New Shorts: WTF: Outside the Box + Q&A
Sunday, 23 January 2022
Image: Humans, Laura Tejero, 2021
Our annual gift to audiences of the wonderful and incredible imaginations of filmmakers and animators that make you sit back open mouthed and question their very sanity, or marvel at their twisted and strange minds. There are many grotesque creatures to experience here across the programme, while more normal humans will feed you weird things. There is new work from LSFF alumni Jennet Thomas and Lizzy Deacon, who both know how to disorientate, while a deranged Christopher Biggins (of Surprise, Surprise and I’m a Celebrity fame – he won in 2007!) will give you nightmares. Animators such as Peter Millard and Inari Sinola sure know how to turn up the bonkers factor.
There will be a Q&A with some of the filmmakers featured in the programme after the screening.
Curated by Philip Ilson
Blackmael
Bradley Banton
6'
2021
United Kingdom
A happy-go-lucky postman happens to come across a person he never thought he would.
Cuties
Theo W Scott
5'
2021
United Kingdom
BFI Network Presents: A hand-drawn sequential telling of human history in all its horror and glory, culminating in our next evolutionary leap.
Cuties explores the elusive beauty in how we as a species continue forward in spite of our proclivity for destruction.
Twinkled 'N' Twitched
Charlie Osborne
10'
2021
United Kingdom
Twinkled ‘n’ twitched follows loved-up teenagers caught in an in-between space as they hide from the police. A limbo where the everyday and magical clash and merge dancing together in protective circles formed o ur of glowing energy drinks to a score of heavy jungle. They defy the growing sense of foreboding they feel by finding kindred spirits in each other.
IT ONCE HAD A FACE, NOW IT WANTS ONE AGAIN
Jennet Thomas
7'
2021
United Kingdom
Two billion years from now, the oceans are beyond understanding. A toxic soup of leeching plastics, cloth and string, song and dance, collaborate to find new ways of moving in bleak time, with help from Stevie Wonder. The ghost of an oyster holds memories of what happened. It sings to a scrap of waste that fell to the bottom of the sea, trying to form new life, trying to get a face. A defiant burst of song as resistance - Undersea karaoke may still be possible.
Humans
Laura Tejero
2'
2021
United States
Surrounded by the absurd world of humans, dogs struggle against their instincts to comply with their owners' wishes.
The Clearing
Dan Hope
13'
2021
United Kingdom
In a desperate battle with his ballooning ego, Bill struggles in vain to re-woo Deb with his below-par outdoor skills and, quite frankly, shocking behaviour, until their last-ditch camping trip takes a VERY sinister turn.
MOON
Luke Casey
5'
2021
United Kingdom
A surreal short about the end of the world by London-based director and photographer Luke Casey. Starring rapper and producer Brian Nasty, who contributed to the original score.
Donald Daffy
Peter Millard
1'
2021
United Kingdom
Donald and Daffy talking to eachother
Precautionary Measure
Lizzy Deacon, Ika Schwander
14'
2021
United Kingdom
After winning a life coaching session in a raffle at her local village hall, Helen is guided through the help she never really needed. Together with her life coach Hazel, they explore healing strategies to cope with fear, rejection and grief, raising the important question as to whom this pain really belongs to.
Megalomania
Rex Russell
21'
2021
United Kingdom
In a sarcastic version of reality we follow Gene, a young woman who dreams of dancing, but instead, is trapped at home by her delusional Mother. However, a once in a lifetime opportunity means Gene finds herself in the middle of a Dance Marathon Competition, where there is not only the allure of drugs, but the chance to reconnect with her long lost father...
Honey Sweet
Inari Sirola
3'
2021
United Kingdom
Honey Sweet comments on today’s society, nihilism and capitalistic drive, through pastel-washed depictions of freaky little creatures who dance, bounce and fly through the air - and lick anything within their vicinity.