Manchester Film Festival 2018 announces full line-up including World and UK premieres

The Manchester Film Festival 2018 will take place from the 1^st-4^th March at Odeon Great Northern with an added preview screening at HOME on the 26^th February 2018. After three successful editions the festival now finds itself with an identity of honesty, making friends, having fun and sharing stories. MANIFF’s belief is to be straight forward and break away from the generic film festival format of branding and stranding…

“Having taken in the last three years it is apparent that we quite simply share unseen films from around the world to both filmmakers and film goers, who come to watch and enjoy stories and meet new people. This is what the event has grown into and we believe that showcasing all types of films to all types of people, without the need to categorise is the next step in MANIFF’s journey. In the festival’s early beginnings, we chose to follow suit and strand certain film selections but with our organic growth over the last three years we have now learnt that it’s time to break away and be a festival that is set apart from the rest, Manchester is renowned for honesty and hard work and I think taking this straight-talking approach is refreshing and apt to carry MANIIFF to a position of respect within the international festival community. The themes are still there for the audience to find but our selection of films have been chosen because we think they are good and will appeal to and entertain many demographics of people, and not because they fit into a certain box.” – Al Bailey Programming Director MANIFF18.

The line-up announced today, at the Press invite presentation at ODEON- Great Northern, certainly adds testament to the festival’s new and brave approach, it’s diverse and rich with multiple subject matters that will give the festival an openness and friendliness to everyone who takes in a film from the 2018 Official selection.

With feature films from many genres to documentary, animation, music, experimental and short films that portray many stories from around the world, this year’s festival looks jam packed with literally something for everyone.

This year’s edition has over 100 films that feature UK and world premieres from a vast list of starry international names such as Sean Penn, Jodie Foster, Nicholas Cage, Shia Labeouf, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Faye Dunaway, Warren Beatty, Billy Bob Thornton, Danny Glover, Pierce Brosnan, Dan Mirvish, Slash, Taylor Hackford, Henry Rollins, Tom Arnold, Adrian Lyne, Chad Smith, John Badham, William Shatner, Michael Anthony, Kevin Smith, Penn Jillette, Paul Stanley, Katherine Tate, Tituss Burgess, Alex Hassell, Vic Reeves, Conlith Hill, Sean Astin, Lenny Henry, Jane Horricks, and the last ever film from the late Sir John Hurt. To add to the eclectic nature of the festival localised talent such as Nico Mirallegro, Denise Welch, Rob James Collier and John Thompson, to name just a few, are also included in the mix of unseen story driven indie films from both established and debutant directors.

Book ending the impressive line-up, the opening film on the 1^st March at ODEON will be the International Premiere of Female led western PAINTED WOMAN, starring MANIFF alumni Steff Dawson. The closing film on the 4^th March will be the U.K Premiere of hard hitting arthouse film NONA, starring Kate Bosworth, who along with the respective directors James Cotten and Michael Polish, are all confirmed attendees at this year’s festival.

All of this will be preceded with a MANIFF18 advance screening on the 26^th February at HOME of BERNARD AND HUEY, the ‘Allenesque’ UK premiere from SLAMDANCE founder and author Dan Mirvish, who will also be in attendance to answer questions from the LIVE audience. With even more special guests still to be confirmed for live musical performances, MANIFF’s annual Filmmaker studios and closing awards, this year’s fest is looking like the best and most interesting yet.

Once again the experimental Films will be playing at the Saul Hey Art Gallery in Castlefield all day on Saturday the 3^rd of March and entry is free.

Full line up of 2018 official selection films below.

For full information, further announcements and to book tickets and passes please visit www.maniff.com

Narrative Feature

Painted Woman

JAMES COTTEN | USA | 108 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Stef Dawson, Matt Dallas, Kiowa Gordon, David Thomas Jenkins, Robert Craighead and Monica Peña.

Adapted from prolific western novelist Dusty Richards’ “Mustanger and the Lady,” PAINTED WOMAN is the story of Julie Richards, passed from hand to hand in a web of abuse and prostitution. As Julie’s time with her benefactor is coming to a dangerous close, she is given two chances of escape with two very different men.

NONA

MICHAEL POLISH | MEXICO | 92 MINUTES | SPANISH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Kate Bosworth, Sulem Calderon, Jesy McKinney.

NONA- Short for No Name, is the story of a girl from Honduras who meets a charming boy, Hecho. Hecho promises to get her safely to America to reunite with her mother, but instead, Nona faces a perilous journey when all is not how it seems beneath her new beau’s charms.

Damascus Cover

DANIEL ZELIK BERK | UK | 93 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, John Hurt ,Olivia Thirlby, Jürgen Prochnow.

Israeli spy, Ari Ben-Zion, haunted by the death of his son, is recalled to Jerusalem after a failed attempt to bring a mole back to Israel alive. Unsure how many of its operatives have been exposed, the Mossad assigns Ari to smuggle a chemical weapons scientist out of Syria. When Ari’s mission goes wrong he realisses he is just a pawn in a much bigger and dangerous game that will change him forever.

