It’s been another incredible year of submissions, we’d like to thank all of the filmmakers that have entered NEIFF 2022. Sadly, we can’t pick every film, but here’s the cream of this years crop for consideration…
A Last Resort
It's wanna-be movie star Rose's 60th birthday and she's desperate to celebrate like it's 1999. Her partner in crime and uptight daughter Genevieve is however struggling to ignore some recent, tragic revelations about her Mum. As the enigmatic duo regress back to childhood ways, A LAST RESORT takes a humorous, idiosyncratic and occasionally painfully honest look at [...]
A Plus
Two dedicated young parents who want only the best for their ten year old daughter, take matters into their own hands and have to consider what they are willing to do to ensure her success. We follow a young married couple, Cassie and Ade, over one evening as they try their best to right a perceived wrong. Cassie [...]
Ages of Man
An anthology fiction short where three men find themselves in vulnerable positions with three women. This comedic horror drops the audience in the middle of stories about the invisible labor that women perform every day, the labor that makes the world go round. The vignettes depict these particular men’s lack of awareness to what supports their sense of [...]
Alice, Through the Looking: À la recherche d’un lapin perdu
French philosophy student Alice falls in love with a boy, “Rabbit,” at a masked ball in London, and takes him home. The next morning, Rabbit has disappeared, along with any indication that their night together ever occurred. Determined to find him, Alice sets out through a Brexit London that has turned very strange indeed, aided by the [...]
Avocado Toast the series SEASON 2
With Molly and Elle’s friendship left hanging in question, we start season 2 with Molly in London, England facing both her heartbreak from ‘The One’ and her new endometriosis/adenomyosis diagnoses. Back in Toronto, Elle has found herself a member of “Community”, a retreat where she went to recoup after a nervous breakdown. What was meant to be [...]
BabyDolls
Unable to accept his ex Jess's departure, Billy finds a website that allows him to design a sexbot in her image. ‘BabyDolls’ claim that their custom made sexbots have the ability to mirror their buyer’s behaviour, making them an idyllic partner for the purchaser. After falling victim to his own toxicity through Becks' adaptive algorithm, Billy seeks to [...]
BARDO: A ROGUE AND PEASANT SLAVE
Bardo is a hard-grafting bouncer who aspires to be a writer. His wife, Hecuba, hiding her own dreams, finds solace in alcohol and believes Bardo is stealing her life to fulfil his own. Bardo finds inspiration in Karate and his curiously familiar sparring partner Anne Marie, a teacher. Bardo’s choice will cause devastation but in the wreckage Anne [...]
Becoming, Being Mom
Four women share the joys and challenges they’ve experienced with pregnancy, birth and raising children, as they contemplate their identities both in and outside of motherhood. Through elevating these perspectives, “Becoming, Being Mom” seeks to initiate and destigmatize conversations surrounding motherhood, while also empowering all generations of women to feel comfortable in sharing their own stories.
Beige
Ethnically vague, racially ambiguous, too dark, not dark enough...yes, these are real life comments from the industry. This short spies on the audition process and opens our eyes to what it's like for mixed race actors in the industry today. These rooms see some of the most cringe-worthy moments for actors who are desperately trying to showcase [...]
Benched
Lewis meets with Andrew at a bench on the coast. He is anxious, keen to return to an unspoken formal event. They know each other, but the depth of their knowledge is unclear. Across their sparse conversation, a turbulent fraught relationship is revealed. External pressures seep in until they cannot bear it, and Lewis breaks away, returning to [...]
Bienvenidos a Los Angeles
Inspired by true events and shot on location at LAX airport, "Bienvenidos a Los Angeles" tells the timely story of Imani, a Nigerian single-mother living in Los Angeles, who offers to help a perfect stranger reunite with her son. In doing so, Imani learns this simple act of kindness threatens to jeopardize her own path to citizenship.
