Dark Night, a feature film made by students on a tiny budget of just £5000, promises to be a “clever psychological thriller that unfolds a frightening story through the eyes of each character.” Judging by the screams of the girls sitting next to me, it certainly hits the spot, as the hapless characters are dispatched by a mysterious killer who lurks behind the camera un…

  Thanks to Pirates of the Caribbean, starring dashing Johnny Depp, love interest Keira Knightly and handsome Orlando Bloom, pirate movies are all the rage again. James MacGregor looks back on Hollywood's Pirate History

  Controversy is raging in the US over Cannes – and whether the world's greatest film festival has relevance to American Cinema or not. James MacGregor has been examining the evidence.

...Red, apparently, though not necessarily with the blood sacrificed by directors trying hard to gain acceptance from the selectors of the world's greatest festival of film.  The odds against selection for Cannes are huge, so it is particularly heart warming that one of the films in competition this year is Red Road, a British debut feature from Andrea Arnold, who last year won an Osca…

  The short film market is still not robust, but it does occupy an economic niche, although the sector is steadily improving its organisational structure. With today's rapid technological changes, the distribution landscape - traditionally associated with theatrical release - is undergoing major transformations, bringing new opportunities that could consolidate the short film s…