Irregular Atrocities: The Films of Bryan M. Ferguson
Tuesday, 18 January 2022
Image: Satanic Panic '87, Bryan Ferguson, 2019
With his latest short, Red Room, screening at LSFF 2022, we take a deep dive into the uncanny, surreal world of Bryan M. Ferguson's short films and music videos.
His transgressive, eerily prescient work portrays a disaffected, confused generation of vulnerable, self-destructive individuals, contending with an age flooded with dangerous misinformation, bizarre ideologies, and meddling manipulative forces. His films adroitly demonstrate an innate contradictory tension that manages to be high and lowbrow, absurd yet grounded in realism, viscerally violent yet empathetic, disturbing and beautiful.
Bryan M. Ferguson will join us in a Q&A with host LSFF UK Programmer, Varun Raman.
Content Warning: Violence, Death, Swearing, Strobing, Abuse
Caustic Gulp
Bryan M. Ferguson
7'
2015
United Kingdom
Somewhere in Florida, a chemical reacts with the chlorine of a hotel swimming pool. When discovered, a resident starts recruiting followers for her chemical ingestion cult.
Rubber Guillotine
Bryan M. Ferguson
11'
2016
United Kingdom
An angst-ridden teenager sucker punches her parent’s hopes for her future by aspiring to donate her skeleton to gelatine.
The Island - Ladytron
Bryan M. Ferguson
8'
2018
United Kingdom
Official music video for Ladytron. A humanoid experiment escapes its incubator from an isolated lab facility. While being hunted down by the lab technicians, the humanoid escapes through the countryside and into the urban landscapes of the city as it bears witness to the world for the first time.
Fate - Boy Harsher
Bryan M. Ferguson
4'
2018
United Kingdom
Official music video for Boy Harsher. After waking up beneath a concrete underpass with a bite on her throat, a woman develops an unquenchable thirst for the blood of men.
Satanic Panic '87
Bryan M. Ferguson
4'
2019
United Kingdom
Channel 4 commissioned short film for Random Acts and broadcast on Film4. It’s 1987 and two metalheads have opened a gateway to hell while following the instructions of a satanic aerobics tape.
Deadzone - Ladytron
Bryan M. Ferguson
4'
2019
United Kingdom
Inspired by J.G. Ballard/David Cronenberg’s Crash. This official music video for Ladytron shows the dead victims of a head-on car collision reanimate with an insatiable attraction for one another.
Insecticide
Bryan M. Ferguson
3'
2020
United Kingdom
The film was made entirely within 72 manic hours. Ferguson and his wife made the film with what they had lying around their apartment. It follows a germaphobic woman desperately trying to quarantine herself from a shape shifting bug-like disease. A visual manifestation of anxiety disorder and lockdown-induced paranoia with music from Alex Mackay of Mogwai.
Make U Stay - Sega Bodega & Låpsley
Bryan M. Ferguson
4'
2020
United Kingdom
Official music video for Sega Bodega & Lapsley. A disgruntled tennis player with a penchant for pyromania, stalks and exacts revenge on her fuckboy former doubles partner.
Here Comes Comus! - Arab Strap
Bryan M. Ferguson
4'
2021
United Kingdom
Official music video for Arab Strap. Based on the Greek mythology of Comus, the rebellious god of festivity that represents anarchy and chaos. The video follows a self-destructive man dragged by a dog chain into a night of overindulgence and violent debauchery.
Fair Game - Alice Glass
Bryan M. Ferguson
5'
2021
United Kingdom
Official music video for Alice Glass. The video is a visual representation of a toxic relationship. A young woman is restrained in a straitjacket and chained to cinderblocks while struggling to break free and gain the strength to confront her abuser.
Love Divide - Ross From Friends
Bryan M. Ferguson
3'
2021
United Kingdom
Official music video for Ross From Friends. A man searches for his face and identity within a drab faceless conglomerate.
Red Room
Bryan M. Ferguson
15'
2021
United Kingdom
A hauntingly atmospheric and contemplative look at a relationship between three friends which becomes fractured after a reality-destroying moment of possession. Based upon the novel Bitterhall by Helen McClory.