald is a first-time filmmaker from Bristol, UK. An experienced explorer, he has recently turned his hand to creating his first short film, a documentary edited by award-winning editor Christian Burnett.

Jude was recently named as Emerging Leader of the Year by the British Exploring Society, in recognition of his voluntary work as Basecamp Manager on their summer expedition. The expedition saw Jude and 11 other leaders guide 30 teenagers and young adults from difficult backgrounds on a life-changing and confidence-building two-week expedition in the Scottish Highlands.

In 2012, aged just 19, Jude cycled from England to India through regions such as Afghanistan and Tibet, whilst enduring temperatures as low as -31c and navigating malaria, typhoid, and being held up at gunpoint.

In 2023, Jude has opened his adventures up to the world. He is the founder of AdventureMentor.org, a service which offers free mentoring for people typically under-represented in the world of adventure. Through Adventure Mentor, Jude offers practical support as well as confidence and mindset mentoring to ensure that lack of knowledge, confidence or privilege should never be a reason someone misses out on the life-changing benefits of adventure.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH JUDE

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Hi Jude!

Welcome to our Short of the Week series.

Alone Across Gola isn’t only your debut film, but it was also an Award Winner at our festival this past summer. Impressive debut! Can you tell our audiences a bit about yourself and your background?

I'm an adventurer interested in using challenging trips to explore what drives us, connects us and, sometimes, troubles us. My real passion lies in authentic adventures and I share these through film, public speaking and writing. Alone Across Gola is my first film and has exceeded all my expectations in terms of how much I've enjoyed it and how it's been received!

Let's talk about the genesis of Alone Across Gola.

This is a very personal documentary project. It's more about you documenting your ambitious journey vs scratching a filmmaking desire.

I assume the idea for the trip came before the idea to film it. Can you tell us about how and why you decided to take this journey, and when you decided filming would be a part of it?

Great question! I decided to make the journey through West Africa after ignoring, for too long, a burning desire to get back out in the wild. West Africa seemed like the perfect blend of fascinating cultures, untamed wilderness, and the right amount of large animals to make things exciting. I initially filmed the trip for my own YouTube series that I was editing and producing on the go, from West African hotel rooms. In the end, I got fed up with using my travel time for post production so continued filming and resolved to edit upon returning home.

It was only after having the wild, unexpected and immensely challenging experience on the jungle, the key vehicle of the film, that I decided to create a proper short film. 

We usually ask filmmakers what the main obstacles were experienced when making their films, however, in your case the entire journey is one big obstacle that you had to overcome. Maybe you can chat about how documenting this trip added to the challenges?

That was a pretty unique challenge! I was truly alone in the jungle - no crew or fixers of any sort. So after 12 hours of slogging my bike across jungle terrain each day, often progressing only 7km every 24 hours, I'd have to sit up in my sauna of a tent and spend an hour copying files from my SD cards, onto my laptop and then onto my hard drive at night. That hard drive was the only "copy" I had of any of those files, so I always feared losing it. 

Then there's of course the challenge of setting up tripods before any tough section of the jungle - essential if I wanted to capture the right footage to share the story back home. There were times when the going was just too tough and I didn't film - safety had to come first!

Let's chat about the editing process. Your film has a longer run time for a short, yet it's captivating every minute without a second of run time wasted. How much footage did you walk away with and what stuff ended up on the cutting room floor?

The best decision I ever made was to work with seasoned editor, Christian Burnett. He not only edited the film but mentored me through the whole post-production stage. I ended up with about 100 clips each day to choose from. There are still whole stories and fascinating sections that have never been seen as we were really conscious to keep the flow tight. We even discussed making it a feature film at the start, there was that much footage. On the other hand, once we had a tight cut, one of my favourite parts was going through and working with Christian to add short bits of space for the audience to breathe - it's such a high octane and emotive film that it felt important to allow people to catch their breath and reflect. 

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and online release.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short documentary filmmakers?

The festival circuit was such a journey for me! It started with six straight "no"s but, by the end of its run a year later, I was getting almost all "yes"s, even from the big ones. That just showed to me that, rightly or wrongly, many festivals do look at how your film has performed at other festivals, and I had to build up organically. I also changed my film poster after that first run of rejections, working with a pro to make something more reflective of the film itself, which I think made a huge difference.

