The YDA 2025 Focus

The rising stars who won Golds in this year’s Young Director Award share with shots the origins and ideas and behind their films, the production highs and lows and what they’re planning next.

Talent

Katie Lambert’s tidal wave of gay lust

Kicking off shots run of interviews with the YDA Gold winners, director Katie Lambert at MrMr Films talks about their coming-of-age film I Hate Helen. Here, they tell us about their snapshot of teenage life, the highs and lows of filming with teenagers, and potentially bringing their film to the big screen.

Talent

YDA Winner Tanner Williams explores the anti-sacred space

Magna Studios director Tanner K Williams' playful and provocative promo for Madge, shiversucker, picked up a YDA Gold in the Music Video category. He explains how the self-funded film was inspired by his and the artist's shared experience of growing up queer in Utah's Orthodox Mormon community.

Talent

Anja Giele’s peas of mind

The Filmakademie Baden‑Württemberg director discusses how she sprouted the YDA‑winning stop‑motion short What was I made for from a seed of an idea to a fully‑grown production.

Talent

Getting to grips with Turkish Oil Wrestling

Directors Jan Hellwich and Samet Yalcin won a Gold at this years YDA for their passon project Turkish Oil Wrestling. Here they both talk about becoming friends during their studies, the almost two year long shoot, and casting your grandfather in your short film.

Talent

Joe Picozzi celebrates his kind of people

Director Joe Picozzi speaks on his YDA Gold winning film My Kind Of People. Here he talks about the importance of preserving your culture, the trials and tribulations of making a short film and also relying on friends and family to make things happen.

Talent

Bec Pecaut reframes trans experiences on screen

We catch up with Bec Pecaut about their raw and compassionate film Are You Scared... - a deeply honest dive into gender identity, relationships, and the complexities of transitioning - which won a YDA gold in the Changing the World Frame by Frame category.

Talent

Joachim Morre’s corrective vision: The YDA Gold-winner pushes back against prison clichés

The Danish director reflects on the human-centred series that earned two YDA Golds, and why storytelling should serve rehabilitation, not sensationalism.

Talent

How Alexander Kuehn made a girl fly

With three Young Director Award Golds under his belt for his epic short If I Could Fly, Alexander Kuehn took the event by storm. Here, he explains the two-year project that blends the emotive story of a displaced family with making a girl fly.

Talent

Folkert Verdoorn & Simon Becks: Directors with drive

shots speaks to the YDA Gold Music Video winners on Driving Round Looking For Unknown's tragic hero, the film's unique visual flair, and how to maintian a delicate balance between emotion and absurdity.

Talent

Seeing through Leve Kühl's eyes

UPPERFAST director Leve Kühl's UNHCR film, Through My Eyes, picked up YDA Gold Screen trophies in three categories; Changing the World Frame by Frame, Creative Use of Sound and Film School [up to 10 minutes]. Here, Kühl discusses searching for truth, the power of audio, and why the film isn’t aimed at refugees, but at people like him.

Talent

Lauren Maya Davis flies high with Songbirds

The YDA Video Art Gold-winning director discusses weaving nature, nuance and non-actors into her evocative Mississippi Delta-set short.

Talent

How Milo Blake tackled Paralympic disparity

Spindle director Milo Blake won Gold in this years YDA for his commercial The Empty Seat. Here he talks about the music video that inspired the film, how a film can develop in the post stage, and future projects on the horizon.

Talent

Oliver Pilemand's lessons in love

True love never did run smooth, and the recognisable scenario in Oliver Pilemand's YDA-winning comedy short is proof of that. Here, the director talks lucky breaks, reckless courage and not waiting for permission.

Talent

How YDA Gold winner Fiona Obertinca brought lost queer history to the screen

Director Fiona Obertinca, who won a Gold in the Film School (ten minutes and over) category for her short Dandelion, talks about the vital work of the 1970s Youth Advocates program and how she captured the vibe of the time.

The 'Not TV' Focus

While reports of TVC’s death might be greatly exaggerated, there’s no denying that social and other ad spaces are jostling for supremacy. This focus explores exciting not-TV work, from experiential and OOH to the exciting world of ‘extended reality’, where AR, VR and mixed reality reside.

The Nostalgia Focus

Fings ain’t what they used to be... but do we wish they were? Are the complexities of modern, bot-driven life behind increased yearnings for yesteryear’s vinyl, dumb phones and vintage styles? Last year, we tackled the Future Focus; this year, we’re exploring the past and asking if advertising is driving or mirroring the revival of retro.

The Animation Focus

AI-driven tools, deepfakes, real-time 3D game engines and improvements in kinetic typography – a whole bunch of new technologies have been impacting the art of animation. Yet there’s a lot of love for simple stop-motion and old-school 2D drawings. This month, shots speaks to masters in the medium about trends in toonworld.