Birds
Log line: When her 9-year-old daughter’s dreams of becoming a gymnast are on the line, a mother behind bars struggles to keep her whereabouts a secret. Inspired by the real experiences of a former prisoner. Short Synopsis: “Are you nearly coming home?” Lee’s got a secret. Contrary to her youngest daughter Ray’s beliefs, Lee isn’t leading the glamourous [...]
Blue
A father daughter relationship is tested as Dad drives Lucy to have her abortion and the two dance around what her future might hold. As they reach the clinic, Lucy looks to her Dad for answers - but it’s not his decision to make. A simple car ride becomes a journey to adulthood for Lucy as she faces [...]
Bring Back My Bonnie
An elderly man with dementia continues to speak with his late wife to keep her alive. When his daughter sees his decline she tries her best to make him comfortable and the memories they share embolden their relationship. An exploration of the highs-and-lows of memories fading through illness and natural inclinations.
Broken Hearts
Chloe, a regular at the Broken Hearts hospital and a desperate romantic, is back again after yet another romantic mishap. This time, Dr. Love agrees to prescribe her a rebound - the love-cynical Charlie, who's here on his first visit. They must undergo the treatment together, regardless of their clashing beliefs.
Call Me Back
The subtlety of memory and grief is studied in this heartfelt exploration of a bereaved older woman. Grace (Lindsay Duncan), returns home from the funeral of her husband, George (Jim Broadbent), accompanied by her daughter, Lucy (Sophia Myles). Mother and daughter clash, leading Grace to attempt to mourn in isolation. Confronted by memories of happier times, she begins [...]
Charlie’s Freedom
Charlie’s Freedom is a gritty, sensitive short film with two parallel timelines that contrast Charlie’s struggles as a teenage carer with a mysterious day in her future. When Charlie turns down the University of her dreams, her disabled Mum takes radical steps to ensure she completes her education. But is she successful? We find out when the two [...]
Cheese and Onion
‘Cheese and Onion’ is a police crime drama highlighting how a small dispute can escalate out of hand and lead to tragic consequences. Set in present day rural West Yorkshire, the narrative follows a police sergeant as she takes revenge on her husband's young mistress. Highlighting the abuse of power, injustice and the destruction of a young woman’s [...]
Cleaner
Angela is a domestic cleaner who keeps herself to herself. Mairead is a houseproud mother who, more often than not, finds herself alone at home with the children. When a mundane household accident forces Angela to add emergency childminding to her list of duties, a friendship begins between employer and employee. As the relationship blooms, they begin to [...]
Cost of Living
Cost of Living is a timely short film, curated from more than half a century of archive footage, that reflects on the pandemic cycles of boom and bust that continue to affect us. As we live through the deepest cost of living crisis for over fifty years, the film expresses the fury and anger of generations whose essential [...]
Devil on My Shoulder
Without friends or a purpose in life, Matteus finds himself isolated from reality after his older sister Linnea commits suicide. He looks back at their memories together in the hope of being able to understand her and what it was that went wrong. Through the inner battle with his subconsciousness, Matteus is able to find his way [...]
Dream Big
Miranda is a woman who has dedicated herself to her job but when the interview day for a big promotion comes up, she is overlooked in favour of a man who is everything she's not. Returning home, she takes refuge in her hobby, her model railway. Fuelled by anger she paints a figure to resemble the man who [...]
Duet
Ruth begins her 30th birthday alone, as she often is, with nothing but her thoughts, memories, and her piano, an extension of her inner life. It’s apparent that this day is overshadowed by a spectre from her past which she increasingly cannot deny. Her older brother Adam — an equally solitary workaholic — arrives with a cake and [...]
Echo
Echo, tells the story of Alice, a young woman so traumatized by the loss of her baby that she shuts herself off emotionally from her partner and retreats into a fantasy world where she is able to connect with the essence of the child she lost, who we call Echo. After an elaborate underwater game of hide and [...]
EL ARENA
El Arena navigates the underground world of battle rap in the Middle East, taking a first of its kind look into the stories, struggles, and perspectives of its most talented figures. Thanks to Lebanon's relatively liberal freedom of speech laws, Arab rappers from across the region come to Beirut to compete against one another. Outside of The [...]