It's been such a momentous joy sharing it with audiences, and there are too many highlights to properly choose from. Ones that stand out are picking up the Audience Award at the very first festival I attended (English Riviera) - that meant a lot as all the "judges" were sat in the room with me! To finish, Alone Across Gola ended its festival run by showing at the Grand Rex in Paris, the largest cinema hall in Europe - where it also picked up an award - that was a night I'll never forget! As for its YouTube release, that's just been crazy, especially in terms of the viewing numbers - it's so moving to see people from around the world, that I'd never otherwise reach, resonate with the message and share that back to me.

My best tip would be to make sure you're applying to at least some festivals that are very specific for your niche (in my case mountain film festivals). That's where at least 50% of your selections are likely to come from, plus you'll meet people directly involved in your industry or interests. And don't be too perturbed if you get a load of "no"s at the start! 

What's next for you, in terms of filmmaking?

Honestly, I'm not too sure. I've grown increasingly aware of how filming myself on adventures can detract from having an authentic adventure. I'm very interested in exploring more analogue adventures (e.g. no GPS or phone, navigating with a compass and the stars), so that would either require someone else to film or, alternatively, maybe I'll write about these explorations rather than make a film, we'll have to wait and see! 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Do all you can to see the short film Sand Dancers. I saw it recently at Kendal Mountain Film Festival - it left me inspired, deeply moved and with tears rolling down my cheeks.

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Gone Fishing

Directed by Christopher Deakin

Written & Produced by Paul Ludden

Men of a certain age will generally talk about anything other than their mental health. Ben and Pete are no different.. Two middle-aged mates on their first fishing trip since their friend Marko took his own life, a complete and utter shock to them both. Even the crazy stories, dark humour and piss taking can’t stop them opening up in a way they never expected.

ABOUT THE FILM

GONE FISHING was an official selection at the BAFTA qualifying Bolton International Film Festival, and a Semi-Finalist at our very our BIFA qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival. Other festival highlights include Barcelona Indie Filmmakers Festival, Montpellier Indie Filmmakers Festival, and Madrid Indie Filmmakers Festival. It’s been featured by Film Shortage. Award included Best Actor at Cine Paris Film Festival 2024, Best Short Film & Best Screenplay at Folkestone Film Festival 2025, Best (NW) Short at KINOFilm Manchester International Festival 2025 and Best Director at TMFF.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Paul Ludden is a Writer/Producer from Manchester, he is also the CEO of MancMade Productions. Paul’s third film, Being Billy (starring Con O’Neill) his second with Lee Child as Exec-Producer (they first worked together on The Visit) is currently in post-production.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH PAUL

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

My name is Paul Ludden and I’m the Writer and Producer of Gone Fishing Short. Gone Fishing is the second short film written and produced by me for MancMade Productions. We’ve just finished filming our third short film, Being Billy. That’s in post-production and should be ready for festivals very early part of 2026. In the meantime I’m working on the script for our first feature, inspired by The Visit short film we released a couple of years ago.

Tell us about the genesis of Gone Fishing. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

Gone Fishing is a story that has been running through my mind for a long, long time. It’s actually dedicated to the memory of a friend of mine who took his own life back in the early 90’s. I wrote, produced and directed a “Pod Play” (audio-drama) of Gone Fishing a couple of years ago, released on The Pod Play, a platform I founded to support new writing. The theme was pretty much the same but it was rewritten as a short film because I’m passionate about doing whatever I can to get men to start conversations about their mental health and I wanted to create something that would hopefully resonate with men of a certain “vintage” like me, who are pretty shite about talking about how they feel.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Gone Fishing and how did you overcome them?

As with most short films the biggest obstacle was probably funding. I make sure that everyone involved gets paid a decent day rate. Some people may accept less than normal compared to the bigger productions they’re used to working on, and that was certainly the case for the actors. This was all self-funded and I was also lucky enough to work with partners who were prepared to do whatever they could to work within the budget I had.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

Gone Fishing has had great feedback from festivals around the world. We’re talking about a subject that resonates with lots of people, regardless of language barriers (but with subtitles). The Festival circuit has its issues, no doubt about that. But I’ve found a good few that are absolutely about supporting the films and the filmmakers first and foremost, Kino London Short Film Festival being one, so I recommend those to other filmmakers. In terms of selections there is definitely no exact science but if a festivals heart is in the right place, selected or not, they should be supported.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

My advice to any short filmmakers is always the same. Work with people you want to spend time with and are good at what they do, certainly in terms of crew. Work with different Directors, you can learn something from everyone that will help you. Work with quality actors, don’t just give roles to your mates. Don’t put up with toxicity on any production, life is too short to work with people who are dicks.

