Leila Murton Poole on EARTH and Building a Dystopian World One Step from Reality | NFF2025

In this episode of The Official Selection Podcast x Norwich Film Festival 2025, we speak with Leila Murton Poole, director of the short film EARTH, following its screening at Norwich Film Festival.

EARTH is set in a near-future Britain where toxic red air has forced society into lockdown. The film follows a couple whose relationship fractures under isolation, as one clings to hope while the other sees no future. Inspired by Leila’s experience of waking up in Sydney in 2020 to a sky thick with bushfire smoke, the film explores environmental collapse through an intimate, relationship-led lens.

Leila talks about transforming a COVID-era lockdown story into a dystopian drama, working with practical prosthetics instead of VFX, and building a set from the ground up to create a world that feels both surreal and uncomfortably possible. She also reflects on premiering the film at NFF, navigating genre-led festivals, and what she looks for when submitting work that sits between sci-fi, drama, and magical realism.

Recorded during NFF 2025, this conversation offers insight into world-building on a short film scale, and how speculative storytelling can be used to explore very real emotional and political concerns.

0:00 Intro
0:59 About the film - "Earth"
3:18 What was the goal when making the film?
4:45 Seeing your film on the big screen
5:38 Was there a festival submission strategy?
6:40 Do you enjoy attending festivals?
7:35 Do you try to network at festivals?
8:24 Tips for new filmmakers submitting to festivals
10:05 How do you approach making genre films?

About the series
The Official Selection Podcast x NFF 2025 brings together selected filmmakers during the festival for informal conversations about their films, the festival experience, and the realities of independent filmmaking.

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