2015 marked the festival’s fifth anniversary – a special edition that celebrated over 1,500 films being screened from 65 countries. Discover outstanding storytelling with a selection from the programme, with top picks from fashion and experimental to drama and comedy.
Dir. Alberto Belli Various actors book their first major roles in L.A., blissfully oblivious to the nature of their upcoming feature films, in this satirical commentary on today’s entertainment industry.
Dir. Simon Emmerson, Andy Russell, Tim Spence & Phil Robson The film aims to capture the ultimate Lush experience in an explosion of colour and texture akin to its creative process.
Dir. Russ Lamoureux As time slows to the speed of a man’s thoughts, we are brought into the heart of a failed relationship to discover what, if anything, one wounded soul can give to another. Will it go to plan?
Dir. Robin Tremblay The short is a journey through various worlds across the galaxy – some big, some small, some fast, some slow – each displaying recurring patterns of spheres, circles, and loops.
Dir. Debanjan Nandy An old man living with the memory of his beloved wife as his own shadow, finds himself facing a difficult decision: to live in a mesmerising but unreal dream, or to experience life itself?
Dir. Stephen McNally Blending CG 3D and 2D drawn animation techniques, meanwhile uses fragments of narratives from four characters traversing a city to examine themes of urban insularity.
Dir. Julien Regnard A man’s life, loves and losses are shown through the exchanges he has with the passengers in his car. Produced by the Frameworks short film scheme, dedicated to animation.
Dir. Jon Turner A young girl finds out why she has to be quiet in certain places. Inspired by a parent’s journey with their son and his friend, the animated short depicts why children need to be quiet on trains.
Dir. David Blanche A short animated drama which follows the lives of Tomas and Alis: a retired couple in a small and tranquil British coastal town dealing with the harsh realities of dementia and growing old.
Dir. Johanna Schmeer Halfway between products and organisms, seven ‘biological devices’ produce all the food and energy needed for humans to survive and grow, simply by being exposed to the natural light.
Dir. Sigga Björg Sigurðardóttir Diamonds is a stop motion animated artist film, composed of intricate paper cut outs. Sigurðardóttir depicts incisively realised, darkly humorous interactions between creatures.
Dir. Toby Tatum Commissioned for The Institute for the Investigation of Other Worlds. Follow a stream of consciousness deep into a world transformed by the shaping spirit of the imagination.
Dir. Lucie Rachel An insight into a relationship constantly challenged by issues regarding gender and identity; issues that were kept a secret from everyone outside of their relationship, including their daughters.
Dir. Graeme Arnfield Out of the darkness a sound emerges. Terri ed people take to the streets in search of its source. They get their cameras out and document the sky. Our muscles contract; our pupils dilate.
Dir. Lucy Brydon Morgan, an American living in London, was assigned female at birth but identifies as a man. The experimental short explores what it’s like to occupy the space between the two genders.
Dir. Metz+Racine & Mototake Makishima Inspired by Felice Casorati’s Eggs on a Book and set in 1940s Italy against a backdrop of political unrest, Tuttavia explores the mysterious world of objects and the definition and symbolism of eggs.
Dir. Florence Winter-Hill After Martin Stevens is hit by a car, he finds himself in an unearthly waiting room, resembling purgatory. He meets the man responsible for his death whilst he awaits judgement.
Dir. Tommaso Pitta Ted, aged nine, is the clumsiest boy in the world. Desperately searching for his vocation, he cannot find anything he is good at. Then his father comes home with an old monstrous piano.
Dir. Tom Hemmings Lenny sets up a shot with his alpha-moron colleague Martin – protecting the PM as he jogs through a London park, with Lenny’s wife Carol thinking it’ll do his withering libido good.
Dir. Dominique Lecchi Balsa Wood lightheartedly follows two biracial siblings visiting their extended Filipino family for lunch. It is a bubble of family dysfunction, all with a south east Asian fluorescence.
Dir. Jim Archer Two twenty-something year olds begin to fall for each following a drunken one night stand. But a surreal encounter with some friends threatens to derail their blossoming romance.
Dir. Jannik Dahl Pedersen Hanne and Carsten are desperately trying to keep up appearances to their nosy neighbours. But how do you keep up with the illusion of a happy, stable life in times of financial crisis?
Dir. Laura Spini Norman Pugg arrives in a sleepy and quiet British seaside town with a mission to spread the word of his niche religious sect, only to be caught up in a very serious case of mistaken identity.
Dir. Justin Spray Director Justin Spray finds beauty at the bottom of a municipal swimming pool as he follows a group of novice free-divers in their journey of experimentation and underwater discovery.
Dir. Ruth Grimberg Losing his sight to a heart-breaking, incurable disease, John considers his future and, guided by schoolboy Ben, casts his line for carp at the bottom of London’s mysterious hidden lakes.
Dir. Andy Oxley The modern world is constantly speeding up. Meanwhile, the Dull Men’s Club – a group of men quite content with life’s more sedate pleasures – take their own slow and steady pace.
Dir. Matt Houghton Almost all people want to solve puzzles; it’s part of human nature. Shifting between imagination and reality, Dear Araucaria meets the man who has given his life to crosswords.
Dir. Benjamin Dowie Shot in France over one week, Stillness Arises provides an insight into the mind of French adventurer and filmmaker, Mathieu Le Lay, and his connection with nature and the wild.
Dir. Matt Freeth A cautionary tale about a young boy named Harry, and his life-changing encounter with a vagrant puppet crocodile. The puppet was made by lead Aardman animator, Jim Parkyn.