Eternal Hourglass
An elderly woman recollects and reconnects with her past as her memories fade back to her in the form of a dance; a dream, a nightmare. Anna (80) sits in her chair day in and day out. Her previous life as an acrobat unknown to those who care for her as she lives out Nietzsche’s Eternal Return, and [...]
EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE LOVED
A blisteringly hot summer day. Psychotherapist Ina notices something is wrong with her. But she doesn't have time to worry about it: Patients are waiting at the practice, her daughter is threatening to move in with her father, her boyfriend wants to emigrate to Finland, and her self-centered mother is celebrating her 70th birthday. Ina wants to [...]
Everything Is Out To Get Me
A 1950's housewife, struggling with her mental health, reflects on her failed marriage and history of domestic abuse. Her depression is fueled by the fact that her ex-husband now appears to be happily re-married with a newborn baby. But there's more to his happiness than meets the eye.
Fabulous Femininities
Fabulous Femininities is a captivating feature-length documentary that offers an intimate glimpse into the lives and journeys of six extraordinary burlesque performers from across the United Kingdom. Through this documentary, the film aims to challenge misconceptions surrounding burlesque and showcase its empowering nature as a celebration of body positivity, creativity, and self-expression.
FATHER’S DAY
Father’s Day is a short film about Alakhe a 12-year-old boy who is raised by a single mother. Being the nerd of the class, Alakhe is selected to give a speech for a Father’s Day school event. He decides to go against his mother’s word and sets out to find the father he’s never met which opens a [...]
FINITE: The Climate of Change
Inside the core of the climate movement, concerned citizens in Germany put their bodies on the line to save an ancient forest from Europe’s largest coal mine. They form an unlikely alliance with a frustrated community in rural England who are forced into action to protect their homes from a new mine.
FLITE
Breaking free is a leap of faith In the semi submerged London of 2053, the reigning hoverboard world champion finds herself imprisoned in a luxury high-rise apartment by her controlling manager. The kindness of a stranger allows her to take flight in a daring and precarious escape - but all does not go as planned. Can bleeding-edge new [...]
FOUR WALLS – EPISODE 1
Grace Molotsi, a married nurse from the township, feels trapped and at her wits end due to an abusive husband who has made her life a living nightmare. When she finally takes the decision to end his life, her house is invaded by two thugs on the run from a cash-in-transit robbery gone wrong who take her hostage. [...]
GHANIMAH
The war on terror, the 7/7 bombings, the loss of the son's mother and the allegiance to either Islam or Britain. What will unfold. Family, Duty or Honour? A heated argument occurs when Abdullah (Mikhail Sen - House of Dragon, A Suitable Boy) declares he is joining the British Military to the shock of his pacifist father [...]
GLACIERS
In a sobering glimpse of the UK's potential future, a remote family farm is caught in the grip of unmitigated climate change. Prodigious storms, disease and famine beset the father and son who remain there, as circumstances worsen by the day. Adam and Simon must ultimately face the hardest choice imaginable; to remain in defiance of such overwhelming [...]
Gotham: The Fall and Rise of New York
Gotham tells the true story of what happened in New York City during the twenty years from 1993 to 2013. How did a city with over 2200 murders, 93,000 violent robberies and 147,000 car thefts in 1990 become the capitol of the world a mere handful of years later? This feature documentary explores what happened during these decades, [...]
HARD TO REACH
It's 2010 and the last day of school before summer. Morey, an anxiety fuelled mentor living a life devoid of purpose, is quietly descending into a breakdown as he arrives to pick up his rebellious and sometimes violent teenage student, Jackson. The tension only intensifies when their intended photography trip leads to an altercation on a train, forcing [...]
HEADSPACE
The film starts with a freak accident, where Gus, Sophie, and Max of the Andromeda Galactic Bureau of Investigation (AGBI) and their microscopically minuscule rust-bucket of a spaceship, The Rusty Nail, take up residence inside 14-year-old Norman’s brain. They can see what he can see and hear what he can hear. The nanosized crime fighting aliens must enlist [...]
