Event Type : Showcase

Be amazed! No shortage of brilliant young talent here.

A MAN BUYS HIS WIFE A PLANT
Dir: Roshni Bohra
UK 10mins

Theresa is cooking dinner for herself and her husband, Adonis, when he comes home and surprises her with a plant. She loves it, but soon finds the house flooded with even more plants over time. Trying to ease him off the additions causes him to become irrationally upset with her, and so, to not cause an argument, she continues accepting the plants. Eventually, Theresa is scared into cutting herself off from the world. The plants consume the house, barricading her in. Until one day, with the help of Lucy’s encouragement and support, Theresa is able to escape.
Young filmmaker. Drama.

DEAD RED KITE
Dir: Finn Morgan-Roberts
UK 4mins

When a bird of prey gets ran over, a young girl’s insistence on giving it a funeral incites conflict. At moments horror, at moments comedy, this surreal short focuses on the strangeness of childhood.
Young filmmaker. Experimental. Collage.

DRAGONS
Dir: Tyrese Shipp
UK 10mins

The Bristol Empire Dragons, a Dragon-boat racing community, have to navigate a journey of rebranding and inclusion to survive as a club.
Young filmmaker. Documentary.

FEELING BLUE
Dir: Alexander Larner
UK 7mins

Feeling Blue is about a young man struggling to deal with the grief of the recent loss of his best friend. By chance he meets a vision of his idol Pablo Picasso who teaches the young man to deal with his grief.
Young filmmaker. Drama. UK Premiere.

FRAGMENTS OF SELF
Dir: Nancy Chamberlain
UK 8mins

Having driven herself into a cave of isolation, a late teen struggles to realise the importance of people in comparison to her studies.
Young filmmaker. Drama. English Premiere.

JAPANESE CIGARETTE
Dir: Martinius Temte
Denmark 10mins

A young Japanese man travels to a small Danish town looking for work as a DJ. He gets rejected by the only club in town and ends up wandering the streets meeting strange characters.
Young filmmaker. Comedy. Drama. World premiere.

MINI QUICHES
Dirs: Jack Appleford & Zarik Cross
UK 15mins

Nearly six years after finishing school, a group of friends are reunited after one of them passes away. At the wake of their departed, these friends are forced to confront the harmful ways with which they have been coping.
Young filmmaker. Drama.

SILVER NIGHT
Dir: Luca Pappalardo
UK 7mins

It seemed like a typically quiet night. However, the most unexpected encounter would wreak havoc in Chris’ life.
Young filmmaker. Drama. Genre. World premiere.

SORRY, I CAN’T MAKE IT
Dir: Scarlet Wright
UK 4mins

An experimental short surrounding the disorder of Body Dysmorphia. The film metaphorically represents the condition through contrasting environments, space time and sound, reflecting the debilitating effects of this mental illness.
Young filmmaker. Experimental. Drama.

WHEN CICADAS SING
Dir: Hoching Kwok
UK 5mins

A woman packs away her granddaughter’s belongings after her granddaughter became a cicada and flew away one summer’s day.
Young filmmaker. Animation.

WINTER ROMANCE
Dir: Junyi Huang
USA 3mins

The fox wanted a good Christmas meal but found no meat in the fridge. Seeking help from his ancestors, they advised him to hunt for meat. While hunting, he stumbled upon a frozen rabbit and decided to take it home to thaw by the fireplace. The heat revived the rabbit, who mistook the fox’s actions for a heroic gesture. Believing the fox had made a meal for her, she expressed gratitude and then proposed to the fox. Startled, the fox watched as the rabbit, caught up in her own fantasy, embraced and proposed to him.
Young filmmaker. Animation. UK Premiere.

…the emotional ups and downs kind! Short dramas.

HUBBLE’S LAW
Dir: Arnas Balclunas
Lithuania 18mins

A mute guy struggles to fit in at a construction site. Tensions rise among the workers when a colleague gets badly injured.
Young filmmaker. Drama.

LOVE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT
Dir: Yotam Knispel
Israel 15mins

Rina can’t look at her son Dean, who’s under house arrest at her home. Tomorrow Dean’s trial starts. As Rina doubts her ability to stand by his side, today, she will have to look into his eyes and hear the truth.
Narrative shorts. Drama. UK Premiere.