Hippoptamus

EDWARD PALMER | UK | 76 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Ingvild Deila, Stuart Mortimer.

Ruby wakes from a bad dream to find herself in a real life nightmare. She’s trapped in a basement, her legs are broken and she can’t remember who she is or how she got there. Her kidnapper, Tom, tells her she will remain captive until she falls in love with him.

The Isle

MATTHEW BUTLER HART | UK | 96 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Alex Hassell, Conleth Hill, Tori Butler Hart and Fisayo Akinade.

1846 and another ship crashes on the rocks of an almost deserted island in Scotland. Three sailors survive the wreck and make it to shore where the few locals take them in as they wait for the mainland boat to come for them. But the sailors’ survival story has only just started as they uncover the strange past of the once vibrant island.

The Sounding

CATHERINE EATON | USA | 93 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Teddy Sears, Erin Darke, Frankie Faison,Harris Yulin, Catherine Eaton.

Liv, after years of silence, begins to weave a language out of Shakespeare’s words. Michael, a neurologist, brought to protect her, commits her to a psychiatric hospital where she rebelliously fights for her voice and her freedom.

Can’t Say Goodbye

LINO ESCALERA | SPAIN | 97 MINUTES | SPANISH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Nathalie Poza, Juan Diego, Lola Dueñas.

Carla gets a call from her sister: her father, to whom she hasn’t spoken to for years is given months to live. She refuses to accept this and decides to take him to Barcelona for treatment where the two of them share a journey of discovery, regret and final closure.

Silk Road

MARK DE CLOE | NETHERLANDS | 88 MINUTES | DUTCH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Gijs Blom, Jonas Smulders, Olivia Lonsdale, Majd Mardo, Ben Hassin, Marcel Hensema, Melody Klaver, Phi Nguyen and Ronald Top.

When a 20-year old girl meets a charismatic boy living across the street, it starts her on the road to becoming a successful drug dealer on the Silk Road website. Along the way she gets caught up in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with police, criminals, and her own boyfriend.

Buckout Road

MATTHEW CURRIE HOLMES | USA | 97 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Danny Glover, Dominique Provost-Chalkey, Evan Ross, Henry Czerny, Colm Feore and David Hayter.

A tongue in cheek ‘The Omen’ meets ‘Urban Legend’.

A college class project on creation and destruction of modern myth, turns terrifying when a trio of young people come to realise the many evil urban legends surrounding New York State’s famed Buckout Road may in fact be real.

Behind the Blue Door

MARIUSZ PALEJ | POLAND | 93 MINUTES | POLISH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Dominik Kowalczyk, Ewa Błaszczyk and Magdalena Nieć.

For 11-year-old Lukas, an incredible adventure begins the moment he and his mum set off on a summer holiday trip and have a terrible car crash. His mum is in a coma, and the boy must visit his aunt Agatha. She brings him to her guesthouse by the seaside. Here, he discovers a secret passage to a different dimension and soon learns what amazing and yet frightening mysteries this new world offers.

Bernard and Huey

DAN MIRVISH | USA | 91 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jim Rash, David Koechner, Mae Whitman, Sasha Alexander, Richard Kind, Eka Darville and Nancy Travis.

Based on characters from Jules Feiffer’s ’57 cartoon strips. A quick witted story about Bernard, a successful bachelor in New York and his long-lost friend Huey. Their forgotten friendship is reformed when Bernard starts a relationship with Huey’s estranged daughter Zelda.

Covadonga

SEAN HARTOFILIS | USA | 70 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sean Hartofilis, Lindsey Dumont and Matt Montemaro.

Mourning his wife and their stolen life at a secluded lake house, Martin Ravin watches a tipsy young couple commandeer his canoe for a moonlight ride. Only the boy returns to shore. As Martin’s dark past starts haunting his present we’re left to wonder if his crusade is exacting justice or simply transmitting a tragic history.

Love is Dead

ERIC CAPITAINE | FRANCE | 91 MINUTES | FRENCH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Benjamin Lavernhe,  Elisa Ruschke and Aïssa Maïga.

Mathias Lonisse is a young entrepreneur, proud founder of “Love is Dead” a business providing a peculiar service to its customers, as it offers to take care of their break-ups for them. One day however, Mathias’ successful business backfires as his own mother asks him to break up with his father for her.

Touched

KARL R. HEARNE | CANADA | 78 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Hugh Thompson and Lola Flannery.

A ghostly, genre-hopping mystery about a young woman who disappears from her building and her solitary landlord who tries to track her down.

Part murder mystery, part love story between an unlikely father figure and a nine-year-old girl, this dreamlike, dark film creates a tender but disturbing portrait of human isolation.