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Florescence

Written and Directed by D I • A L  (Alice Gatti & Diego Indraccolo)
Produced by Peter Wilson

Florescence is a visually stunning and thought-provoking exploration of the cultural, biological, and symbolic roles that flowers play in our understanding of gender and sexuality. Blending elements of a fashion film, short documentary, and experimental visual essay, Florescence dismantles the simplistic, often gendered associations that flowers have been assigned throughout history. The eclectic cast adds a rich layer of contemporary perspectives on gender discourse, anchoring the film’s narrative with authenticity and personal insight.

Crafted with a great amount of practical effects and a bit of old school CGI, Florescence juxtaposes serene beauty with violent transformations—drowning, burning, and battering the flowers—as a metaphor for the constraints imposed by societal norms. This relentless and symbolic treatment of flowers serves as a compelling vehicle to question cultural ideals surrounding gender and identity.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

D I • A L is a directing duo formed by Diego Indraccolo and Alice Gatti in 2015. Alice’s and Diego met on commercial sets. They have covered several different roles in advertising as well as non-commercial productions including producing, directing, cinematography, editing and motion graphics. Their experiences together and the chemistry they have found on set has led them to undertake the roles of “director” together. Their work strives to depict reality in an otherworldly atmosphere. They are also a real life couple and they both share an addiction for "Buffy - The Vampire Slayer".

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH D I • A L

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

We are Diego and Alice, a directing duo working under the name of D I • A L.

Alice: I grew up in a small town near Rome in the late 90s, at the peak of the MTV generation, completely obsessed with music videos.

After studying media design I began working across different roles in production: video maker, editor, motion designer, and assistant director, all experiences that now feed directly into my directing work.

Diego: I was born in Naples, Italy, and moved to London at the age of 18, where I pursued my photographic career.

I worked my way up, from assisting to still photographer, then transition into the video, as a director and cinematographer. While I still work as a cinematographer, I am now focusing primarily on directing work together with Alice.

Tell us about the genesis of Florescence. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

It all started in the simplest way possible. We wanted to do something with a different sensibility from the commercial space we work in.

We love flowers and think they are beautiful. We knew they would make an incredible subject matter, but the more we delved into their biology and cultural significance, the more we realised that we had to layer the project with a sense of significance, something that spoke both to their beauty and their symbolism in a meaningful manner.

The gender and sexual perspective came later on and in hindsight it was inevitable all along.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making Florescence and how did you overcome them?

It’s been such a journey.

Funding is always a struggle, which is why we decided to make it into an editorial and self-finance the project. Getting a publication attached means we could have access to models and styling beyond the scope of the project. It also becomes more appealing for getting other professionals involved, both in production and post-production.

Regarding the filming, “Florescence” features many different environments, so one of the main challenges was finding a few locations that could accommodate most scenes without having to move the crew. Aside from the lavender field, we managed to shoot everything in just two locations: one exterior and one interior. We had to get creative and adapt several elements from the original script to make it work.

In the end, every film comes with its share of logistical challenges. It’s part of the game, and also part of the fun.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

Florescence was originally structured and produced to be a fashion editorial for Schon! magazine.

After we started to get an much warmer reception that we had hoped for, we felt that perhaps we had something more powerful in our hands and decided to do a festival run. This again has surpassed all our expectations, not only for the calibre of the festivals we have been shortlisted in, but also for the awards and accolades that it has steadily accumulated.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

That’s really a million-dollar question because we are aware that each path is completely different and impossible to recreate.

Moreover, projects in the “shorts” space are incredible varied and some might require you to look for fundings and would not be possible to produced otherwise whilst others can be done with a tiny crew and a DIY approach.

With this in mind we would only dare to suggest to take the time to understand what makes you happy in the creative process. Do it with love and be nice to people.