NO CALLER I.D.
Dir: James Hughes
UK 3mins

An under pressure personal assistant gets a call from a kidnapper threatening the life of his son unless he pays their ransom. Except, he doesn’t have a son.
Micro short. Drama

P.D.O. (PROTECTED DESIGNATION OF ORIGIN)
Dir: Samy Sidali
France 18mins

Advised by an administration full of good intentions, Latefa and her two children Walid and Ptissam Frenchize their first names at the same time as they acquire French nationality. They face this unique ordeal with humor and lightness, just before the start of the school year.
Narrative shorts. Comedy. Drama. UK Premiere

PENUMBRA
Dir: Eli Ricanati
USA 10mins

On a decaying ranch in Tehachapi, CA, Lily Aleman seeks answers to her endless fight with a worsening illness. Lily decides to relinquish physical control of her predicament, instead placing her faith in the Lord’s redemptive power. Her husband, Joseph, a recently unemployed construction worker, chooses a more pragmatic approach, searching for employment so that he may continue to support his ailing wife. At its core, PENUMBRA explores faith and hardship through the lens of a domestic drama, asking the question: how does faith emerge in the face of despair?
Narrative shorts. Drama. European Premiere.

SWEET FORTY
Dir: Annlin Chao
UK 15mins

Tensions rise at Anita’s 40th birthday party when her teen daughter finds out she’s gay before everyone else. Sweet Forty is a drama-comedy short film based on a true story, addressing the family relationships and an incredible journey of a 39-year-old closeted gay woman, in the lead-up to her 40th birthday.
Genre shorts. Drama.

THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE RAV KALMENSON
Dir: Dayan D Oualid
France 15mins

Every Saturday morning, Yoel goes, accompanied by his 6-year-old son, to honor Shabbat in the synagogue. That day, the Rav Kalmenson, will challenge Yoel by announcing to him that his son “is lighting up”.
Narrative shorts. Drama.

Double Bill Part 1: Documentary Shorts and a Feature

JAMES DUNLOP DISCOVERS: NATURISM
Dir: James Dunlop, MBE
UK 14mins

For a nerve-wracking experimental pilot, documentary filmmaker James Dunlop MBE bares all as he delves into the world of Naturism for the first time, joining a club for the show-everything reveal of British Naturism. This test documentary is in fact a first – it takes the participatory styles of Marc Issacs and Molly Dineen, who talk to their contributors off-camera while holding the camera, but adds the filmmaker to the frame, in a format tool never utilised in documentary until now.
Documentary. Comedy.

PURE CLEAN WATER
Dir: Tony Eva
UK 63mins

On the doorstep of High Wycombe runs the River Wye. It’s a chalk stream which David Attenborough describes as “one of the rarest habitats on Earth”. South-East England is home to this habitat and also a development hotspot. This is creating conflict between the water demands for development and those for the environment. This tension is being particularly felt around Cambridge. With Government calling for an additional 250,000 homes to “super-charge Silicaon Fen”, PURE CLEAN WATER is a call to arms to end the paradigm of unfettered growth and to instead place much more emphasis on protecting and engaging with our natural world.
Feature film. Documentary.

SPIRIT OF THE DOWNS – PERSEVERANCE BRINGS SUCCESS
Dir: Steve Nethercott-Cable
UK 21mins

Captivating short documentary about the successful people-powered campaign to create public access land on ancient, threatened Downland near Cissbury Ring, West Sussex. Many people gave up their time to pursue goal of enshrining in law that this land should stay in public ownership and become ‘Open Access’, so everyone can enjoy the right to roam in perpetuity. It took 6 years, but the final outcome was a win for all – for the people, Worthing Town and also the Council! This documentary seeks to inspire others to take on environmental issues by challenging mindset of politicians and local authorities through positive action.
Documentary

Double Bill Part 2: Documentary Shorts and a Feature

CONFLUENCE: A MEDITATION IN DOCUMENTARY FORM
Dirs: ETA & Shanhuan Manton
USA 15mins

CONFLUENCE is a meditation on ancestry and identity through the lens of APIDA and queer artists filmed during moonroom’s 2019 PHASE, an event series celebrating APIDA Heritage Month with underground events throughout Southern California. This mix of hypnotic images and heartfelt testimonies explores the turmoil of being othered, while enduring creatively and shattering community and perceptual barriers. The reductive myths unjustly stuck on the Asian American diaspora are directly questioned by those who’d rather choose their own labels — or simply do away with them altogether.
Experimental. Documentary.

CONTENT
Dir: Jay Dixon
UK 1min

In the time it takes you to watch this film, 41,666,667 WhatsApp messages, 347,222 Instagram stories and 1,388,889 voice calls will have been made around the world.
Micro shorts. Documentary. World Premiere.

SHAHROOR
Dirs: Yafa Ezzat Shahroor, Mo’men Ghanim Hasanain
Palestine 15mins

Shahroor is a short documentary about Yafa’s story, who was known for her passion for media since childhood. She had a clear plan to achieve her dream, with the support of her father Ezzat, the journalist, but one day all that vanished.
Documentary.

