Film Library 2021
Aesthetica is dedicated to showcasing the best in independent cinema. As part of the open submission process, we welcome filmmakers from around the world to share their stories with one of the UK’s largest film audiences.
The 2021 Official Selection comprised our most expansive and diverse programme to date, spanning 12 categories of short film as well as 360, Narrative and Documentary features that reflect on the world around us.
Explore a selection of featured works through our 2021 film library. Whether you’re interested in laugh out loud comedies, animated adventures, chilling thrillers or captivating documentaries, there is something for everyone.
Advertising
Dir. Sinan Sevinç
Circa 2020
Dir. Rodrigo Inada
Circa 2020 promotes the project that took over Piccadilly Circus to propose an open space and public gallery. Every day at 20:20, artwork would take over the advertisement spaces.
Never Again
Dir. Mario Dahl
Lea tells audiences about a summer day when she got caught between the execution of hostages by the SS. But her memories are quickly fading away and soon there’ll be nothing left.
The North Face X Gucci by Highsnobiety
Dir. Fiona Jane Burgess
A new generation of birdwatching enthusiasts are breaking the stereotypes of what outdoor recreation looks like and who it is for. Discovering the mental and physical benefits of being in nature.
Tommee Tippee – The Boob Life
Dir. Fiona Jane Burgess
A brand new global campaign for Tommee Tippee. Honest and intimate, this campaign is a battle cry for women and parents to feel confident about how they feed their babies.
Vectronom – Release Trailer
Dir. Pedro Lacerda
At the end of a dark corridor, white light emanates from a room full of electronics. An on / off switch is turned on by a mysterious character and all the electronics come to life with the music.
Dir. Sinan Sevinç
Circa 2020
Dir. Rodrigo Inada
Circa 2020 promotes the project that took over Piccadilly Circus to propose an open space and public gallery. Every day at 20:20, artwork would take over the advertisement spaces.
Never Again
Dir. Mario Dahl
Lea tells audiences about a summer day when she got caught between the execution of hostages by the SS. But her memories are quickly fading away and soon there’ll be nothing left.
The North Face X Gucci by Highsnobiety
Dir. Fiona Jane Burgess
A new generation of birdwatching enthusiasts are breaking the stereotypes of what outdoor recreation looks like and who it is for. Discovering the mental and physical benefits of being in nature.
Tommee Tippee – The Boob Life
Dir. Fiona Jane Burgess
A brand new global campaign for Tommee Tippee. Honest and intimate, this campaign is a battle cry for women and parents to feel confident about how they feed their babies.
Vectronom – Release Trailer
Dir. Pedro Lacerda
At the end of a dark corridor, white light emanates from a room full of electronics. An on / off switch is turned on by a mysterious character and all the electronics come to life with the music.
Animation
Floaters
Dir. Karl Poyzer, Joseph Roberts
High in a sci-fi metropolis a lone spaceship is confronted by a much larger vessel. When the bigger ship asks why they share the same identification number a strange quandary forms.
Playgrounds
Dir. Antonio Milo, Fabrizio Fioretti
Playgrounds is a short film that travels back to the early 1990s, lost deep in the suburbs, absent parents allow forgotten kids to escape to other worlds where they can’t be found.
Artists’ Film
2020 Vision
Dir. Jake Polonsky
“This year revealed many things. I don’t even know where to start.” The last 18 months have been a whirlwind, with multiple global crises collapsing into one another. How to make sense of it all?
Lesbian
Dir. Rosemary Baker
Lesbian is a powerful poem. It’s about the word and the decades of toxic connotations that have made it feel like a hostile piece of language and many queer women hesitate before using it.
Nude Me / Under the Skin
Dir. Freddie Leyden
British Ghanaian textile and performance artist Enam Gbewonyo was invited to do a live performance of her work at the Two Temple Place.
Comedy
Craving
Dir. Greg Barth
An isolation fever dream about a man’s hunger that’s becoming harder to satiate, driving him to the brink of manslaughter (or man-potato slaughter) to satisfy his delusions of grandeur.
In Hope of Nothing
Dir. Peter Hamblin
With nothing more than; an idea, a shit load of hope and a storyboard, a group of filmmakers cast their dreams on the impossible. This is a film dedicated to all the stories never told.
Mamils (Middle Aged Men In Lycra)
Dir. Ben Marshall
MAMILS (Middle Aged Men in Lycra) is a short comedy that captures an intense rivalry between two amateur cyclists as they eagerly try and one up each other in increasingly ridiculous ways.
Seeds of Love
Dir. Behnam Taheri, Gideon Beresford
Love grows in unexpected and truly cuious places. It can take you by surprise at any given moment. Seeds of Love was made during lockdown in London with a three-person cast and crew.
Selling Out
Dir. George Hackforth-Jones
Selling Out is a short comedy about an actress’ realisation that perhaps her life isn’t going to turn out quite the way she’d imagined. Written by and starring Lucy Scott-Smith.
Taj Mahal Presents… A Short Film
Dir. David Dearlove
A short film for people who don’t like short films. A hilarious swipe at a genre that often seems longer than it is short. Starring Bafta-nominated actor and director Phil Davis.
Dance
Blyndex
Dir. Rodrigo Inada, Yuri Mira
Through the eyes of various members of House of Blyndex, a multidisciplinary ballroom family from São Paula, we discover how a proud group of Black and LGBTQ people come together.
Mother/Land
Dir. Amaal Mustafa
A visual poem and dance piece that critiques and questions the problematic discourse between a first generation immigrant and their parents, specifically the so-called motherland.
Puzzle
Dir. Anastasiya Sovashchenko
Full of powerful, pondering sequences. This film is about the moment when a person creates something unique. We will consider what the process consists of.