TUSKY

"When you're stood inside a forcing shed amongst a vast expanse of pink stalks and candles, it's an incredible sight. It's beautiful and completely otherworldly."

A retired rhubarb farmer's grip on reality is loosening—and the candlelit forcing sheds of West Yorkshire have never looked so haunting. Steven Boyle joins DN to discuss the decade long journey behind his surreal dementia short TUSKY, - starring Phil Davis and Felicity Montagu - from the deep shadows and bold contrast to the 18-month VFX collaboration that brought a haunting, hallucinatory world to life.

Programmer Diana Cipriano on 40 Years of BFI Flare & the Evolution of LGBTQIA+ Cinema

“Even with the challenges that the world presents, the community is still able to come back with stronger offerings and stronger work that empowers and champions our stories.”

Ahead of the 40th edition of BFI Flare, programmer Diana Cipriano joins Directors Notes to talk us through the team's curation process, sharing insights on the evolution of LGBTQIA+ film and championing intersectional representation across the programme.

SXSW 2026 Guide: 14 Emerging Filmmakers You Need to Know

With the return of SXSW last week, we took a deep dive into this year’s line-up and spotlighted 14 filmmakers with exciting futures. From immersive documentaries to bold, visually striking animation, these are the short films from this year’s festival you’ll want to keep an eye out for.

Mine!

"While the devastating effects of climate change rage, the industrial systems that caused it keep chugging along. I don’t know if I’m trying to make any profound statements though, it’s more just my own small way of grappling with thinking about these ideas."

Animator Louis Morton joins us for the online premiere of his 2025 SXSW short Mine!, a film which explores capitalism and its environmental impacts. We discuss miners befriending rats underground, adapting a great-grandpa's tale and the hand-drawn process of unearthing a striking climate parable.

NEST

“I tried to shape the whole film like a short ghost story, even if that architecture was indirect. At its core, grief is visibly upsetting, and that's obvious. But what's more interesting to me is the way it persists, sleepwalking around, awaiting.”

In his quietly arresting and deeply moving short NEST, Writer/Director Taryn Ward places audiences deep in the isolating whirlwind of grief, as a man encounters a stranger in his late brother’s house.