THAT GREAT BRITISH DOCUMENTARY
Dir: Joan Hillery
UK 60mins

Shot over ten years and prompted by the death of her father, filmmaker Joan explores Britain’s colonial past and the legacy her dual black and white heritage has had on her life.
Feature documentary.

Double Bill: Part 1. Stories and feelings expressed in different art forms; dance, movement, sound and music, collage, and animation.

A POEM FOR GISELLE, A POEM FOR A PEASANT
Dirs: Diana Mackena Mora Cespedes & Camilo Correa Costa
Germany 9mins

Through the reconstruction of memory and reinterpretation of the classical ballet “Giselle,” Diana develops a message of solidarity with Bolivian peasants of the North Potosí, thereby illuminating the impact of racism in a postcolonial global society and mending her own connection with her lineage and personal identity.
Experimental. Dance. UK Premiere.

BLINKERED
Dir: Patrick Carelsz
Netherlands 8mins

“Blinkered” is a short dance film in the psychological drama genre. The young woman advocates for equality and inspires people with her subtle dance. When she faces danger from a companion, she fights for her safety, however is her action justified?
Experimental. Dance. UK Premiere.

BY THE SEA
Dir: Edd Arnold
UK 5mins

The ocean offers a lesson in organic movement – untamed, and a continual source of inspiration. Yet, mankind’s relationship with the ocean threatens to clog the world’s waterways – with waste and pollutants that destabilize the fragile ecosystem below. Edd Arnold explores the relationship between humans and the ocean through dance – an ode to the majesty of our waters, and our responsibility to protect them. Set to violinist Anna Phoebe’s hymn to the sea, featuring the ethereal Trans Voices choir, two dancers intertwine at the water’s edge, tumbling across the sand towards the waves. Turning and weaving through one another and the water, the dancers are transformed to become a part of the swell.
Experimental. Dance.

CORNERBOY
Dir: Kai Kurve
Germany 6mins

A bad guy gets possessed by a fly which confronts him with his own personality and wrong doings. This narrative is wrapped up in a short expressive and experimental dance short film.
Experimental. Dance.

PRECIPICE
Dir: Jessica Gomula-Kruzic
USA 5mins

At the edge of a waterfall, two dancers merge as the river does when it meets the ocean, once separate, now inseparable.
Experimental. Dance. European Premiere.

REBIRTH
Dir: Olivia Burgess
USA 11mins

An avant-garde ballerina expresses her appreciation of her body whilst pregnant, and the opportunity for her self-being to heal from past trauma. With vivid visuals through a black and white lens we hear the frank voiceover of her sharing her thought.
Dance. Autobiographical. European Premiere.

SMASHED
Dirs: Federica Marchese & Michael J. Munoz
Italy 5mins

A creative mind puffing on a marijuana pipe looking for inspiration embarks on a psychedelic journey around the surrealistic empty streets of Venice Italy.
Experimental. Dance. UK Premiere.

SOULS FOR SALE
Dir: Jurijs Saule
Germany 7mins

Inside the mind of a dancer that struggles with her both identities, which makes her feel like in a cage.
Experimental. Dance. UK Premiere.

Double bill: Part 2. Stories and feelings expressed in different art forms; dance, movement, sound and music, collage, and animation.

BIG MONSTER
Dir: Esther Weber
Germany 3mins

Let’s get going! And everything is turning! The Big Monster takes us into a strange world of pleasure. A time-lapse film with individually edited long exposures and a sound collage from self-made field recordings.
Experimental. Visual art. UK Premiere.

I DREAM I SWIM I FLY
Dir: Elaine Crowe
Ireland 1min

This film plays as a dream – echoing the bodily experience of liquid processes and electric impulses that flash in light and colour. The film also plays with the elusive nature of memory. Using motifs of flying and swimming that recur in the filmmaker’s dreams – shapes and colours vanish the moment they become conscious.
Micro short. Experimental. Collage. UK Premiere.

MIND THE GAP
Dir: Sofiya Afonasina
Austria 3 mins

A fragmented soul and a disembodied voice search for their place in an urban environment
Micro shorts. Silent/movement film. World Premiere.

SOUP MIX
Dir: John Dawson
USA 3mins

“Soup Mix” is an experimental film made by Colorado artist and filmmaker John
Dawson in 2023. This short film is 100% hand made by drawing, painting and scratching directly onto 16mm and Super 8 film stock. My films are all about motion and having fun! I hope people are entertained and energized by all of my films. You can think of it like a ride at the amusement park or view it the same way you might view fireworks or abstract painting.
Experimental. Animation. Collage.

