2024 film selection
We’re serving you up 10 delicious short film screenings, each curated with a central theme or narrative that weaves them together.
How the screenings work
All of our films are curated into strands, so if you’re interested in one particular film it will be showing alongside some others in a strand. Below is a list of our ten screenings, organised by their strands with information about the films, the filmmakers along with when they are screening. Times will be confirmed in the coming weeks – our schedule is subject to change, but we work very hard to ensure that doesn’t happen!
All day pass and weekend pass holders have access to attend our film screenings. Information on which films will be screening with subtitles will be announced August 25th once we have had confirmation from distributors and filmmakers.
Sometimes, our bodies and our lives don’t feel like they truly belong to us. The path to reclaiming our own narratives is bold and brave, but it’s often rocky underfoot. These films chart the course from A to B and everywhere in between, getting under the skin of what it means to feel empowered and alive.
UNDER THE SKIN
Screening date: Friday 20 September, 15:00
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Does that make a woman?, Homemaker, Living With It
Online screening: Does that make me a woman?, Living With It, The Princess and the Peacock, seCURE
Content Guidance: References to sexual assault, blood, sexual content, graphic depictions of body piercing, nudity, violence and domestic abuse.
Total Run Time: 59 minutes
Director: Bec Evans
Writer: Bec Evans
Producer: Rosa Galvin
Does that make me a woman? is a hybrid of documentary, performance and poem filmmaking, exploring the contradictions of modern womanhood.
Does that make me a woman?
Director: Julia Jesionek
Producer: Julia Jesionek
Everythingness is an autofictional animated short film about the transformative power of difficult decisions, inner conflict and guilt.
Everythingness
Director: Ciara Kerr
Writer: Chase Olivarius-McAllister
Producer: Cristina Isgrò
A young woman loses herself in a controlling relationship and the abuse she suffers gets worse until she is utterly trapped.
Homemaker
Director: Micha Colombo
Writer: Micha Colombo
Producer: Micha Colombo
An overwhelmed mother is lost within her daily life until a midnight moment in nature helps her to find clarity.
I Want This
Director: Holly Summerson
Writer: Niki Rooney
Producer: Reece Cargan
Perfectionist Lee must adapt to the imperfect reality of living with an illness - brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate Bug.
Living With It
Producer: Julia Schulman
Curator: Meltem Şahin
The PMS Project looks at four short animated features each based around the premenstrual system; taboos, bodily changes, mood swings and in harmony.
PMS
Director: Daniel Baker-Wells
Producer: Daniel Baker-Wells
The Princess and the Peacock is a rare and intimate glimpse into Berlin's FLINTA (femme, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans, a-gender) community.
The Princess and the Peacock
Directors: Zoé Kugler, Jana Dünner
Writers: Zoé Kugler, Jana Dünner
Producers: Zoé Kugler, Jana Dünner
seCURE explores the aftermath of four survivors of sexual violence through the mediums of poetry and dance, and the journey to finding safety within their bodies.
seCURE
Director: Ronita Awoonor-Gordon
Writer: Ronita Anwoonor-Gordon
Producer: Daniela Navalshankar
Stand Up, Stand Out focuses on how people use their bodies to make a statement to protest discriminatory and oppressive systems.
Stand Up, Stand Out
CLOSING CIRCLES
People die, love ends and the only constant in life is change - so how best to start a new chapter? These films explore the vagaries of grief, through determination, despair, acceptance, joy and the outright absurd.
Screening date: Friday 20 September, 16:20
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Seaglass
Online screening: Goodbye Train, Seaglass
Content Guidance: Reference to death and grief
Total Run Time: 59 minutes
Director: Chioma Ejimofo
Writer: Chioma Ejimofo
Producer: Yemi Adegbulu
Following a sudden breakup with her partner that results in isolation between herself and her friends, Bea, a 20-something university student, takes the train home.
Goodbye Train
Director: Shay Kuehlmann, Kate Roxburgh
Writer: Shay Kuehlmann
Producer: Elle Brown, Jim Parks, Shay Kuehlmann, Kate Roxburgh
Mira happily prepares for her death day by throwing a party and spending her last moments doing exactly what she loves.
