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London born and raised director Daniel Rands (whose previous work has landed on not one but two of Dn’s Best of Fest lists) is no stranger to the multifaceted conflicts and often invisible toxicity present in the UK inner city education system which all play out in his Grey Moth Originals drama short Margin. Inspired by his time working in schools, the nuanced and tense power plays, racial aggravations and questions of class in Margin are tightly contained in the claustrophobic, cloistered environment of an after-school last chance catch up class. Shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio with an intentional granular texture which is a perfect tonal fit, Rands’ film manages to cover an incredible range of thorny modern day issues, as well as intentionally shining a light on the students who are left to suffer by institutional failures. With Margin making its online debut today, Rands spoke to...

The Shortest Nights returns once more for its 2022 edition with a breadth of impressive and distinctly British shorts. The proceedings this year take place on September 3rd at Rich Mix in London with a programme of films that range from war-room thrillers to screwball comedies. Dn has covered the films at Tsn for a number of years now and we find ourselves continuously enamoured by the talent on display from the directors currently rising through the ranks of the British film industry. Listing our recommendations for this year’s festivities was a tricky task but we’ve managed to whittle the great work available across the board down to a selection of ten shorts that we think are must-see.

Pops – Lewis Rose

In the aftermath of their father’s death two siblings must come to terms with his odd final request, he would like to send his ashes into space via helium balloon.