Documentary Features

Poisoning Paradise

KEELY SHAYE BROSNAN, PIERCE BROSNAN | USA | 75 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Journey to the seemingly idyllic world of Native Hawaiians, whose communities are surrounded by experimental test sites for genetically engineered seed corn and pesticides sprayed upwind of their homes, schools, hospitals, and shorelines. Discover what’s at stake for Hawaii from local activists, scientific experts and healthcare professionals as they expose the effects of environmental injustice on a local population.

Mad Hannans

MARTIN SHORE | USA | 90 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sean Penn, Jerry Hannan, Sean Hannan, Jerry Harrison, Eddie Vedder.

A film about brothers, musicians, bandmates Jerry and Sean Hannan, chronicling their rise, fall, and ultimate reconciliation. It is a true story of life’s joys, trials, devastating losses, and the unbreakable bonds that hold them together.

Another News Story

ORBAN WALLACE | UK | 84 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Filmed during the 2015 Syrian refugee crisis, ANOTHER NEWS STORY follows refugees from the Greek island of Lesbos across Europe to a hoped-for sanctuary. As this dangerous journey unfolds director Orban Wallace turns his camera on the world media as they cover the unfolding humanitarian tragedy. When faced with immeasurable suffering, how do they balance their humanity with professional objectivity and the day to day mundanity of their jobs?

Becoming Iconic

JONATHAN BAKER,NEIL THIBEDEAU | USA | 90 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jodie Foster, Nicolas Cage, Warren Beaty, Faye Dunaway.

Exploring the process of filmmaking through the eyes of top directors Jodie Foster, Taylor Hackford and John Badham as they tell their story of their first time making a feature. Taking on their advice Jonathan Baker sets out to make his own first feature with Nicolas Cage and Faye Dunaway.

Unlocked: The World of Games Revealed

JEREMY SNEAD | USA | 90 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sean Astin, Kevin Smith, William Shatner.

Video games have gone from an obscure science experiment in the early 1960’s to the biggest entertainment medium on the planet. Unlocked is a groundbreaking documentary from director Jeremy Snead that provides firsthand stories by industry icons, celebrities, consumers, and field experts on the culture, technology, history and future of the video game industry.

Touching Sound: The Technika Documentary

NICHOLAS DOBKIN | USA | 75 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

In the twilight years of the arcade, one little-known game would bring touch screens to an unsuspecting public, a year before the first iPad. This game, DJMAX Technika, forged a community unlike any other, only to be abandoned by its developer without notice or explanation. This is the story of DJMAX Technika and the people it brought together.

In Your Face

DECLAN MAYNES | AUSTRIA | 92 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Slash, Henry Rollins, Kiss, Guns ‘n’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Van Halen, Korn, Rob Zombie, Ratt, Anthrax, Slipknot, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani.

Rock music is synonomous with the wild antics of its rockstars but what about the photographers who capture the madness? In Your Face tells the story of Neil Zlozower, photographer extraordinaire and in-your-face madman whose daily daliances are well documented and collaborated by the stars themselves…

Documentary Shorts

#TAKEMEANYWHERE

LABEOUF, RÖNKKÖ & TURNER | UK, USA, FINLAND | 45 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Luke Turner, Nastja Rönkkö

LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner hitchhike via the internet in a project commissioned by Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and the Finnish Institute in London. For an entire month, the artists would post their coordinates online and wait for a ride. Whoever then appeared could take them anywhere they chose.

My Riders, My Writers

MIKE MURRAY | USA | 5 MINUTES | ENGLISH

A film about human connection featuring one inspired Uber driver and the collected thoughts, wisdom, and stories from hundreds of his riders.

Forty-Five: The Search for Soul

ANTHONY LADESICH | USA | 10 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Digging through dusty thrift shop bins in search of lost wax and forgotten sounds is not simply a hobby for Johnny Starke. It is his chief obsession and his life’s work.

Seized

THOMAS LOCASTRO | USA | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SEIZED details a policing tool called civil asset forfeiture. This tool allows law enforcement to seize your property without charging you with a crime. SEIZED intertwines explanations by experts in the field with the tragic story of Naeem Harrison, a victim in Baltimore who had his life turned upside down by this practice.

A Land

GIUSEPPE OLIVERIO | ARGENTINA | 30 MINUTES | SPANISH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Consisting of more than 40% of Paraguay’s land area, the Chaco is a semi-arid region also known as the green hell. Since 1950’s the German Mennonite colonies have progressively occupied more than 90% of the territory inhabited by local indigenous communities. Without their land, natives’ ancestral way of living and culture are dramatically at risk. In years where migrations and the coexistence of cultures are becoming a crucial issue of our time, A Land portrays this silent conflict and explores the issues and opportunities of multiculturalism.

Exodus: Sounds of the Great Migration

LONNIE EDWARDS | USA | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

A short look into how the Great Migration gave birth to many artists that influenced and empowered Black culture and the link between the present and the past as many artists are still affected to this day.