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

The latest film we watched and loved as we write this is “Steve” by Tim Mielants.

Other highlights from this year’s releases that truly stood out for us include Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” and Rose Glass’s “Love Lies Bleeding.”

For those who have the chance to see them, we’d also like to recommend two remarkable Italian indie projects that both premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

“Orfeo”, the debut feature by Virgilio Villoresi, a reinterpretation of the Orpheus myth based on a graphic novel. The film blends stop-motion animation and live action to create truly unique, mesmerising visuals, accompanied by an exceptional original score.

“6:06” from Tekla Taidelli is a fast-paced road movie that follows the journey of a minimum-wage worker struggling with substance abuse, joined by Jo-Jo, a mysterious French girl. The film is infused with surreal moments, raw emotion, and genuine heart.

Both films have limited, niche distribution, but we strongly encourage you to seek them out if you have the opportunity. They’re the kind of projects that can be hard to find, imperfect perhaps, but they leave a mark.

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Wolf At The Door

Written & Directed by Ricky Allen

Produced by Lindsay Fraser

Nine-year old Jacob has a vivid imagination, spending hours engrossed in his toys. When he’s disturbed by a stranger’s knock at the door, his world is plunged into uncertainty and his home threatened. With emotions too overwhelming to understand, Jacobs' mind quickly spirals as he grapples to hold on to the people and possessions he loves most.

ABOUT THE FILM

WOLF AT THE DOOR was a Semi-Finalist at our BIFA qualifying Kino London Short Film Festival & Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, and an Honorable Mention at the Beeston Film Festival.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Ricky Allen is an award-winning comedy writer & director who turns the quiet and bizarre rhythms of everyday British life into the absurd. Finding comfort in TV shows such as Father Ted and Spaced from a young age, these early obsessions transported him away from the monotony of eating mince every night, being asked if Ricky is short for Richard (it's not) and waiting for the dial-up modem to connect. His latest comedy short DEATH WISH, about a young girl’s dying wish for her mummy to join her in heaven, won Silver at the Young Director Award in Cannes. Ricky is currently writing a TV pilot about a dysfunctional parish choir and a micro short comedy series 'First in the World'.

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH RICKEY

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Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Tell us a bit about yourself and your filmmaking background.

Hi, I’m Ricky Allen, a filmmaker currently living in London.
My interest in film stems back to my childhood with my dad, where Sunday afternoons were filled with Bruce Lee, Jean-Claude Van Damme and dodgy sci-fi films bought from Poundland. The films were equal parts fascinating and terrifying as I hid behind the couch, peeping over when the blood-curdling screaming had stopped.

Making films wasn’t on my radar until my mid-twenties. I dropped out of school at an early age and before I knew it, I was 19, working at the local Odeon, microwaving hotdogs for customers late for their film. But it was great, I made lifelong friends and got to watch a lot of movies.

Fast forward past a few existential ‘I can’t serve Pick ‘n’ Mix all my life, can I?’ moments and I managed to get a place at college studying music. Suddenly, I was at uni. In my final year, I took a real interest in film after studying The Work of Michel Gondry DVD. For my final project, I made a short film about my dad’s struggles with alcoholism.

But after my education ended, so did the filming. It took a couple of years, and my dad’s passing, before I felt the fleeting fragility of life again. I spent most days in libraries reading about filmmaking, fascinated by directors such as Kurosawa. I shot a skateboard film (Whatever the Weather) that got me onto BBC News and cut my teeth making lots of low-budget music videos. I later moved to London and got a job at Sony Music as one of their in-house directors, making videos for all sorts of artists. I then got a place at NFTS studying  Directing Commercials - this is where I met Lindsay Fraser (Creative Producer), who was an integral part of making Wolf at the Door, my first funded short, along with the majority of the crew.

This year (2025) I won Silver at the Young Director Award in Cannes for my comedy short Death Wish, and I’m currently writing a TV pilot about a dysfunctional choir.

Tell us about the genesis of WOLF AT THE DOOR. Where did the idea come from and how did you develop that idea into the short that's now made its way out into the world?

WOLF AT THE DOOR would still just be a bullet-point note on my laptop if it wasn’t for Lindsay. She’d found a short film competition funded by a company in Manchester called Doodledo and asked if I had any stories. No stories, but a bunch of incoherent musings.