Happy Death Day
Director: Sara Jordan
Writer: Sara Jordan
Producer: Zachary Goldman
A black comedy following the reunion of a widow and her dead husband who has been reincarnated as an adorable dog.
My Husband Is A Dog
Director: Oz Arshad
Writer: Lorna Riley
Producer: Guy Lindley
In the comfort of her flat, Jas removes her makeup and changes into comfortable clothes. All she wants is some peace. Instead, she gets Ben, her interfering, matchmaking flatmate.
Opening Up
Director: Cheryl Blake
Animator: Cheryl Blake
Struggling in the fog of grief, Fern embarks on a journey gradually rediscovering the light that can be found amongst the darkness following bereavement.
Seaglass
Director: Katharine Stocker
Writer: Katharine Stocker
Producer: Rosie Litterick
Dagmara, a Polish nurse, works the day shift. Analyn, a Filipina nurse, works the night shift. The two care-workers, who barely interact outside of their weekly handover, must come together to face insurmountable challenges.
Take Care
HELL IS A TEENAGE GIRL
It’s time to head back to school, so fill yourselves up with dread and insecurities as we showcase a selection of shorts on the enjoyable journey that is being a teenage girl.
Screening date: Friday 20 September, 18:30
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: 16, fishing, Heavy
Online screening: 16, The Date, Heavy, Sleepyhead
Content Guidance: Sexual references, violence, blood, strong language and flashing lights.
Total Run Time: 60 minutes
Director: Rachel Flynn
Writer: Rachel Flynn
Producer: Craig Andrew Mooney, Alessio Avezzano, Rachel Flynn, Ryan Dewar
In Edinburgh, a sixteen year old girl has a year long relationship with an older guy.
16
Director: Amy Hodge
Writer: Bethan Marlow
Producer: Oriane Pick, Anais Ferrato
Sasha, a loud mouthed thirteen-year-old goes on her first date but when she gets turned on and takes charge of her own sexuality it reveals the confusing nature of what girls are allowed to want.
The Date
Director: Josie Charles
Writer: Esme Allen
Producer: Esme Allen, Josie Charles
It’s 2006. Sixteen-year-old Lola has been in her room for three days and refuses to come out. She confesses to a camcorder a tale of first love and lost virginity, before finally revealing the secret keeping her locked inside.
fishing
Director: Eve Grant
Writer: Eve Grant
Producer: Joel Hewett
A teenage girl seeks help from her clueless father after getting her first period at school.
Heavy
Director: Theresa Varga
Writer: Adam Bennett-Lea
Producer: Holly Carrington, Guy Hodgkinson
A darkly comedic coming of age story about two teenaged girls trying to explore their sexualities on a caravan holiday
I Know A Place
Director: Milly Garnier
Writer: Charlotte Paradise
Producer: Millie Marsh
17-year-old Rae is chronically ill, and chronically awesome. When her best friends turn out to be massive arseholes and her mum struggles to believe her, Rae has to summon enough persistence to get a wheelchair so she can get the hell out of her suffocating bedroom.
Sleepyhead
BURNT OUT AND BONKERS
We’re fine, this is fine, thanks for asking! These women are at the end of their rope and having a grand time, trust the process.
Screening date: Saturday 21 September, 15:00
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Chicken Girl, FRANKY
Online screening: Chicken Girl, Fierce-ish Grace, Fluff, FRANKY, Hen Do
Content Guidance: Blood, violence and sexual references.
Total Run Time: 79 minutes
Directors: Steph Leigh, Mo Bayliss
Writer: Steph Leigh, Mo Bayliss
Producer: Steph Leigh, Mo Bayliss
This uncovered DVD commentary gives us an exclusive insight into the twisted minds of filmmaking provocateurs Gene Delaney (director) and Phillipa Rita-Riley (writer).
