New Shorts: London Lives
Thursday, 20 January 2022
Image: Money Up, Dhillon Shukla, 2021
We return to our regularly scheduled programme from the streets of our home city. All of London life is here in a reliably strong selection across drama, documentary and animation; from the corner-shop to the playground, to estates and empty COVID streets. An investigation into the role of the ubiquitous pigeon, a search for the lost picture palaces of the past on neon-lit streets, the refugee experience. The myriad intersecting stories of Londoners are told in this programme, from incredible filmmaking talent.
Curated by Philip Ilson
Riḍā
Raza Tariq
12'
2021
United Kingdom
A visual album charting the spiritual trajectory of an emotional marathon.
Rida (Arabic: رضا, Riḍā) is an Arabic name, "riḍā" literally means 'The Most influential person on earth’. In religious context, this term is interpreted as satisfaction or "perfect contentment with God's will or decree".
Bingo Queens
Nicholas Finegan
15'
2021
Not Specified
BINGO QUEENS is a modern fairytale about queer friendship, inner-city loneliness and the redemptive power of platonic love... Set against the colours of summer it tells the story of Luna; a trans, bipoc ballet dancer on the brink of giving up on her career and Eric; a forgotten viral video star. They are both dreamers, both romantic, both stuck... like birds of paradise with clipped wings.
Lessons From Our Fathers
Musa
12'
2021
United Kingdom
Lessons From Our Fathers is a story about pride.
The story follows the middling Saul, played by Adam Nkoso, who is confronted by the neighbourhood bully, Ashley. It soon escalates to the point where Dad gets involved with the intention of teaching his son a lesson about 'sticking up for himself'.
The Dad's intention is to stick up for his son, however, that may lead to fatal consequences. But maybe maintaining your pride is worth the risk.
Do Not Feed The Pigeons
Antonin Niclass
9'
2021
United Kingdom
Even in a lonely, revolting and boring place, a little bit of harmony can always be found.
Money Up
Dhillon Shukla
6'
2021
United Kingdom
A London schoolboy gains more than you'd think from a fistful of coppers.
Blue Corridor 15
Dubheasa Lanipekun
5'
2021
United Kingdom
After her family falls on hard times, Elizabeth starts styling her classmates' hair at break time to earn money. As the wider world bleeds into their understanding of their place within it, classroom politics and tensions come to a head in a teenage friendship close to sisterhood that starts to show cracks. Friends Tobi, Nana and Elizabeth reckon with lessons they teach each other, as they seek to understand themselves. A sensitive and intimate portrait of South London girlhood, and how beauty culture as well as race and gender politics get discussed in chaotic adolescence.
Adrift
Samuel de Ceccatty
6'
2021
United Kingdom
A one-shot film about Holly, who after a casual hook up tries sneaking out of the kooky London mooring but roommate Max is eager to get to know her, despite the accumulation of red flags.
Ostrich Theory
Simon Ellis
8'
2021
United Kingdom
Something is coming. Nobody cares. A pre-pandemic harbinger of indifference to troubled times, digitally depopulating and re-orchestrating documentary footage frame-by-frame.
21
Teddy Nygh
5'
2021
United Kingdom
An innovative 5 x 1'min episodic series, shot entirely on an iPhone 12+ pro max, vertically in 9x16.
Turning 21 in 2021 just isn't that easy. We follow 4 young characters trying to figure out what normal is as they try to celebrate a 21st birthday in pandemic London.
Walking Pictures
Will Webb
4'
2021
United Kingdom
Unfolding in a fractured series of psychogeographical images, Walking Pictures explores the architecture of old cinemas in north-east London and compares them to the frailty of human lives, especially in areas that are rapidly changing and gentrifying.
DIGGING
ELLIOT BARNES-WORRELL
12'
2021
United Kingdom
Ziba, Ché, Neela and Kofi use their devices to take trips through their memories to settle an argument