Shot

AEMILIA SCOTT | USA | 9 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

SHOT is an experimental film that tries to make formal sense out of senseless violence. Footage was found from every police shooting over the last two years for which there is available video. Each piece of footage is taken unedited, and aligned — synchronised to the moment of the first gunshot.

The Music Stops Here

ADAM FARKAS | UK | 38 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

To its many die hard regulars, the Star and Garter music venue means everything. It has been the home of Manchester’s punk, metal and indie scenes for decades and hosts some of the city’s longest-running club nights. In a story of capital over culture, the home of music luminaries such as The Smiths, Factory Records and Oasis is about to witness an icon of its musical history forced to make way for the expansion of a rail terminus. But in “a city that thinks a table is for dancing on”, the Star and Garter and its patrons aren’t going anywhere without a fight…and one last party!

One Punch: The Eddie Copeland Story

ADAM FARKAS | UK | 38 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

To its many die hard regulars, the Star and Garter music venue means everything. It has been the home of Manchester’s punk, metal and indie scenes for decades and hosts some of the city’s longest-running club nights. In a story of capital over culture, the home of music luminaries such as The Smiths, Factory Records and Oasis is about to witness an icon of its musical history forced to make way for the expansion of a rail terminus. But in “a city that thinks a table is for dancing on”, the Star and Garter and its patrons aren’t going anywhere without a fight…and one last party!

Narrative Shorts

A Hand of Bridge

DAVID MILLER/FRANK BORIN | USA | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: David Miller, Sarah Joy Miller, Ben Davis, Mary Dunleavey

A faithful adaptation of Samuel Barber’s micro-opera A HAND OF BRIDGE. Two couples reveal their deepest desires, darkest fears, and wildest fantasies during an evening playing bridge.

Black Eyed Susan

NICK ROWNTREE | UK | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Denise Welch, Louis Healy

The Woman is laughing with friends in a garden full of yellow blooming Black Eyed Susans and, suddenly, he’s there; across the garden; The Boy; dressed in black, pissing on the yellow flowers. Will The Woman learn the truth about her relationship with The Boy?

Bossman

CALLUM MACDIARMID | UK | 8 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Tom Davis, Allan Mustafa, Giacomo Mancini

A group of inmates at HMP Portsmouth prison find themselves in an impossible situation when the lack of guards allow things to escalate a step too far.

Cold Storage

THOMAS FREUNDLICH | FINLAND | 9 MINUTES | SILENT

On a desolate arctic shore, a lonely fisherman discovers his prehistoric counterpart frozen in the ice, and thaws him out as his newfound soul brother. A film that pays homage to the virtuosic physical performances and melancholy comedy of the classic silent screen.

Come Out of the Woods

JONNY BLAIR | UK | 32 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Joe Dempsie, Ben Smith, Sydney Craven, Nico Mirallegro.

Three brothers living in rural Scotland, struggle for intimacy and stability as they attempt to navigate their survival amongst a corrupt local police officer and the mysterious appearance of a girls body on their land.

Contractor 014352

SIMON RYNINKS | UK | 13 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Johnny Flynn, Daniel Ings, Omar Khan

Real and imaginary worlds collide when a lonely data entry clerk reaches through his computer screen, in search of a genuine connection.

Cowboy Dave

COLIN O’TOOLE | UK | 25 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sam Spruell, Steve Evets, Christine Bottomley, Dylan Naden.

A young boy’s life is changed by a chance encounter with an out of luck musician and when a gang of local criminals turn up, the day takes an unexpected turn.

Dreamwaever

MYLES CONTI | AUSTRALIA | 11 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Nicholas Cradock, Sasha Rose

A young boy moves to a new neighbourhood and discovers his passion for go-karting.

Fern

XIAO-WEI LU | UK | 4 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Portia Ferrari, Liam Gardner

Inspired by Visionist’s dark and disturbing grime music FERN experiments with the subjective nature of reality and consciousness, telling a nightmarish tale of a relationship between two young lovers.

Forbearance

JACK CASEY | UK | 14 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Seamus O’Neill, Martin Cooper, Robbie O’Neal, Sacha Parkinson.

A story of a father and son and how their roles have reversed for ever after the effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

For Muriel

REBECCA SHAPIRO | USA | 14 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Concetta Tomei, Mindy Sterling, Rakefet Abergel.

Elaine and Helen, two ladies pushing 70, and their younger friend, Jenn, plot to rob a bank. Problem is none of them has ever robbed a bank before, so they each suggest a different movie for inspiration, “Point Break”, “Bonnie and Clyde” and finally “Dog Day Afternoon”.

Forgive Me

BESIM UGZMAJLI | KOSOVO | 15 MINUTES | ALBANIAN LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Agron Shala, Semira Latifi, Kushtrim Asilani.