Agatha’s Revenge [DVD Commentary]
Director: Jamie Luke Milligan
Writer: Jamie Luke Milligan
Producer: Chloe Martin, Steph Hazel
When an eleven year old budding impressionist performs for his family hoping to raise money for a new bike, his routine threatens to expose their deepest secrets unless they pay up.
Blabbermouth
Director: Em Humble
Writer: Em Humble
Producer: Milda Baginskaite
After having an aneurysm at a Jack and the Beanstalk panto in 2006, Chicken Girl can’t get golden eggs off her brain. With the assistance of her “better half”, Gary, Chicken Girl is loving her chickens to death.
Chicken Girl
Director: Amaya Owen Rowlands
Writer: Amaya Owen Rowlands, Celia Legard
Producer: Celia Legard, Emily Betts, Freddie Robarts
As Grace steps into her pay review, she prepares to unleash a version of herself that only her bathroom mirror has ever seen.
Fierce-ish Grace
Director: Max Clendaniel
Writer: Jodie Irvine
Producer: Jodie Irvine, Max Clendaniel
A puppeteer is pushed to the limit when her puppet starts getting bigger, but no one believes her.
Fluff
Director: Catharina Lott
Writer: Larissa Dold, Catharina Lott
Producer: Nora Kilroy, Jonas Windgassen
Christie has an unusual dog at home - her husband. Since husband Frank has decided to live happily ever after as Franky the dog, things have changed for Christie too.
FRANKY
Director: Mac Montero
Writer: Mac Montero
Producer: Isabel Steuble-Johnson
It's the 90s in London. During her lunch break, a businesswoman calls her boyfriend for phone sex. It doesn't quite go to plan.
Hello?
Director: Alia Ghafar
Writer: Alia Ghafar
Producer: Misha McCullagh
En-route to her hen weekend, bride-to-be Faye kills the vibe with a bombshell confession.
Hen Do
Director: Evie Fehilly
Writer: Evie Fehilly, Katherine Tozer
Producer: Olivia Pastor
When 15-year-old Jane must meet a man she is betrothed to, a meeting that her entire family are counting on, not everything goes to plan when she gets her period for the first time.
Period Drama
Director: Megan Shandley
Writer: Megan Shandley
Producer: Megan Shandley, Gergana G Popova
When their flatmate moves out and takes her vacuum cleaner with her, the remaining tenants are faced with a challenging road to domestic paradise.
SUCK IT UP
HEART IN MOUTH
Sometimes horror is more than just skin deep. These shorts show that it’s not just blood, guts and gore that can be truly terrifying, but what’s underneath them too.
Screening date: Saturday 21 September, 16:40
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Popper
Online screening: Popper, The Sin-Eater, Spoor
Content Guidance: Gore, violence, domestic violence, self harm and sexual references including assault.
Total Run Time: 87 minutes
Director: Bethany White
Writer: Bethany White, Patrick Crellin
Producer: Patrick Crellin
A male film writer begins to write his perfect, objectified female character to terrorise. However, he's not prepared for her to fight back...
The Auteur
Director: Tamsin Topolski
Writer: Ross O’Donnellan
Producer: Izzy Meikle-Small, Will Matthews
Helen’s intentions are (mostly) good. She’s sympathetic and sensitive and her glass is half-full, so why can’t she seem to connect with those around her? When she meets Mark, she finds more than just a lover - she finds someone who speaks her language. But as their relationship takes a twisted turn, Helen begins to doubt the man she’s let into her home.
I’'m A Good Person
Director: Anatasia Bruce-Jones
Writer: Anastasia Bruce-Jones
Producer: Elise Brindley
Andy has never seen another human. Then a severed hand arrives in the mail.
Microwave
Director: Bonnie Sanderson
Writer: Bonnie Sanderson
Producer: Niamh West
In 1959, a new wonderdrug - Tesoteramide - is ready for testing, promising beauty to the unborn daughters of any woman who takes it. Pregnant housewife Audre heads straight to the clinic with her ecstatic Mother to sign up. But when Audre voices some last-minute doubts, it becomes clear that Tesoteramide - and so-called eternal beauty is no longer optional.