At the time, I was jobless and finances were becoming critical, which had a big impact on my mental health. So the opportunity to write was cathartic and came as a great distraction.

WOLF AT THE DOOR is like one of those core memories that shapes who you are as a person. You don’t necessarily understand why, but it’s there in the background.

It started when my parents were facing one of many financial struggles, and the family home began to attract a lot of intimidating men showing up at the door. Dad would say, “If anyone asks for me, say I’m not in,”. Being ten years old, that just went in one ear and straight out the other. I would have panic attacks and nightmares about men coming to take away our possessions. I really thought it would be all my fault if I slipped up and said my dad was in

After some research, I was disturbed to find this was an issue happening up and down the country, scaring young children when councils send round bailiffs. There was even a research paper that named it WOLF AT THE DOOR.

From there, I spent many months writing and rewriting my experience, trying to capture the isolation of being at home all the time, and how that home could suddenly feel invaded, both by strangers and by my own nightmarish thoughts.

I’d like to give a special thank you to Doodledo, James Torry, Lucy Smith, Duncan Howsley, Joe Spademan and the rest of the team who helped make this film possible. They were amazing with their continued support throughout the whole process.

What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making WOLF AT THE DOOR and how did you overcome them? 

The main obstacle was definitely the child actor. That was our main concern from the start. How do we find a child actor who can give a mature performance?  Luckily, we found Blake Williams, who had featured in a short I had seen from a fellow NFTS student. It was one of those things where it was always going to be him. The film was really blessed to have him in it.

Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences and some of the festival circuit highlights and/or online release.

We premiered at the London Lift Off Film Festival, which was great to be a part of. The film has come very close to some really brilliant festivals, but just missed out, which is a bittersweet feeling - gaining recognition as a semi-finalist at Rhode Island, Kino London and Beeston Film Festival. It’s hard to get noticed and make people love the film you made as much as you do,  so when we were told it was going to be on Kino’s short of the week, me and Lindsay were over the moon.

What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?

I would say - just write as much as possible, even if it’s just a few words of an idea, or something you hear in conversation. You’ll be amazed how much inspiration is out there once you start actively engaging with what you experience in life. 

Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?

Not quite a film, but a series of shorts - Tales of Terror from Tokyo Vol 1. You’ll find a story in there that helped shape Wolf at the Door.

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Jinx

Written, directed & Produced by Gillian Harker

An embittered, young woman discovers she has the power to exact revenge on her ex-boyfreind who has the audacity to move on with another woman.

ABOUT THE FILM

JINX was created for the 2020 Straight 8 competition and placed Top 25. It also won Best Celuloid at Film Only Festival, was an official section at Tweetfest 2020, and was selected by Shiny Network for the New Directors Programme 2021.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER

Gillian is an award-winning writer and director, recognised by Shiny Network as one of the ‘best new directing talents worldwide’. She is a member of Directors UK and specialises in bold, character-driven storytelling.

Her latest short film, Strip the Peacock Bare- starring Abigail Hardingham, Jess Douglas-Welch, Andre Flynn and Simon Phillips- is currently in post-production. Her previous short film, Tackling, premiered at the BAFTA-qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival in 2022. As a writer, she reached the quarter-finals of the Outstanding Screenplays TV Pilot Competition (2024)  with her debut pilot script, 'Blooming Elle.'

Gillian’s debut short, Cross, starring Ryan Hayes, won multiple awards, including Best Male Actor at the BIFA-qualifying Little Wing Film Festival 2019 and the Audience Award at the 20th Keswick Film Festival 2020.

Her Straight 8 films Jinx and Day 60 were selected for the 2020 and 2021 competitions by a judging panel that included Academy Award-winners Asif Kapadia and Robbie Ryan. Her 2021 film Feast screened at several UK festivals, including BIFA-qualifying Little Wing and Kino: The People’s Festival, and was nominated for Best English Short Film at the British Short Film Awards 2021. 

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH GILLIAN

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Welcome Gill!

You’re no stranger to Kino. A few of your shorts have been Official Selections during the early years of our festival, we’ve featured Cross as a previous Short of the Week, and you’ve been programming for KLSFF the past three years.