Based on true story… A youngster is manipulated by a kosovar Imam into joining terrorist groups fighting in Syria. After secretly joining the war he asks his brother to send his wife to Syria too.

Game

JEANNIE DONOHOE | USA | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Rick Fox, Nicole Williams, Tye White, Jamie McShane.

A new kid in town, shows up at the high school boys basketball varsity tryouts and instantly makes an impression. He clearly has talent, heart, and drive… as well as a big secret. Will he make the team once the players and coach discover the truth?

Guard

JONATHAN HARDEN | UK | 13 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Michael McElhatton, Ian McElhinney.

A young woman wrestles with difficult memories when her estranged father returns from time in prison. As he teaches her how to box, reconciliation seems possible, but their traumatic past will not be easily washed away.

His Wake

JAMIE NOEL | UK | 11 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Aaron Thomas Ward, Levi Heaton and Julie Glover.

At his father’s wake a young man sets about the task of finding out more about his father by interviewing the guests. Faced with the usual platitudes and pleasantries, normally bestowed on the recently deceased, he challenges the guests to expose their honest feelings and memories…

Hope Dies Last

BEN PRICE | UK | 8 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Andrew Grose and Tarek Slater.

A Jewish prisoner of war cuts a German Officers hair.

I Wanted to Tell you

JACQUES SAMUEL COHEN BACRY | FRANCE | 15 MINUTES | FRENCH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Samy Naceri, Coralie Audret.

A man and a woman tell each other in one night what they were not able to express in five years of life together.

Last Fair Deal

NICHOLAS GRAY | USA | 14 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Tristan Mack Wilds and Clarke Peters.

A crossroads by the Mississippi River. A young Robert Johnson — not yet the legend we know today — struggles to learn a song. When a stranger happens along, Robert knows what’s coming and he’s ready to make a deal…

Lemon

TIMOTHY MICHAEL COOPER | USA | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Noah Bean, Jenn Lyon, Finn Douglas.

Seconds after the wedding, a bride is stunned to learn that her new husband fudged nearly everything about his past, his family, and his accomplishments—but his revelations force her to come clean about a few shocking secrets of her own.

Little Shit

RICHARD GORODECKY | NETHERLANDS | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Badger Skelton, Ashley McGuire and Eddie Webber.

Paul has an attitude. He’s the kid you cross the road to avoid. The no-hoper you pray your children never become. But there’s more to Paul than meets the eye or the ear. A side that he only finds when he’s truly lost.

No Pain Whatsoever

ALEX KENDALL | UK | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Valene Kane and Henry Lloyd-Hughes.

In the early 1950’s a woman faces an impossible dilemma during a visit to see her husband in a tuberculosis sanatorium. Based on a short story by the iconic author Richard Yates (Revolutionary Road).

Perfect Roast Potatoes

NICK FREW | USA | 18 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Catherine Tate, Jonathan Cake and Tituss Burgess.

In this bittersweet comedy about grief and cooking, dysfunctional British siblings spend an awkward Christmas with the corpse of their dead mum.

Pickup

JEREMIAH KIPP | USA | 16 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Mandy Evans, Jim True-Frost and Griffin Robert Faulkner.

Through her banal daily routine, Megan develops an addiction that begins to unravel her carefully put together life. She is grappling with wanting more , but is feeling tremendously guilty because she already lives the “ideal perfect life”.

Red Light

JOE MARCANTONIO | UK | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jessie Buckley, Martin McCann and Ben Peel.

With the offer of a new start, a young prostitute is urged by one of her regulars to leave her life of vice and run away with him…but all is not as it seems.

Sac De Merde

GREG CHWERCHAK | USA | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Arielle Haller-Silverstone and David Fumero.

One guy. One girl. One colostomy bag.

ScreenThru

PATRICK MALONEY | USA | 4 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Andrea Davis.

Screenthru is an app that allows a portal to be accessed on any smart device allowing it’s user to reach through the screen. Lead Engineer Ashley introduces us to scientists working on the invention as they run tests on human subjects, as well as showing us a full on demonstration of the results that ‘Screenthru’ can produce.

Skin Deep

TIM WILLRICH | UK | 20 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Tom Rooke, Helen Kennedy, Louise Tyler and Emma Saunders.

Obsessed by appearance, a woman applies mysterious cream to help reignite her stagnant marriage. But when her skin peels away, her obsession soon turns fantasy into nightmare.

Some Sweet Oblivious Antidote

CHRISTIANA EBOHON | UK | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sir Lenny Henry, Wumni Mosaku, Colin Salmon and Arinze Kene.

When 13 year old Ivie starts speaking in Shakespearean verse her friends find it weird and her mother is outraged. She takes her to church to be ‘cured’ but when that fails she turns to a therapist with an equally encyclopedic knowledge of the bard. He engages Ivie in a Shakespeare face-off on the stage of the National Theatre, where the reasons for Ivie’s obsession are uncovered.

