New Shorts: Gothic
Wednesday, 19 January 2022
Image: Ember, Nathalie Seidl, 2021
The cold, dark nights evoke the weird and the eerie; a hint of something in the shadows, candlelit tales of forgotten folklore. This programme beckons you into the warmth of the cinema, though you may feel a cold breath on the back of your neck… We travel across the world from ancient Japanese Noh theatre to the Austrian legend of the Krampus. Robert Louis Stevenson’s poems inspire a tale of a troubled gaslighter, and a canine sixth sense disturbs the spirits on an archaeological dig. With new work from Dr Who writer Joy Wilkinson, and Scottish author Helen McClory collaborates with LSFF alumni Bryan Ferguson.
Curated by Philip Ilson and Varun Raman
The Leerie
Joseph Daly
15'
2021
United Kingdom
In 1899, a Scottish lamplighter facing redundancy is haunted by nightmarish visions of an electric future.
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.
Ember
Nathalie Seidl
4'
2021
Germany
In rural Austria, young women are the primary spectators of hypermasculine Krampus folklore traditions. Welding documentary footage with the imaginary, Ember descends into the apocalyptic world of modern Krampus rituals through the eyes of a lone female.
Once Familiar
Rubén González
11'
2021
United Kingdom
A girl awakens in the middle of an unknown forest. Seeking a way out, she begins to follow someone in the distance only to discover they are her mirror image.
The Everlasting Club
Joy Wilkinson
9'
2021
United Kingdom
In an elite college, Sarah invites a diverse group of female students to restart a powerful men’s club from centuries ago. Inspired to change the world, everyone signs up, only to discover the original members are joining them for dinner.
Heiopei
Susanne Deeken
5'
2021
United Kingdom
Structured as a journey, ‘Heiopei’ is a surreal, spellbinding tour-de-force, an escape from the monotony and grief of life in lock-down. Imagined characters wander through an emotional anti-realist fairy-tale landscape, where the familiar and the naïve provide the backdrop to scenes of spirit-possession, metamorphosis, restraint and release.
All content, including the music was written and performed by Susanne Deeken in her studio in London.
Paired Flowers
Hannah Bon
9'
2021
Japan
A modern retelling of Noh theatre play, Takasago and the eternal bond between mother and daughter.
Asha
Federico Barni
14'
2021
United Kingdom
Following an unsuccessful excavation, a zealous researcher and her archaeology-trained dog decide to follow the trail of one last scent, beginning an odyssey in which the environment around them takes new and unexpected forms.
The Dinner After
Matty Crawford
12'
2021
United Kingdom
A guilt-stricken Angela, visits her parents for what at first seems to be a routine family dinner, only for a painful truth to bubble to the surface, descending the evening into a nightmare.