How has your experience as a film programmer informed your own filmmaking?

My experience as a film programmer has definitely informed my filmmaking, though the influence is sometimes more instinctive which I find harder to articulate. After three years programming at Kino, I’d say I've developed a much sharper sense of what doesn’t work in a film and a real appreciation for not wasting a single second of screen time. The opening has to be strong and decisive, of course, but it also needs a distinct tone, whatever the genre. How to achieve that is the challenge every filmmaker wishes they had a blueprint for.  Whether I'm able to harness that understanding and apply it to my own filmmaking remains to be seen! No film is ever perfect.  

Programming has also reinforced something I've felt almost allergic to: films that lean too heavily on style over substance. I want every creative choice- the aesthetic, the costumes, the production design, etc...- to feel rooted in the world of the story, not just a “let’s make it a bit Wes Anderson here”.  Finding your own distinct voice is hard, and trusting it without being swayed by what looks “cool” is even harder. When I made my latest short, Strip the Peacock Bare, I was really conscious of staying anchored in the roots of the story when making stylistic decisions. Part of the fun for me is always asking why: Why do they wear this and not that? Why does the scene take place here and not somewhere else? Why this choice over that one?

I’d also hope my experience as a programmer will make rejection a little easier to swallow, because I’ve genuinely seen how often we have to make really tough decisions. We’ve rejected films that one (or more) of us have absolutely loved, for reasons completely beyond the filmmaker’s control. Having said that, I don't feel like rejection is ever palatable! 

You’ve also been quite heavily involved with the Straight 8 community, and Jinx was created specifically for their competition. Can you tell us a bit about the competition?

I love the Straight 8 competition and I love talking about it. I’ve recommended it to so many people, especially emerging filmmakers,  I feel like I should be on commission! In a nutshell, you shoot on a single roll of Super 8, which gives you around 2.5 to 3 minutes. Only in-camera editing is allowed, and there’s zero post-production. The sound and score have to be created separately and then synced at the lab, so nailing the timing is everything. It’s really challenging. But so, so fun! It's a wonderful community of filmmakers and I've been so incredibly inspired by many of the Straight 8 films I've seen. 

Sounds quite challenging. How did you find the process, and any tips & tricks for filmmakers looking to try Straight 8?

I absolutely loved making Jinx. Hard to believe it was over five years ago now. It was my first time doing Straight 8 and also my first time working on celluloid, and the process ended up teaching me a huge amount, especially about “show, don’t tell.” Because syncing dialogue is so difficult in Straight 8, I decided early on to make it a silent film, which pushed me to think in a much more purely visual way. With only one roll of Super 8, every frame had to matter and every moment had to move the story forward. Oddly enough, those limitations were incredibly energising.

Acting in it myself added another layer. I felt that in past projects I had been a bit vague with my character intentions, but Straight 8 leaves no room for that- there’s no rescuing a performance in the edit. I had to be very precise about what the character wanted in every single take. And honestly, I loved the chance to lean into something a bit heightened; Super 8 can really embrace slightly over-the-top performances. 

Because you only get one take per shot, rehearsal became a crucial part of the process. I adore rehearsing with actors anyway- it’s where the magic happens- but for Straight 8 it’s basically essential. That would be my number one tip to someone looking to make a Straight 8 film. Rehearse! 

To help with the musical score sync, I also shot and edited a rough proxy version on my phone, which acted as both a storyboard and a pacing guide. It was incredibly useful, and I’d definitely recommend that to anyone attempting Straight 8 for the first time. My 1st AD was really dilligent with helping me keep the pacing accurate for each shot. The whole process is challenging, but if you embrace the constraints, it becomes really fun. 

What’s the inspiration behind Jinx? Would the themes & characters you explore in Jinx have manifested themselves in a digital short had you not done the Straight 8 competition or is there something specific to this story that you felt needed to be told via an 8mm format?

One of my favourite short stories is Thomas Hardy’s 'The Withered Arm'. The ostrasized protagonist learns her ex-lover, and father to her illegitimate child, has just got married to a beautiful, younger woman. Her curiosity and jealously of the new bride quickly becomes a dark obsession and the story takes a gory, supernatural turn with devastating consequences. It's incredible. The seeds of Jinx came from a really and truly dreadful short script I had written based, very loosely, on this brilliant Hardy story, but in a contemporary setting. I soon abandoned that version but the themes of jealousy- particularly between women- loneliness and obsession present in 'The Withered Arm' was something I wanted to keep exploring. I also loved the supernatural element in the original story. 