Stand Down

DANA TYNAN | USA | 7 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton.

Stand Down is a silent movie set to a new and searing rock and roll song of the same name. Billy Bob Thornton stars as a haunted ex-soldier who can no longer control the memories of war that beset his tormented mind; what we now call post traumatic stress syndrome.

Sunday Worship

PAUL HOLBROOK AND SAM DAWE | UK | 17 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Brian Croucher and Annable Leventon.

Jim is a lonely septuagenarian who has been to too many funerals and said goodbye to too many friends. Struggling and aimless, he begins to conceal his ailing well-being from his doting wife, finding solace watching a local grassroots football team. Jim’s levels of fandom start to border on obsession as his wife begins to question his strange behaviour…

Talking With Angels

NICK WILD | UK | 24 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Vic Reeves, Jane Horricks and John Thompson.

Wandering through the streets of Northern England dressed in a blue velvet suit, Frank is not your traditional angel. Overworked and underpaid he has one final mission to complete his ‘tour of duty’ and one last soul to save.

The Attendant

OLIVER AND JAKE CULLEN | UK | 13 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Isy Suttie and Rob James-Collier.

The story of a hapless and hopeless romantic, who has worked the graveyard shift of an isolated petrol station longer than he cares to remember. In the early hours, as he readies himself to embark on another flight of fancy, a customer appears at the window who might just change his life forever.

The Big Day

DAWN SHADFORTH | UK | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Jennifer Bea and Patrick Baker.

Jess is super excited to attend her step-sister’s wedding and truly become part of the family, but after only recently finding out about her existence, her step-family are less than delighted about her presence on the big day.

The Forsaken

ALADDIN ALISIC | NORWAY | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Tori Butler Hart and Reuben Bainbridge.

A young boy hears his favourite bedtime story from his mother, as goes on a perilous journey to seek out an ancient creature possessing the gifts of magic. However, the creature is more intertwined in the family’s life than expected, as his mother reveals her unsavoury intentions.

The Legend of Bob Leonard

WILL KENNING | UK | 8 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Dennis Herdman, Jonathan Glew, Esther Biddle and Ben Goffe.

When a procession of Norman soldiers escort a group of prisoners through the depths of the forest, they are ambushed by a band of bloodthirsty thugs.The Normans are routed and shown no mercy as a captive minstrel manages to trade his life for a song. Composed on the spot, he promises his attackers immortality through the ages. But sometimes legends are born by accident, and history can play a game of Chinese whispers with the truth.

The Little Things

EMILIANO GALIGANI | ITALY | 15 MINUTES | ITALIAN LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Andrea Stella Terranova and Mirko Batoni.

Twelve year old Giorgia has a mission to secretly sabotage and damage a car, so it won’t start the next day. Everything seems to be perfectly planned, but all of a sudden things turn in to a complete disaster.

The Past We Live In

JEROME WEBER | LUXEMBOURG | 15 MINUTES | FRENCH AND GERMAN LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

Starring: Issaka Sawadogo, Stefan Weinert, Timo Wagner and Gibert K. Johnston.

A former, forcibly recruited WWII soldier, who now suffers from dementia relives an emotional friendship by confusing his 7-year old nephew with an old friend from the second world war.

The Plural of Blood

MARY-LYN CHAMBERS | USA | 20 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Monica Lawson, Matt Medrano, Anthony Harris, Candice Coke, Elizabeth Greer and Roni Weissman.

Diana is an ambitious African American businesswoman working diligently to support her husband’s career as a law enforcement officer with the LAPD. On the path to parenthood in adopting a newborn, her world is turned upside down after the shooting of an unarmed black teenager sets off a firestorm in the African American Community.

Tiger In the Jungle

MAX ROTHMAN | USA | 16 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: David Zurak.

A minimalist and sensory-driven look at what living as a homeless man in the busiest city in the world might be like. As one man struggles to hold onto his humanity, the crowds and architecture of New York City slowly envelop him, forcing him to become just another face in the crowd. Brought to his breaking point, he seeks temporary solace and plans his escape from the concrete jungle.

Woman with an Editing Bench

KAREN PEARLMAN | AUSTRALIA | 15 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Leeanna Walsman, Richard James Allen and Marcus Graham.

Inspired by the woman who edited “Man with a Movie Camera” (1929), “Woman with an Editing Bench” reveals the personal impact of Stalin’s censorship of cinema on a woman navigating politics, bureaucracy and the impetuous outbursts of collaborators to create something beautiful despite the odds.

Yoshua

MATTHEW CASTELLANOS | USA | 20 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Otmara Marrero and Aimee Carrero.

It’s been one year since the great migration and there is a nationwide hunt for the blue alien population “Tierra Amarillas”. The government has deemed Tierra Amarillas dangerous, but deep in South Central Los Angeles, a group of outcast teens are secretly protecting one of them. Now that the group is growing up and moving apart, they are forced to make decisions on how they will protect their big blue alien friend.