Helen of Troy’s
Starring, written and produced by Lia Hatzakis, alongside director Nick Flügge, Helen of Troy’s is an auto-biographical tale of frustrated ambition, broken dreams and magical fish. While everyone including her boyfriend has gone off to Uni having all the sex, Helen is stuck still working at her Dad's fish 'n' chip shop, dreaming of escape. Set in the [...]
HER INK
As Lebanon faces a devastating economic crisis, its citizens lose access to electricity, transportation, water, and healthcare. In response, Joa Antoun begins offering free tattoos to breast cancer survivors who have undergone a mastectomy, treating her clients’ breasts as a canvas for incredible pieces of art. Although tattoos are still considered a taboo in much of the Middle [...]
How To Love You
"How to Love You" takes place in an Asian household, telling the story of Mary, and her 17-year-old daughter, Evelynn. They are each other's friend, confidant and only family. Mary knows everything about her only child, or at least she thinks she does. When the single mother finds out about her daughter's closeted secret one day, Mary goes [...]
I Fall
I Fall, is a dance film created and choreographed by Fallen Angels Dance Theatre and past addicts now in recovery. It explores the carnage and chaos of addiction. Focusing on the twisted love story between two addicts - how they can’t live with or without each other – and their unbearable compulsion to use. But through the despair, [...]
I HAVE HEARD YOU CALLING IN THE NIGHT
RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME…WRONG NUMBER A wrong number phonecall from a suicidal Irishman on a remote train platform leads to a trainee vicar saving his life…by mistake. 1 phone call, 2 locations, shot simultaneously in 1 take. The phone call is presented to the audience in split screen so they can choose their own journey. When Cillian arrives [...]
In My Day
In this black and white drama, a young white British woman, Michelle, is deeply in love with her boyfriend Asif. But, the local far-right skinheads in the city and her parents in the countryside aren’t accepting of him and their relationship. The true reason for their hostility is only revealed at the end.
In Your Hands
Late evening in a London barbershop, an awkward stranger becomes enamoured with a charming barber. An unlikely attraction sparks between them and after a life-changing shave for The Stranger, the two go for a drink. As alcohol lowers The Stranger’s inhibitions, his fascination for shaving starts to reveal a dark desire. After an uncomfortable walk home, The Barber [...]
in·spi·ra·tion
in·spi·ra·tion is a short documentary following three Isle of Man artists as they complete a piece of work, discussing their sources of inspiration and identity as artists. The film aims to demystify the artistic process, and demonstrate how everyone works differently, and there is no ‘right’ way to do art; it’s a personal journey. [...]
Inter-Continental Bunker Mission (I.C.B.M.) English Version
How the f**k would one survive the nuclear apocalypse? Two friends without a clue set out on a journey to survive the end of the world. An atomic cocktail of journalistic, archival, and D.I.Y. Bunker Building, I.C.B.M. addresses the ever growing survivalism trend, the personal price of survival, and the perpetual state of preparedness the world has found [...]
INTO THE SPOTLIGHT
A heartfelt story of how a script, a stage, and a theater program composed of adults with disabilities celebrate their creativity, explore life’s complexities, and empower a community, in their own words and their own way— INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is a documentary feature film that follows a Dallas-based theatre troupe, composed of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, [...]
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
Journey to the West traces Chinese Medicine's journey to the UK and explores the challenges of establishing legitimacy and developing recognition when the dominant culture is against you. This documentary introduces Chinese Medicine’s understanding of health and illness as a platform from which to explore a catch 22 at the heart of the profession’s struggle for acceptance; [...]
JUNE
June is a story about the fragility of life; the primal forces that drive and control us and the mystery of hope and new beginnings. Willow and David receive a serious diagnosis from their doctor and attempt to deal with the mundane as their world disintegrates in the following 24 hours. This one day in June for the [...]
Last Respects
Vinny a gangster boss lies on his death bed attended to by a nurse and doctor. Three associate gangsters visit to pay their last respects and while alone they vent their true feelings. However, it is soon revealed that Vinny is not dying, and was testing out their loyalty leading to serious consequences.
