ANNOUNCED: LSFF 2021 COMPETITION

INFLORESCENCE SLOWLOOP 06, dir Nicolaas Schmidt

2020 has been a fraught year for the arts, testing the resilience of those most precious to it - from its front of house workers and those behind the scenes, to its essential creators, artists and makers.

For our first digital edition, we’re humbled to be screening these 59 works of short cinema in our 2021 UK and International competition from across the world. Some produced pre-pandemic, some completed during, and some responsive to a world in lockdown, each are testament to cinema’s tenacity and necessity, and we thank all of our submitted, selected and competition-qualifying filmmakers for their generosity of vision and continuing support.

This edition’s international jury we’ll be hosting from Berlin, Los Angeles and Toronto by way of the ether. We welcome “internationally revered, intersexed doyenne of intermedia arts” Vaginal Davis (The White to Be Angry), British-Nigerian director Ngozi Onwurah (Welcome II the Terrordome, The Body Beautiful), and independent programmer Jason Ryle (previously Executive Director of imagineNATIVE, an Indigenous-run arts organisation) to deliberate virtually on the awards and their £5000 cash prizes.

The full LSFF 2021 programme launches 1st December

O PIERROT, dir Tanoa Sasraku

AWARDS:

BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM

LOOK THEN BELOW, dir. Ben Rivers

UK COMPETITION:

AN EVERYDAY ACT, dir. Gavin Scott-Whitfield

APHORISMS, dir. Mad Lazy

DAFA METTI, dir. Tal Amiran

FILIPIÑANA, dir. Rafael Manuel

HELP ME IT'S DARK IN HERE, dir. James Cheetham

HERE IS THE IMAGINATION OF THE BLACK RADICAL, dir. Rhea Storr

HUNGRY JOE, dir. Paul Nicholas Holbrook, Sam Dawe

JAMIE, dir. Esmé Creed-Miles

LIZARD, dir. Akinola Davies

LOOK THEN BELOW, dir. Ben Rivers

MANDEM, dir. John Ogunmuyiwa

O BLACK HOLE!, dir. Renee Zhan

SUDDEN LIGHT, dir Sophie Littman

O' PIERROT, dir. Tanoa Sasraku

PATRICK, dir. Luke Fowler

PUSH THIS BUTTON IF YOU BEGIN TO PANIC, dir. Gabriel Böhmer

SCREAM IF YOU WANNA GO FASTER, dir. Ben Parsons

SCRUBBER, dir. Sophia Di Martino

SHAGBANDS, dir. Luna Carmoon

SISTERS, dir. Tanya Ronder, Louis Norris, Hector Norris

SUDDEN LIGHT, dir. Sophie Littman

THE EXPULSION, dir. Larry Achiampong

THE LONG GOODBYE, dir. Aneil Karia

THE NAME I CALL MYSELF, dir. Rhea Dillon

THE SHIFT, dir. Laura Carreira

TWO SINGLE BEDS, dir. William Stefan Smith

LABOR OF LOVE, dir Sylvia Schedelbauer

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION:

2 LIZARDS (EPISODES 1-8), dir. Meriem Bennani, Orian Barki, USA

A DEMONSTRATION, dir. Beny Wagner, Sasha Litvintseva, Netherlands

AN ARROW POINTING TO A HOLE, dir. Steve Reinke, USA

BITTERSWEET, dir. Sohrab Hura, India

ECORCE, dir. Samuel Patthey, Silvain Monney, Switzerland

FIELD RESISTANCE, dir. Emily Drummer, USA

FLAMINGO, dir. Kawo a.k.a. Sushijojo, Macao

HALPATE, dir. Adam Piron, Adam Khalil, USA

HERE AND THERE, dir. Melisa Liebenthal, Argentina

HOLE, dir. Jaakko Pallasvuo, Finland

INFLORESCENCE [SLOWLOOP-06], dir. Nicolaas Schmidt, Germany

JÍIBIE, dir. Laura Huertas Millán, Colombia

LABOR OF LOVE, dir. Sylvia Schedelbauer, Germany

MY GALACTIC TWIN GALACTION, dir. Sasha Svirsky, Russia

PLATA O PLOMO, dir. Nadia Granados, Colombia

RECEIVER, dir. Jenny Brady, Ireland

SAN, dir. Jin Woo, South Korea

SINGLE COPY, dir. Hsu Che-Yu, Taiwan

SUN DOG, dir. Dorian Jespers, Belgium

THE NATURAL DEATH OF A MOUSE, dir. Katharina Huber, Germany

THE PROMISED, dir. Ahmed Elghoneimy, Egypt

THE WHOLE SHEBANG, dir. Ken Jacobs, USA

THIS DAY WON'T LAST, dir. Mouaad el Salem, Tunisia

UP AT NIGHT, dir. Nelson Makengo, Democratic Republic of Congo

WHERE I DON'T MEET YOU, dir. Charlotte Clermont, Canada

WONG PING'S FABLES 2, dir. Wong Ping, Hong Kong

Z = |Z/Z•Z-1 MOD 2|-1: LAVENDER TOWN SYNDROME, dir. Andrew Norman Wilson, USA

SINGLE COPY, dir Hsu Che Yu

And more! We are also very pleased to be announcing two new and overhauled awards, deliberated on by separate juries, awarding over £1000 in cash prizes.

THE TAASH AWARD FOR COMEDY IN FILM
Sponsored by Mark Rylance and the Van Kampen family

Getting a laugh is a rare talent in cinema - subjective to each one of us watching, whilst a universal experience when it’s gotten right - and this award acknowledges those filmmakers finessing comedy on screen.

In celebration of the life of promising filmmaker Nataasha Van Kampen, this award remembers her boundless talent and humour, as founded and sponsored by her stepfather, Mark Rylance.

All qualifying UK films can be found in New Shorts: Funny Shit, and will be deliberated on by representatives of Sky Arts and London Short Film Festival.

The winner will receive an award of £1000 towards their next project.

BEST LO-BUDGET SHORT FILM

In association with Intermission Youth

Our Lo-Budget Mayhem programme has been the festival’s traditional celebration of DIY filmmaking, and this award recognises work that is imaginative, resourceful and tells stories with limited resources and a good dose of wit. All qualifying films can be found in the New Shorts: Lo-Budget Mayhem programmes.

This festival’s award will be deliberated on by a jury (Micah Loubon, 23; Rakiya Idris Hasan, 20; Sian-Leigh Moore, 19; Kashif Douglas, 26; Abigail Sewell, 26) selected from Intermission Youth’s filmmaking group.

The Best Lo-Budget Short winner will receive an award of £500.

Intermission Youth gives disadvantaged young Londoners the tools to make positive choices and become the best version of themselves through drama, film and mentoring.