Ziggy’s Will

ALEXANDER SHARP | USA | 14 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Peter Malone Elliott and Michele Santopietro.

An unfulfilled actor and his drug addled burn-out of a stepmother get arrested on a road trip to claim a multi-million dollar inheritance. With time working against them, the two must work together to ensure their release, confronting their differences in the process.

Breathe

JAMES DOHERTY | IRELAND | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring : John Connors, Lee O Donoghue, Lynn Rafferty, Tom Connors, Lucy Conway and Josh Donohoe.

In the patriarchal Irish Travelling community, questions to what extent a Father is willing to go when his legacy and reputation is threatened by his own son.

CTRLZ

JAMES KENNEDY | UK | 17 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Ed Easton, Kath Hughes, Katie Beresford.

Ed is a hopeless romantic that invents a device allowing him an infinite amount of attempts to impress the girl of his dreams; however, with each failed first impression he must kill himself before he can go back and try again.

The Nation Holds Its Breath

KEV CAHILL | IRELAND | 20 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Sam Keeley, Barbara Brennan, Kate Gilmore and Ally Ni Chiarain.

On the day of the most important football match in Irish history, a young father to be is torn between witnessing the miracle of childbirth and witnessing the miracle of reaching the quarter finals of the World Cup.

Those Who are Lost

SAM MCCULLEN | UK | 26 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Timothy Innes, Christopher Fulford, Hannah Hutch.

Isaac Lowe is dead. Lost at sea so many years ago. That is, until his son Jacob washes up on an island below a mysterious lighthouse. Inside, father and son will be reunited, only to discover that they are mere playthings for a much darker force.

Lieutenant at Arms

KERRI ANN FOWERAKER | AUSTRALIA | 12 MINUTES | UK LANGUAGE

Starring: Drew Weston and Eve Selsick.

Esther, a young blind girl scarred by events of the Second World War, lives in a world dominated by fear. She seeks refuge in an airfield close to her school where a happy-go-lucky RAF pilot bemusedly indulges her fantasies of her late father, a Flight Lieutenant during the War. Their adventures do little to stem her escalating paranoia, leaving Esther unable to shake the feeling that history is repeating itself.

Moving Violation

LAURA HIGGSON | USA | 12 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

This is Us star Milana Vayntrub plays TARA, a tightly-wound optimist who has just been deserted by her fiancé ten days before their wedding. Meanwhile, the city erects a trigger-happy speed camera across the street from her house, which quickly becomes the unwitting lightning rod for Tara’s pent-up wrath. Convinced it’s the speed trap – and not her ex – that’s ruining her life, Tara resorts to petty vandalism and emotional desperation before finding a way to turn the device into a tool of sweet revenge. In this female-driven dark comedy, MOVING VIOLATION follows Tara on a riotous journey to discover true catharsis as an empowered, single woman.

Just Saying

NICK REED | UK | 14 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Starring: Ewen Macintosh and Carrie Cohen.

Grace has lost her husband, Billy has lost his Dad…and his wife. Through guilt-tripping and embarrassing mouth organ music Grace hopes that she can drive Billy to repair his relationship with his wife in a way she’ll never be able to with her husband.

Animations

The Doors

CASPAR CAO | TAIWAN | 3 MINUTES

A man walks into a flourishing and dazzling world filled with excitement. As he chooses from a vending machine, his whole world is about to change.

Tanguito Argentino

JOAQUIN BRAGA | ARGENTINA | 8 MINUTES

This is the story of two post lights dancing under the moonlight by the beautiful sound of tango. The streets of “el caminito” in Buenos Aires becomes the mystic scenery where some will perform one of piazzolla’s master pieces “fuga y misterio” and will bring to life the magic and passion of tango.

The Hunt

CARLOS GARCIA | USA | 3 MINUTES

On a stormy night, in a small suburban neighborhood, all is not well as 11 year old Max struggles to stay safe from an unexpected guest…

Child Labour

MINA VALI ZADEH & KRYSTAL SOJOURNER | USA | 2 MINUTES

Children of Labour is a stop-motion PSA, geared towards raising awareness of children of labour across the globe.

Karma

PETER ZHAOYU ZHOU | USA | 4 MINUTES

A boy meets a fish in a mysterious forest.

Whale Heart

ROBERT ALLEN | DENMARK | 8 MINUTES

In an isolated whaling community, a man has developed an ungodly way of preparing himself to kill the creatures upon which his livelihood depends, and now he must initiate his son into their harsh and bloody trade.

Unsatisfying

DE FOURNAS THIBAULT, LEFAUCHEUX NICOLAS AND PINEILL YANN | FRANCE | 1 MINUTE

An ode to modern frustrations.

Two Balloons

MARK C SMITH | USA | 9 MINUTES

Two travellers return to a place crossed by stars and clouds where love is at the beginning of everything.

