NEW SHORTS: This Is Me Trying
DRIFTING, dir. Hanxiong Bo
White lies and suppressed desires come to the surface in these tenderly handled portraits of complicated intimacies and double lives led.
Restless, and sometimes reckless, these protagonists come up against the status quo, either quashing or indulging the parts of themselves that would derail their 'happy home'.
New work from LSFF 2020’s Best British Short Film winner Lucy Bridger (Mothering) sees Niamh Cusack’s (The Virtues) summertime flirtation teetering into emotional affair, whilst Hanxiong Bo’s absurdist mini-epic processes gender fluidity in modern China.
Programmed by Philip Ilson. 80'
CALLADITA
In a mansion in the Costa Brava, a young domestic worker has to serve two rich kids while they enjoy their summer. Amongst cocktails, drugs and dishwashers, she will look for her own way to have fun.
RETURNING
A retired teacher confronts some unexpected emotions as she struggles through the discomfort of a heatwave.
HOVERING BETWEEN US
A night in the life of a young (almost) couple. Taking unexpected turns,, the disjunction between the online and real life relationship reveals the connection between these two people is more complex and strained under the surface.
HOME BY 8.30
In a tumultuous evening, a teenager is challenged by two contrasting realities that he is determined to never let crossover.
DRIFTING
Disguised as a girl growing up under China's one-child policy, Yan struggles with a conservative world that won't accept their gender identity.
MANGO
Through the unfiltered perspective of her mobile phone, a young woman weighs what she wants with what is realistic.