Dir. Sunday Emerson Gullifer Behind the closed doors of an elite boarding school, Matthews and his friends are cruising through life – but when a joyride ends in disaster, he has to deal with a guilt that consumes him.
Dir. Louise C Galizia An old woman living alone tells one of her caregivers that someone has broken into the house. The story of an unlikely relationship between an elderly lady and a teenage runaway.
Dir. Vicki Kisner Sheila, a domestic worker in South Africa, fears asking her controlling boss for time off to go to a wedding and cooks up a lie about her grandma’s funeral. But her lie soon escalates.
Dir. Clemens Roth Peter is being followed by killer bees; Elsa collects exotic flowers. To be together they have to overcome their fantasies, but what if love itself is nothing but an imagined fantasy?
Dir. Aaron Dunleavy & Joseph Ollman A troubled and unstable teenage boy, growing up in a dreamless wilderness and isolated from those around him, is stripped of his dignity as his father abandons him for the outside world.
Dir. Michael Slavens After the sudden passing of his wife, Stan (Richard Kind) ignores his overwhelming grief, only to be faced with a punk marching band that floods his world with interminable song.
Dir. Freya Billington Bread and Butter is an experimental musical that gives voice to a chorus of unspoken dreams and desires we have to keep a lid on in the workplace, in monochrome splitscreen.
Dir. Arjan Brentjes What’s left of love in an eternal life? In a 1960s talk show, a scientist discusses the future possibility of indefinite human life. In the meantime we see his memories of a short love affair.
Dir. Diana Olifirova Every time we watch a film we project ourselves onto the big screen. Sometimes it turns into obsession with no exit or way out. This is an exploration of the infinite nature of cinema.
Dir. Sophia Savage Total Moon follow the Maas siblings as they bring their sister home to Big Sur after a suicide attempt. They find that they struggle to reintegrate her into their unusually intimate way of life.
Dir. Andrea Niada A woman hatches into a menacing world made of bin bags where she must find the key to a mysterious container, which holds the terrifying secret of this strange place.
Dir. Florian Wittmann, Falko Paeper & Roman Kaelin Wrapped combines time lapse photography with CGI animation. This short explores the different facets of nature’s processes and how they work.
Dir. Szymon Pawlik 6800 miles – the distance from Poland to Indonesia. This is a story that evolves from feelings of loss into the desire to travel to distant places where you can forget about the past.
Dir. Jakub Jahn An experimental video report from the F/W 2015 edition of the Mercedes Benz Prague Fashion Weekend, explore the spaces of friction between fashion images and their textual reading.
Dir. Monica Menez In her latest fashion film, Odditory, Monica Menez shows that a good lecture at a university depends on solid preparation and lively participation on the part of the students in order to understand.
Dir. Emeline Castaneda Still is a languid film set in the muted space of a the studio, in which garments and mysterious hands gently clothe and unclothe a model as time is slowed down and reversed.
Dir. Corinne Delaney Inspired by French New Wave Cinema and style icons Jean Shrimpton and Anna Karina, the film is an exploration of the golden ratio and the classic ideals surrounding femininity.
Dir. Jam Patel Barbara Black, an ex-government associate, runs a secret all female spy agency in London. Harmony Blonde, one of Barbara’s employees has stolen her most prize possession. Will she ever get it back?
Dir. Ed Edwards Spurned by her lover after she discovers that she is pregnant, an emotional and determined Daisy takes revenge on her ex in Ed Edward’s short music video Baby Get Me a Gun.
Dir. Romain Laurent Boomerang follows LA-based rapper Pigeon John and French turntablist 20syl on a spin in New York City from the typical American diner to the open roofs of Brooklyn. Directed by Romain Laurent.
Dir. Mariana Conde A young man’s attempt at a first contact with a love interest is hijacked in a most entertaining way. A sharp, edgy short with no dialogue, great performances, and a lot of dancing.
Dir. Romain Chassaing After getting red several times, David Boring decides to steal, along with his two fellows Eurobelix and Martin Luther BB King. From small stores to banks, money starts flowing.
Dir. Amy Watson Shot on International Women’s Day for an all female band by a primarily female crew, this video is about friendship, suburbia, and murder. A Thelma and Louise homage via Prestwich.
Dir. William Powers A blend of myths and folklore with intrusions from the modern world, and a peculiar atmosphere between fairy tales and something more sinister, feature in this animated video.
Dir. Simon Wade & Paul Wade The film takes place almost entirely inside a block of flats in an unconfirmed location. The repairman lives and works alone in the flats where he is employed to fix a variety of problems.
Dir. Ollie Murray In a seedy cabaret club a young girl is rescued from her fate by the hand of a bloodthirsty stranger. What will her outcome be? Featuring a score by Cats Eyes, recorded at Abbey Road.
Dir. Chris Fowles Part crime thriller, part coming of age drama-comedy, Sleeping Dogs sees a former thief, recently released from prison, embark on an eventful beach holiday with his family.
Dir. Alexander Birrell A weekend in the countryside for two old schoolmates and their girlfriends becomes a game of cat and mouse, as neither partner materialises and one of the men suspects murder.
Dir. Vincent Paronnaud 1957, Ossau Valley, France. Pierre reaches the summer pasture with his dog and flock of ewes. He is afraid of the wolf but he isn’t aware of a more savage threat: a paratroopers’ squad.
Dir. James Christi-Murray & Cameron Griffith Ellie receives a distressed call from her friend in need but when she arrives at the apartment building, things take a dark turn for Ellie in this chilling short film.