Making Up
Making Up is set in the late 1980s, framed within the gritty drag scene of London's east end. The short film stars BIFA award-winning Dave Johns, Jessica Ellerby and Carey Thring and follows Ted who is diagnosed with a hereditary illness. Ted must therefore reconcile with estranged daughter, Cassandra. However, being a celebrated drag queen, paired with the [...]
ManMade
Funerals can be true male environments where men want to cry but refuse to while their past rides up to hit them. Eddie Holgate is caught in this exact situation. His father has built him up all his life to be tough in an attempt to trickle down his masculinity. But as a tumultuous and charged service at [...]
Meeting Mr Samuel
After dying of a cocaine induced heart attack in a pub toilet, loveable rogue and absent father, Christian Stoner wakes to find himself in what appears to be a waiting for the afterlife staffed by his former school Geography teacher, Mr Samuels. As their conversation unfolds, Christian discovers that neither Mr Samuels nor this vast room are entirely [...]
Merman
Haunted by what she has seen while carrying out humanitarian work with refugees in the Mediterranean and traumatised by her experiences, Mari returns to her parents’ coastal home in rural Suffolk. There, through an unlikely acquaintance, she discovers the medieval legend of the Merman. The truth behind this seemingly innocent myth is darker than Mari could imagine. Merman [...]
Midnight Peepshow
From directors Jake West (Doghouse), Airell Anthony Hayles (They’re Outside), Andy Edwards (Ibiza Undead) and Ludovica Musumeci (Mens Sana) comes a twisted portmanteau horror show that explores the nightmare side of sexual fantasy. Chiara D’ Anna (The Duke of Burgundy) is the Madame who owns a Soho Peep Show with a difference, in that the sights on [...]
MIRROR MIRROR
Shot on 16mm, this experimental short follows a grief stricken woman battles with her sanity as her carefully constructed fantasy comes crumbling down in this retro-futuristic exploration of identity. Computer babble. Brutalist architecture. A future reimagined by the seventies. A dangerous world of technology confronting mankind.
Much Ado (2022)
A fresh adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is played out in a house of university students, whose party spins out of control. When a university rugby team run into engine trouble deep in the English countryside they seek refuge with local businessman Leonato, his teeange daughter Hero and niece Beatrice. Beatrice is shocked to come [...]
Much Ado About Dying
Simon is shooting a film in India when his Uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “Come back to London, I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a Shakespeare-loving drama queen who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. But David has no intention [...]
Natural Causes
When downtrodden carer Carl finds his cantankerous bed-ridden Uncle Derek dead, he’s finally free! He announces the death via a text but when Derek turns out to be playing another practical joke and in fact alive, and family arrive to pay their “respects”, Carl wrestles with whether to reveal the truth or…to make Derek dead again.
NEW MATERIAL
Cassim Caif (Riaad Moosa) is a young Muslim man living in Fordsburg, Johannesburg. He is balancing the demands of a new marriage, a young child, and living in a house with his aging parents, with being one of South Africa’s few Muslim stand-up comedians. His father Ebrahim (Vincent Ibrahim) has reluctantly accepted his son’s chosen career for [...]
one like him
A Jordanian man (Karim) must find a way to tell his childhood friend and first love (Ramzi) the truth about what happened twenty years ago, when a single moment changed both their lives. When he can’t find the words, the conversation repeats, becoming increasingly surreal until he loses control.
ONLYHUMAN
Sasha (a 30 year old orphan) and his girlfriend Laura are preparing to move from Russia to Spain. But there is a hidden problem: Sasha merely pretends to be a happy person. When he ultimately finds his mother, who gave him away as a newborn over 30 years ago, he comes to realize that he cannot carry [...]
Orpheus
The story of Orpheus takes the Greek myth and focuses on the sense of loss and guilt. Only in this story rather than being a musician Orpheus is an artist, an artist trapped in his studio with a fading memory of his lost love – but nightly he is pestered and bullied by The Critic, a living embodiment [...]
