Directors Notes

Undeniably one of the best films screening at this year’s London Film Festival, Ana Lily Amirpour's 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' is an impressive debut feature & holds the honour of being the first Iranian Vampire Western. We caught up with Amirpour to discuss the importance of music in her filmmaking process.

In the first of our interviews from the 58th BFI London Film Festival we talk to director Duane Hopkins about his exploration of the lives of England's abandoned classes in his second feature 'Bypass'.

Director Nathan Punwar guides us through the multi-layered story of his charming short film 'Loves of a Cyclops'.

Director Joanna Coates joins us ahead of her debut feature Hide And Seek's world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to discuss her raw take on the current crisis in youth culture.

DN talks to directors Kit Monkman and Marcus Romer about their adaptation of Anthony McGowan’s best selling novel 'The Knife That Killed Me', shot entirely on green screen.

With Lewis Arnold's short film 'Echo' being released online just over a week ago, it seemed the perfect excuse to delve even deeper into the director's time at the National Film and Television School and the creation of his repetitive compulsion narrative.

A director we’ve been watching with great interest here on DN, Rob Savage’s work consistently grabs our attention. That’s why I asked him to join us on the podcast so I could discover how it all began at the tender age of 18 when he wrote, directed, edited, shot and co-produced his debut feature Strings, which depicts those quiet, awkward moments of teenage relationships we rarely get to witness on screen.

Set against the majestic, rugged backdrop of the Icelandic landscape, Guðmundur Arnar Guðmundsson’s short Whale Valley depicts the powerful bond held by two brothers. Guðmundur joins us to discuss how Whale Valley grew for an imagine of brotherly ‘rough love’ and how an extensive pre-production period freed him from over thinking on set and opened up the possibilities for inspiration.

In his dramatic short Seagulls, director Martin Smith explores the superficial yet insurmountable cultural bonds which prevent a newly arrived young showman from finding a place amongst his local peers. We sat down with Martin to discuss the importance of authenticity to his process and why a watery jump could have spelt the end of his directing career.

Today we’re joined by the ridiculously prolific filmmaker Lee Hardcastle who in his own understated but ever so true words, ‘makes claymations that are not for children’s eyes‘, the latest of which is Ghost Burger, an excellent sequel to his T is for Toilet segment from the ABCs of Death. Lee joins us for a long overdue chat about his career as a filmmaker and successful YouTube channel producer, and why he’ll never insult his audience with crap filmmaking.

In her coming of age short Good Night, Muriel d’Ansembourg mines the rich vein of dark teenage life experience whilst sidestepping the all too obvious route of the morality tale. Muriel joins us to discuss the dramatic change of career trajectory a BAFTA nomination provides and why a film’s most important scenes can sometimes be the most uncomfortable to shoot.

Jon Bryant Crawford's short Dog Meet Goose is awkward, uncomfortable cinema at its best. We sit down with Jon to find out what it’s like to have actors turn up to casting just to tell you how offensive your script is and the joy of creating a piece of cinema powerful enough to make audiences squirm in their seats.

Writer, Director & Producer Dee Meaden joins us to discuss the dramatic importance of the small moment and how avoiding the dangers of over producing led to a freedom to challenge herself as a filmmaker on her new short Some Things Mean Something.

On a wintry Vienna night a newborn baby hangs in the balance of being wanted and being abandoned by two desperate couples in Christoph Kuschnig’s award winning short Hatch. Christoph joins us to discuss the challenges of directing a short whose schedule was dictated by its newborn actors and why characters don’t need to be likeable to be compelling.

Even my cold jaded heart couldn’t help but be charmed by the seasonal enthusiasm of Bruce Mertz, the festive light maestro at the centre of screenwriter and director Nick Palmer’s documentary Mr. Christmas. Nick joins us to discuss how he brought Bruce’s charming story to screen.