Fire

A stark and evocative exploration of trauma, possessive desire, and the detrimental lingering effects of violence, Gregory Shell explains why he was determined to work with a predominately non-professional cast for his shocking grad short that sees a young man struggling to reintegrate into civilian life after returning from military service to discover the girl he loves is now with someone else.

Luddite

Lucas Vilicich unravels how his short evolved from screaming frustrations at the world to engaging audiences with a comedic forewarning about the dangers of our blind reliance on technology.

The 13 Must-Watch Short Films at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival

From Animation and Documentary to Midnight and Narrative shorts, the 2025 SXSW lineup is stacked with bold, creative, and unforgettable storytelling. We’ve already spotted plenty of standout gems in the programme - some we've been following for a while, others exciting new discoveries. If you’re heading to SXSW, your watchlist is probably overflowing already, but trust us, these are the shorts you won’t want to miss.

Death!

A film we first highlighted from the NFTS 2024 Graduate Showcase lineup, director Matthew B.C. joins DN to talk through his dark comedy short written and produced by Abi Tedder, who also stars as a darkly obsessed woman who publicly starts to spiral at a highly inconvenient moment.

Converse Blues

We speak to David Leon about his collaboration with Truman in the making of their surreal three world spanning short, which visually turned the artist's words from his new EP into a parabolic tale cautioning against making the same mistakes as those who came before.