Over her
In OVER HER we get to know 24-year-old Line (Ulrikke Falch) who has just been dumped by her girlfriend Julia - and life has collapsed. Her closest friend Elin (Clara Henry) tries to help her get over the ex, by running a Tinder account in Line's name. And suddenly she matches with Destiny, played by acclaimed Amy Deasismont. [...]
Pet Name
Sophie (Ambika Mod) has spent weeks planning a special day out for James’s (Conor Joseph) birthday. Something that will elevate their relationship with just the right amount of nostalgia, sentimentality and romance. But whilst searching for a lighter, to light a birthday candle, Sophie’s curiosity delivers an unexpected blow; a simple message in a card that reveals [...]
Plucking Tangerines
In a South London flat bereaved playwright Ava holds on to the memory of her late best friend Fran, evoking her aura and hindering her final departure. However, when Fran defies all of her friend's ploys to keep her inside, the only option left for Ava is to acquiesce and set her own imagination free.
Reflections
Sid lives in self-imposed isolation with his dog, Ace. That is until, one day, amidst the surrounding mountainscape, Sid sees a mysterious house appear on the horizon. Upon closer inspection, this house is familiar; it is his home. The same ravaged stone, mossy notches, and chipped painted wood. As Sid’s initial suspicions continue to grow, so does his [...]
REFUGIA – EPISODE 1
A Refugia is a place of refuge where species survive through crisis. More than ever, now is the time to recognize and support those committed to the protection and preservation of these Refugia. It is in the everyday that we find our true heroes now, those who are focused on the betterment of our place here on [...]
Resonance
A woman arrives for a piano lesson to find her teacher playing a piece that has no name and no ending; she discovers that it is about a former lover whose memory still haunts the younger woman. When it is the older woman’s turn to play, she, too, cannot finish the piece she is playing, which was written [...]
Rose of Armagh
Set in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, 1983. Rose of Armagh is the story of a Father & Daughter, on their way home in the depths of mid-winter. How a Daughter mistakingly seals her Father’s fate with a rose after a stop & search at a checkpoint on the border of County Armagh leads to a witch hunt within [...]
Round Two
In Round Two we meet Hanne and Danel who have just had a successfull date and ended up at Hanne’s place. Here a breakdown of communication in an intimate situation, leads a blossoming romance into muddled waters, making them both feel confused and hurt, while leaving the audience pondering important and difficult questions about the grey areas of [...]
Ruth
Ruth, an elderly lady with dementia, becomes lost within her own home. As she tries to find answers she ends up losing herself further, confusing reality with memories from her past. Shot in a single 12 minute take, the film puts the audience in Ruth's shoes, making them feel first hand the daily confusion brought on by [...]
SHOVE IT – THE XERO SLINGSBY STORY
Coltrane. Coleman ....Coe. 'Shove It' tells the story of legendary Leeds jazz saxophonist Matthew Coe, aka Xero Slingsby and his band The Works. From the streets of West Yorkshire (and over 40 arrests for busking) to the hottest jazz bars of Europe, Coe defined the anarchic jazz punk scene of the 1980s - winning Battle of the [...]
Snapshot
John Clark's debut film, funded and supported by the BFI Network. Snapshot is based on John Clark's lived experience, of trying to gain employment as an autistic adult. The film includes a debut performance from Josh Ward, whose real-life experiences mirror the character and themes presented within the film. A Snapshot is a short psychological drama entailing [...]
Soft Facts
Maia McCarthy has disappeared in a war zone leaving only a cryptic voice note. Aided by an anonymous hacker her husband Danny follows an online trail into her secret world… a Syrian doctor, a mysterious taxi driver, and the trauma of a miscarriage… the facts themselves are never what they seem.
Strings
Penny has her share of demons, and she’s about to take on one more. Despite her inability to play, Penny has big dreams of becoming the world’s greatest axe player. After stealing one from an antique shop, she decides to break it in at the local punk bar she frequents. Things don't go very well, and Penny ends [...]
