Danni & the Sleep Monster
Director: Nora Austin Murphy & Mathilde Bek Hansen
Cast: Nora Murphy, Enes Karaman,
Year: 2026
Language: English
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Duration: 13min – Short
Country of Production: USA
Co-productions: Czech-Republic
Shooting Format: Digital
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Synopsis
Haunted by sleep paralysis and trapped in a cycle of unfulfilling sexual and romantic encounters, a young woman must find truth in the blurred lines between nightmares and reality, and play-out her deepest psychological desires head-on.
Director’s Statment
Recurring sleep paralysis shaped the emotional core of Danni and the Sleep Monster. For years, episodes of paralysis and vivid hallucinations blurred the boundary between dreams and reality. Attempts to rationalize the visions through strict routines and logic only intensified the anxiety. Relief came not through resistance, but through learning to surrender to lean into the experience rather than fight it. That realization became the foundation of the film.
The project evolved further through reflections on autonomy and control. The psychological struggle within sleep mirrored questions of control in intimate relationships particularly the relationship between mind, body, and consent. The film brings these experiences together, exploring how regaining agency begins with understanding one’s own internal landscape. In both dreams and waking life, control emerges from awareness rather than fear.
The narrative structure reflects this instability. Originally written linearly, the story was later reconstructed in the edit to heighten disorientation and immerse the audience in Danni’s fractured perception. By unsettling the viewer, the film invites reflection on the subjectivity of experience — how imagination, trauma, and memory can coexist with reality. As a directorial debut, the film represents both a personal confrontation and a creative beginning, blending the ordinary with the extraordinary to explore psychological transformation.
Director’s Biography
Nora has always lived between her imagination and the difficult reality around her. For as long as she can remember, she has retreated from her frightening and confusing childhood experiences and into the comfortable folds of her mind through imaginary characters, scenarios, and even whole fictional worlds. Nora’s vivid imagination helped her to advance in theatre and ballet as a child and teen. She attended the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy from 2011-2015 with a scholarship in dance and then received a fine arts scholarship to attend her state school, the University of Vermont.
Nora didn’t discover filmmaking until 2019, her last year of university. In her film analysis class, Nora learned about the concept of “world building,” an important part of film directing and an activity that Nora had been doing in her own mind since she could speak.
During the Covid pandemic, Nora worked in Burlington, Vermont as a freelance videographer and editor for local non-profits and public access television. Meanwhile, Nora expanded her portfolio as an actor by acting in short films and commercials. By working in these small-town projects, Nora learned how to work creatively in media with very little resources. Unfortunately, there were limited opportunities for growth and a low ceiling for improvement in the film industry in Vermont, America’s second-smallest state.
In 2022, Nora made the bold choice to move to Prague, Czech Republic to pursue film and acting in the European market. By chance, she quickly landed a job at the Prague Film Institute and her career in film production took off. In tandem, Nora’s acting career blossomed in the flourishing film community in Prague. After observing and participating in so many short films from 2022 to 2024, Nora has finally made her debut short Danni & the Sleep Monster.
Director’s Biography
Mathilde is a French-Danish writer and director whose passion for storytelling began in childhood, when she developed a strong sensitivity to visual aesthetics and narrative structure. Drawn to the expressive power of images, she cultivated an early interest in how composition, color, and movement can shape emotional experience. This fascination with visual language gradually evolved into a focused pursuit of filmmaking as a means of combining narrative depth with carefully constructed imagery.
In 2021, she obtained a Master’s degree in Motion Design and Media Design in Nantes, France, where she refined her technical skills and deepened her understanding of visual communication. Her academic background strengthened her ability to merge design principles with cinematic storytelling, allowing her to approach film with both conceptual precision and artistic intention.
Seeking to further expand her creative practice, Mathilde enrolled in a two-year filmmaking program at Prague Film Institute in the Czech Republic. There, she concentrated on directing and narrative development, building on her foundation in visual design to shape character-driven stories with a strong aesthetic identity. Her work reflects a continued exploration of atmosphere, emotional nuance, and the relationship between image and story.