STEEL WOOL
Dir: Jonathan Bower
UK 4mins

This phone film explores the metaphorical relationship between consumer materials and human biology, looking within the domestic and the mundane to find neurological activity, cellular decay and the battle between health and sickness, with the artist’s personal experiences of grief being reflected in the sound design.
Experimental. Collage.

TELL ME WHERE TO GO
Dir: Peter Beatty & Joseph Boyle
UK 5mins

The stop-motion animation music-video created for the song ‘Tell Me Where To Go’ was made using a multi plane camera, and shot in a home studio onboard a boat in London between 2021 and 2023. The music video was directed by independent artist and musician Peter Beatty and filmmaker and editor Joseph Boyle. It was written and produced by Peter Beatty and brings together his visual art and music for the first time, with the song taken from his forthcoming album ‘Different Flowers’, out in 2024.
Experimental. Animation. Music video.

THE SWORD OF THE SUN
Dir: Le Gentil Garçon
France 15mins

Stop-motion film, inspired very freely by Italo Calvino’s “Mister Palomar”, an astonishing meditation on the act of looking. The director tried to crystallize the visions that this novel, hallucinatory in many ways, had awakened in him, by evoking artists who are dear to him: Arnold Böcklin, Odilon Redon, Méliès, Dora Maar, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mariana Enríquez, Topor, Cocteau, Buñuel, Borges… All artists with the ability to bring out the sublime from the prosaic.
Experimental. Animation. UK Premiere.

TUNNEL VISION
Dir: Callum Scott
UK 11mins

WE ARE BRED TO STICK WITH THE PROGRAM // ONE WORKER ENTERED A TUNNEL AND LEFT WITH THE TRUTH. We are living in the horrors of late stage capitalism. A worker, TM 109, is literally trapped by the daily grind. He sleeps, he eats, he works. When a mysterious tunnel one day opens up in his room, he decides it’s time to look within.
Experimental. Animation. UK Premiere.

WHITEBAIT
Dir: Connor Haywood
UK 17mins

In a seaside town, a teenage boy sees a series of coincidences, that lead him to the truth…” – Whitebait is a semi-autobiographical film about undiagnosed bipolar disorder and its relationship to delusions of reference.
Narrative shorts. Drama.

Enjoy a sparkling afternoon tea from 3.30pm followed by a quirky look at relationships…short drama.

ARE WE DOING THIS?
Dir: Harvey Puttock
UK 10mins

A new couple, Jeff and Mia, attend her boss’s party hoping she might get a promotion out of it. Arriving late, they’re surprised to be greeted by a bowl of keys. Their relationship will be put to the test as they explore what their boundaries are but next time maybe Mia should read the invitation.
Narrative shorts. Comedy.

HIGH TIDE
Dir: Noha Choukrallah
France 19mins

Hannah, an English immigrant, is separating from Jean, the father of her daughter Thea. On the surface, the divorce is going well. On the surface. But Hannah is struggling with a high tide of (re)feelings.
Narrative shorts. Drama. UK Premiere.

IT’S NOT ALL THAT BAD
Dir: Nicolas Novak
France 20mins

A snack bar, an online date, Teddy and Alicia, both in their twenties. One of them has a secret…
Narrative shorts. Drama.

MARTINGALE
Dir: Marthe Verdet
France 16mins

Océane has finally found a job for the summer and with it, the martingale to make the ideal man fall from the sky.
Narrative shorts. Comedy. UK Premiere.

THE OTHER WOMAN
Dir: Cameron Lee Horace
UK 16mins

While isolated in a residential care home during the pandemic without visitors. Maisie (Claudia Lindemann) is elderly, alone and refuses to talk. During a series of internal monologues, Young Maisie (Sophie Colquhoun) narrates the pleasures of youth when her deceased sisters, Alice (Lisa Ronaghan) and Lily (Helen Mae Austin) arrive from past memories to confront a life of lust and heartache.
Narrative shorts. Drama.

TOAST
Dir: Lawrence Rowe
UK 3mins

Following a difficult breakup, a despondent woman finds solace in the simple joys of a slice of sourdough toast.
Narrative shorts. Comedy.

VACANT
Dir: Aggie Nyagari
UK 14mins

Sarah and Martin seek a new housemate to move into their spare room. They conduct 23 interviews with a game of scrabble on the go, each word placed being inspired by the quirky odd balls they encounter.
Genre shorts.

Ticketholders will be sent a link to join an online chat with filmmakers from near and far.