Between Sand and tides

RUI FAN WANG | UK | 5 MINUTES

When all life is drained and vacuumed, all that’s left is sand. An exhausted girl travels across an endless desert to look for new hope, while trying to deal with her erratic tempered anteater.

Music Videos

My Love

OLIVER AND JAKE CULLEN | UK | 4 MINUTES

The music video for ‘My Love’ by Hourigan is a non-linear journey through a same sex relationship, told from the point of view of one character.

Sola

JONATHAN NIX | AUSTRALIA | 3 MINUTES

As the world collapses around them, humanity walks on oblivious, compulsively editing selfies and updating profiles

Asgeir

JULIEN LASSORT | FRANCE | 4 MINUTES

Swimming to health in a futuristic world.

Bop n Keep it Dippin

ROMAIN CHASSAING | FRANCE | 6 MINUTES

In “Bop N Keep It Dippin”, Dizzee Rascal is a an English gang leader not to be messed with. So when a young accountant rips off Dizzee, it sets off an epic chase, involving identity changes and blood-curdling violence all over the world.

Armchair Dreaming

GILBERT TREJO AND FRANKIE LATINA | USA| 5 MINUTES

Angie Shyr catalyzes your genius by leading the air traffic control of your dreams, to a destination called ‘Home of the Brave’.

Morsen

JESSYCA R. HAUSER AND SIMON SPITZER | AUSTRIA | 6 MINUTES

During the brass music song “Morsen” by “federspiel” we see girls at a sports field practising Lacrosse, while there’s a rivalry arising between two of them.

Explotar Contigo

ANTONIO SARRIA AND PEDRO ZAMALLOA | PERU | 4MINUTES

A search for a liberation path; to look out for somebody and leave our fears behind, our insecurities. “I’m looking for you to explode together” tells us the song, so this visual portrays a paradigm shift through a very simple story of three friends dropping off all the prejudices they (us) might have. They just live, enjoy and stop caring about the nonsense.

We invented Paris – Looking Back

STEFAN FITZNER | SWTIZERLAND | 4 MINUTES

Former olympic Ice dance champion and pair dance legend Leonie Schwarz retired from public life after a sudden career end and a tragic loss. Only her former Eismeister back from the days, when she was a young ambitious talent, knows what’s going on. Every night he leaves “the keys under the mat” of the ice rink where it all began for Leonie Schwarz.

Rebekka & Fox – LIGHTS

PAVEL ANDONOV | FINLAND | 4 MINUTES

Falling into an underwater romance.

Vertical Lines

MILES FLANAGAN | USA AND UK | 4 MINUTES

DIY pop video celebrating life and pan-sexuality in a joyous, camp explosion of choreographed extreme slow-motion, live-action and animation. Incorporating animation disciplines as varied as painterly, cel, pixelation, cut-out, stop-motion and motion graphics – all created/edited/composited by director/animator Miles Flanagan..

Parallels I.R.L

JACK CHAPMAN | USA | 4 MINUTES

I.R.L has a colourful 80s inspired aesthetic highlighting the retro futuristic story of modern love in the digital age. Directed by Arizona based filmmaker Jack Chapman (British) for Canadian electronic outfit ‘Parallels’.

Experimental Films

The Dead Man Speaks

MARCOS MERELES | NETHERLANDS | 3 MINUTES | DUTCH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES

A dead man’s thoughts about his current state.

Plicker

BYUNGJUN KIM | SOUTH KOREA | 3 MINUTES

Introducing the concept of ‘time in figures’, a representation of time and space is visualized in this film. In this aesthetic attempt, time is no longer a linear or simple flow, but it dances in a spatial form like a blooming flower.

Frank Embree

SKINNER MYERS | USA | 8 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Frank Embree. 9:55AM. Fayette, Missouri. July 22nd, 1899.

Light Plays

NNE-MARIE BOUCHARD | CANADA | 7 MINUTES | ENGLISH AND FRENCH LANGUAGES

Old footage from 16mm film is scratched, drawn upon, and experimentally animated with a quantum dots solution. The film seems at first about sound, the moon, and exotic birds, but it is about narration, experimentation, and freedom.

Monoliths

DAVE PATERSON | AUSTRALIA | 4 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

When the lockout laws leave Sydney deserted, the last man left ponders his existence in his new lonely world – under the monoliths…

Dazed

EZRA SPURRIER | USA | 8 MINUTES | ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Artiste extraordinaire Eric Peterson bonds on the Portland streets with fellow runaway Wink and their relationship grows as she tries to help him cope with his burgeoning musical talent during the early 1990’s. Unable to discard the pain from his short, angry life, Eric climbs brutally through the world of drugs losing his grip on Wink’s unconditional love and extinguishes his artistic brilliance in a world that hates junkies. Based on the DAZED Novel Series by Nikki Palomino.