Our Fresh Talent section is designed to break the industry's "chicken and egg" paradox, where directors need a commercial portfolio to get work, but can’t build that portfolio without opportunities. We recognise raw talent when we see it—whether in a short film, an experimental piece, or something that defies categorisation. By showcasing these emerging voices, we provide a platform for new directors to demonstrate their unique vision and gain the exposure they need to advance their careers.
Zeb is not afraid to get up close and personal. His work is at once intimate and universal as he, with refreshing honesty, pursues the essence of the human experience. He is remarkably adept at drawing his audience’s focus to the smallest, yet most miraculous, of details, and the joy of his films, often exploring themes of isolation in order to celebrate the connections we have with others, is enhanced by their capacity to hold life’s highs and lows in a harmonious balance.
At once intimate and universal, “The Littlest Student” perfectly encapsulates the overwhelming alienation that can affect every student during freshers week.
Mark pushes convention past its breaking point, venturing into the surreal, while keeping very real, contemporary issues uncomfortably close at hand. His experimental and dynamic approach to framing, with his film’s exciting scores, make his work visually arresting and tonally unique, disturbing and unnerving, yet so intoxicating that it is impossible to tear one’s eyes from the screen.
In Mark’s debut short, it’s impossible to look away as the rural familiarity of the garden setting becomes entangled with grotesque, violent imagery and psychedelic, mushroom tea-fuelled visions.