I did feel Super 8 was naturally suited to a tale with gothic undertones. Its texture and moodiness complement that world beautifully. And, as I mentioned before, Super 8 also lends itself to slightly heightened performances reminiscent of the silent era, which fit the tone of the film perfectly. 

The idea for the doll came from exploring and researching folk magic and witchcraft in Old England. 'Poppets' were dolls made to represent a person, for casting spells on that person- sometimes love spells, but often harmful, vengeful spells. I quite liked the idea of exploring the reasons for wanting to use one of these dolls on someone, and it was particularly fascinating to think about its use for revenge. I wish I had a more scholarly answer as to why I was interested in exploring themes of revenge and jealously at that time, but I had just come out of a long-term relationship so I thought maybe it would be best to channel my heartbreak in a healthy, creative way!! I also wanted to find the dark humour in it all, and hopefully that translates in the final film. 

The characters actually did manifest themselves more becasue of the 8mm and competition restraints. Everything had to come down to the aesthetic.  My mood board for this film was an eclectic mix of visuals. I was really drawn to the work of Edvard Munch too, not just The Scream, but his other works which all depict mental illness, self-loathing, isolation and loneliness in such vividly harrowing, heart-breaking ways. The raw, devastation leaps off the canvas and I wanted to capture some of that in my film. I was really struck by the iconic images of Heath Ledger as The Joker with the smeared red lips, which I echoed for the first moment of possession. I hoped to evoke from that a sense of madness, unbalance and the thirst for violence the protagonist has.  For the choreography and movement visuals, we looked at moments from The Exorcist, and images of contortionists to try to evoke the feeling of violence being inflicted on Maddy's character, and the fear and pain she would be in having been possessed. 

As a short film programmer, what pieces of feedback do you find yourself giving to filmmakers most consistently? How can filmmakers looking to make moves in the short film space avoid common mistakes?

I don’t really know if I give advice. I think most filmmaker can sense what works and what doesn’t when they watch something but it’s much harder to apply to our own work. I would say that the opening few moments in a short film really do matter. If other programmers are like me, they’ll be watching your short on their laptop with a bunch of other films waiting to get seen. I would definitely watch lots of short films, not just features. Watch some early short films from filmmakers that you are inspired by. I think it’s important to watch the early stuff because in most cases you can see the spark but without the finesse which can perhaps be intimidating to grassroots filmmakers. 

You’ve recently wrapped your next short, the ambitious period drama Strip the Peacock Bare. How did production go & can you give us a sneak peak?

I’m really excited to get Strip the Peacock out there. It’s an idea that’s been brewing for about a decade but lay dormant for many years. Production went (mostly) really well. There were really stressful moments at the time, but I look back now and think how much luck was on our side. In terms of a sneak peak, I can't share anything just yet other than a still from the film, but what I will say is that the actors are astonishing. I think we have something really unique to show people. I'm a little apprehensive to talk about it becasue I don't want to 'jinx' anything!! 

Recommendations to add to our watchlist? Give us 1 short, 1 Hollywood feature, & 1 indie feature.

This is tough, but as we're talking about a film I made on film, I thought I would recommend films also shot on film. 

1 Short:

I’d definitely recommend browsing the Straight 8 website as they’ve got a great selection of past films. One of my favourites is Crumbs, which you can find there. It’s a perfect example of how inventive filmmakers can get within the Straight 8 constraints.

1 Hollywood Feature:
Since it’s currently in cinemas, I’d suggest One Battle After Another. It’s bold, beautifully crafted and dizzyingly exciting. It's definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

1 Indie:
Bait by Mark Jenkin. I adore this British indie, shot on 16mm. It’s a brilliant example of a filmmaker with a truly distinct voice- someone who isn’t swayed by trends or what’s considered “marketable,” and instead commits completely to the aesthetic and storytelling style that serves the film. I also think its trajectory is incredibly inspiring for grassroots filmmakers. 

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