A tour de force of youth, experimentalism, creativity and good storytelling.
Mast-del
Maryam Tafakory / Iran, United Kingdom / 2023 / 17 mins
Two women lie together in bed. As the wind bashes against the window, one recalls a past date to the cinema. A love song that would never pass through the censors. Mast-del is about forbidden bodies and desires, both inside and outside post-revolution Iranian cinema.
Apaches de la zone
Jose Eon / France / 2023 / 16 mins
Nassim, 19, lives in a small suburban town from which he dreams of escaping by breaking into rap. Nassim ventures into the catacombs and discovers “magic weed”. He smokes it and finds himself possessed by an Apache – a thug from 1900.
Ardent Other
Alice Brygo / France / 2022 / 16 mins
A stunned crowd faces a fire. The threat has no name, a diffuse anguish spreads. Fear needs to be conjured, fire must be turned into a sign.
Smile
Jo Smyth / United Kingdom / 2022 / 13 mins
Smile, starring Sue Vincent and Catrin Stewart, is about a woman in her fifties who has to navigate her way through a sexual assault, and corrosive everyday sexism.
Beneath A Mother’s Feet
Elias Suhail / United Kingdom, Morocco / 2023 / 15 mins
A young Moroccan mother, trapped in a mundane existence, confronts her dreams and fears, leading to the agonising decision to forsake all she knows, even her children.
Christopher At Sea
Tom CJ Brown / United Kingdom / 2022 / 20 mins
After embarking as a passenger onboard a cargo ship returning to Europe, he begins to question his sanity and the very understanding of his perception of time in this romantic psychological thriller at sea.
