Lower Ground

In his poignant class critique short Lower Ground, writer/director Firas Itani deploys extended takes which trap viewers inside the relentless rhythm of a struggling Syrian concierge in Lebanon serving those literally and socially above him.

Dating in Your 20s

Winner of Best Comedy at Aesthetica Short Film Festival last month, Dating in Your 20s duo Lily Rutterford & Lucy Minderides explain how they used genre chaos and towel-made puppets to turn personal dating stories into a full blown musical sketch show-meets-therapy session, capturing the emotional whiplash of dating.

This Place is a Sh*thole

Armed with an Insta360 camera and a grimy, relentless antagonist, filmmaker Will Wightman hurtled between actors at 70 shots per day, layering practical chaos with post-production keyframing to create sequences that simply shouldn't exist in his dark comedic horror short This Place is a Sh*thole, a film that will be far too relatable to anyone who's lived in a soul-destroyingly disgusting shared flat.

Cherry-Coloured Funk

Chelsie Pennello & Corbett Blair talk to DN about their techniques for ramping up the tension in manic comedy short Cherry-Colored Funk, following Michael Tow's desperate serial grifter on the opening day of his new Italian ice store as he clashes with a parade of people he's wronged in the past.

Purebred

Set under the soporific heat of a Belfast heatwave, Caleb J. Roberts presents a complex and evocative portrait of queer intimacy with Purebred, which delicately transcends pre-conceived notions of a gay relationship.