Human Trials

"Normally, I don’t get to build a universe from scratch in this way in my work. This comes with great freedom and greater responsibility in a way, there is such a thing as too many possibilities."

Guilherme Proença walks DN through constructing an entire universe from a single Copenhagen archival shop and shaping bodies into postures that are almost human, but not quite, in the experimental fashion film 'Human Trials', where three figures are put through a series of quietly strange tests exploring the endless pursuit of perfection and the optimisation of human experience.

WE BUY GOLD

"We wanted everything we shot – and why we shot it, and how we shot it (on an iPhone, with actors working in real locations, sometimes with real people) – to be in service of our goal to trick the audience into thinking they were watching a shoddily done vlog shot by our two main characters."

'WE BUY GOLD' co-directors David Huang & Albie Smith-Chang join us to discuss how a scripted maximalist, Daniels-style action-adventure film turned into an unobtrusive iPhone shoot set in the bustling real-life environments of New York City.

Museum of Death

"Every object can be seen as the manifestation of a soul."

Discarded, weathered belongings hold the regrets and half-lived moments of the departed in 'Museum of Death', where Lianpeng Zhao turns Chinese myth and a quiet museum into a threshold between worlds. A film we first highlighted as a standout of the London Film School 2025 graduate showcase, Lianpeng joins us to discuss adapting real memories into fiction and the creative choices behind the film’s narrative and visual fabric.

Heat Me

"Instead of asking 'How does the world end?', I wanted to ask, 'How do you keep life going while the world gets hotter?'"

In the middle of a record-breaking heatwave, behind drawn shutters three generations of women hold a household together through blackouts, water cuts and zero air conditioning — Kelly Sarri's ecofeminism short 'Heat Me', trades the spectacle of a world burning before our eyes for the quiet, endless female labour of simply carrying on.

Pleasure

"If I can help shorten the distance between a viewer’s prejudice of the unknown and their understanding of the supposed “other”, then the work has fulfilled both its artistic and social function to support a future driven by compassion rather than division."

'Pleasure' writer/director Jasper Caverly joins us on Directors Notes to discuss the lack of authentic queer representation in cinema, the importance of working with a script editor with cultural proximity and why a director is ultimately only as strong as the actors bringing their vision to life.

Flavor of the Month

"For years, I have spoken on panels, done Q&A’s at film festivals, and preached the importance of representation in the film industry. However, when I found myself competing against other Asian American actors for a life-changing opportunity, I noticed my attitude subtly shift to “f*ck these other guys, I’m the best Asian”"

Writer/Director/Actor Nathan Xia explains how a little Hollywood heartbreak led him to create a biting satire on representation in the film industry with short film 'Flavor of the Month'.