Sunday Roast
Holger lives alone in his apartment. When 60 years younger Anna moves into the same stairwell, he invites her to a Sunday dinner. What first appears to be a nice dinner is gradually changing into something else. Sunday Roast is about mental disorders and revolves around the conflict between curiosity, obligation and danger.
Tell Me You Love Me
Based on a true story - A rooftop party for two, a brother & sister celebrate their love. She has escaped from a violent husband but her scars run deep. She makes the ultimate choice. With Tamzin Outhwaite, Previous credits include: EastEnders, Death in Paradise, Ridley Road. Danny Bayne, The Peripheral (Netflix) Hollyoaks, Grease is the Word- Winner- [...]
Ten by Ten
There is no denying the evocative power of food to remind us of who we are and where we come from. And after living in Asia for over fifteen years, my sister Jessica was longing for the burgers and barbecue of her native Tennessee. With the help of her husband Dongseop, Jessica opened an American-style diner out [...]
THE AUTOMAT
Featuring an original new song written and performed by Mel Brooks, The Automat which premiered at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival, tells the 100-year story of the iconic restaurant chain Horn & Hardart, the inspiration for Starbucks, where generations of Americans ate and drank coffee together at communal tables. From the perspective of former customers entertainer Mel [...]
The Comfort Zone
What would it take to break you out of your COMFORT ZONE? Caleb is by all accounts a successful executive. Despite exceeding his father's expectations, Caleb is far from happy. That is, until Star, a vibrant and aspiring rockstar, comes crashing into his world and turns his comfortably numb existence upside down with a string of reckless [...]
The Cure
17-year-old Renal is brought to a sex worker by his uncle to prove his masculinity to his patriarchal father. “The Cure” shows how the absolute power of adults who have a conservative and rigid mentality leads to a traumatic experience for a teenager. An “educational” act driven by good intentions turns into psychological and physical abuse.
The Fell We Climb
The Fell We Climb is an animated short film inspired by the real life experiences of black and brown youngsters growing up in Cumbria. Hamira must find her voice and courage in the hope to create an anti-racist future for all. The Fell We Climb reveals an inside look at what it’s like to grow up in Cumbria [...]
The Fox
The Fox is the true story of Franz Streitberger, Adrian Goiginger's great-grandfather, a motorcycle courier for the Austrian Army who was soon drafted into the German Wehrmacht. At the beginning of the Second World War, the introverted young soldier encounters a wounded fox cub, which he then looks after as if it were his own child and [...]
THE GHOST WRITER
Gilliger Graham, a struggling writer, is told by his agent that he must produce a hit novel if he is to save his career. He decamps to his old family home, where his father, who was once a very successful writer, had died under mysterious circumstances many years before. Disturbed by the reminders of his old family life, Gilliger struggles to find [...]
The Last Election and other Love Stories
As finalists in a podcast competition worth 20 thousand dollars, Khadim Diop and his creative partner, Xisko Monroe, create an audio ethnography about the 2020 presidential election. Working exclusively in Times Square from sunrise November 3, 2020, to sunrise November 4, 2020, they ask all interviewees three questions: Where were you the last election? What are the [...]
The Magical World Of Miracles
In this sweeping tale of love and loss, we follow siblings Elsie and Theo as they set out on the adventure of a lifetime to find a real life miracle that they hope will fix everything that’s gone awry. We watch them escape into their imagination, transforming the real world into their magical playground as they journey [...]
The Moon Followed Me To Falmouth
A seafarer sings the story of how he, as a young man, left Falmouth looking for a new life on the High Seas. During his voyage, he recounts how the moon began to follow him, watching his every move. After months at sea, the ship arrived at a topical island where the moon lead him to his first [...]
The Nightingale
Set in London and inspired by real-life events, The Nightingale follows Grace, a second-year university student, on her reckless and dangerous path through the different stages of PTSD. With unflinching honesty, the film explores the lasting impact of sexual assault and the courage it takes to overcome it. In a society that often silences survivors, The Nightingale amplifies [...]
The Rock in the Sea.
"A Monk living in 9th century Ireland must contend with grief, despair, isolation and his own identity, on a far-off desolate rock." Set against the backdrop of the viking expansion era in the late 9th century. An Irish Monk living on a remote island rock must confront grief and contend with despair as his hope falls into decay. [...]
The Sanctuary Seekers of Bradford
As governments around the world face the impact of the growing number of displaced people, the city of Bradford in the north of England is known as a city of sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers, and has a rich heritage of welcoming those fleeing their homes. This 30 minute documentary film follows the lives of three Bradford [...]
The Wake
A restless 15-year-old has spent his life surrounded by death, raised in his parents' funeral business in a small town USA. Viewing his alcoholic father as profiting from the dead, our hero does him one better: While a wake is held in his parents' funeral home, he breaks into the deceased's house, counting on the place being empty. [...]
THE WELDER
A young Latina is haunted by a traumatic event she experienced while in the military and so her African American boyfriend takes her on a ranch vacation to help relieve her anxiety and panic attacks. But once there, they find themselves in a fight for their lives as they attempt to elude the demented racial experiments of [...]
Thrown Away Child
Failed by a care system that continuously ignored evidence of the abuse she suffered as a child, Louise was saved by her determination to escape home and become an artist. Fifty years later, Thrown Away Child explores how her case was able to slip through the cracks, and how she uses her past to fight for the rights [...]
TIME & TIDE – A TRILOGY
Time and Tide is a trilogy about how we approach the past, reconcile it with the present, and face the future. Across the years, a mother watches her gladiator son fight, while she remembers his childhood: the last lighthouse keeper prepares for his final trip ashore: and an actor returns to the stage to play his part in [...]
Trigger
Trigger is a short about a soldier called Fletcher who returns home to the UK with PTSD whilst serving in Afghanistan. The film follows Fletcher as he struggles with his ever growing mental illness and his struggles to adapt back into civilian and family life. Until a tragic life-changing event happens that will change his and his [...]
Unthinkable Conversations – SHORT FILM
Almost a year into a lawless war Amy and Jack have given up hope of anyone coming to help them. Hiding in their once beautiful home with their three young children, they are now starving . The violence rages around them and in the brutal world outside there is no value in anything except the lives of children. [...]
Waving
An unflinchingly honest portrayal of the devastating reality behind the misunderstood anxiety disorder of OCD, starring Ralph Ineson ('The VVitch’ - Robert Eggers, 'The Ballad of Buster Scruggs' - Coen Brothers, 'The Green Knight' - James Lowry and 'The Tragedy Of Macbeth' - Coen Brothers). His worst fears seemingly realised; a distraught father takes one last walk through [...]
When The Clapping Stops
Written by a Care Worker Matty - a young and dedicated care worker - meets his match when his agency assigns him to middle-aged firecracker and epilepsy sufferer, June. Despite struggling to access support from a sector stretched thin, Matty must also provide unpaid care for his terminally ill Grandfather. Soon, the emotional stress of balancing his personal [...]
Wounds
Wounds is a poetic dance film that follows the journey of a survivor experiencing domestic emotional abuse. The narrative explores an emotionally abusive relationship through movement, exposing the violence of this often invisible form of domestic abuse, whilst providing an empowering ending to those trapped in these cycles.
You’re Not Alone
You’re Not Alone is a film celebrating the 130th anniversary of North East children’s charity Children North East. It features a specially commissioned poem penned by Geordie poet, Scott Tyrrell and voiced by TV star and Children North East ambassador Tim Healy. It shares our unique history and insight into the life-changing support we provide babies, children and [...]
ZEMI
A UK - Dominican Co-production During his first international tour, Zemi, an up-and-coming Dominican rapper, faces the age-old battle between creative integrity and encompassing ambition. While external voices challenge his values, Zemi calls upon a powerful spirit to defend his truth. 'This is film about a clash between self-discovery and the socioeconomic structures that merchandise and profit from [...]