Popper
Director: Kelly Holmes
Writer: Matthew White
Producer: David Brown
1852, Wales: a desperate young mother carries out a forbidden ritual to save the soul of her unbaptised dead baby, but is tricked into taking on a terrifying supernatural burden.
The Sin-Eater
Director: Sunita Soliar, Statten Roeg
Writer: Sunita Soliar, Statten Roeg
Producer: Sunita Soliar, Statten Roeg
A freakish, throbbing growth torments Ash. She is stuck caring for her vitriolic, dementia-ridden mother. With every indignity, Ash’s lump grows, until it erupts, spewing a mysterious substance. Will Ash figure out what it is and how to stop it?
Spoor
GRIT
Going after what you want, what’s right and what you deserve is not an easy path. When life gives you lemons, these films say F those lemons and fight back.
Screening date: Saturday 21 September, 18:30
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Back of the Net
Online screening: Back of the Net
Content Guidance: Racism, strong language, violence, references to sexual assault
Total Run Time: 73 minutes
Director: Klara Kaliger
Writer: Ella Dorman-Gajic
Producer: Athanasia Bartzoka, Ola Andrzejewska
A passionate aspiring young footballer is torn between her final shot at going professional and caring for her grandmother.
Back of the Net
Director: Ellie Rogers
Writer: Charlie Tidmas
Producer: Iria Pizania, Ellie Rogers
Two rowdy young boys spend the afternoon tearing through the countryside, but when they come across an electric fence a competitive game sparks something unexpected between them.
Chickenshit
Director: Emma Kayani
Writer: Emma Kayani
Producer: Garron Clarke
In Northern England 1995, a teenage mum with a mixed-race daughter works a shift at her local chippy and faces a racist customer.
Chip Shop Girl
Director: Mikaela Bruce
Writer: Mikaela Bruce, v.c. rhone
Producer: v.c. rhone, Luna Zhang, Jennifer Murphy
As a teenager returns to her high school basketball team, painful memories resurface and she finds herself suspended from practice and avoiding those closest to her.
Not Afraid
Director: Debbie Howard
Writer: Debbie Howard
Producer: Rachel Robey
Anne, an office cleaner, finishes work late one evening to be pursued and harassed by a man at the bus stop.
SAFE
Director: Jo Smyth
Writer: Jo Smyth
Producer: Katy Mendo
Smile is about a woman in her fifties who has to navigate her way through a sexual assault, and corrosive everyday sexism.
Smile
Director: Jade Ang-Jackman
Writer: Lydia Rynne
Producer: Helen Dulay, Nat Baring
An unassuming seamstress is confronted by an undercover policeman seeking to track down members of the Suffragette movement.
Young Hot Bloods
IT’S A LONG WAY HOME
From those stuck on the outside looking in, to those who have finally found their people, these shorts explore the need to be accepted and question what it really means to belong to a community.
Screening date: Saturday 21 September, 20:00
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Next in Line, The Pursuit of Independence
Online screening: Next in Line, The Pursuit of Independence, Twinkleberry
Content Guidance: Racism, addiction to alcohol
Total Run Time: 59 minutes
Director: Eubha Akilade
Writer: Eubha Akilade
Producer: Jack Gemmell, Sophie Chater
On her first day at a high school in rural Scotland, a London teenager is targeted for her afro hair by cocksure class bully and must harness her inner power.
BLACKWOOL
Director: Charlene Jones
Writer: Faye Butler
Producer: Faye Butler
A daughter home from University must hold down the fort and help her alcoholic father navigate withdrawal, with the help of a little Northern Soul.
Keep The Faith
Director: Seyma Dag
Writer: Coleen Bell, Seyma Dag
Producer: Katriona Tweedie
An observation of the benefits system, “Next in Line” centres a refugee doctor who’s seeking government financial assistance and must face a harrowing decision.
Next in Line
Director: Sarah Grant
Writer: Carrie Dodds, Chris Watt
Producer: Carrie Dodds
Following the death of their mother, Susan seeks to support her sister Helen realise her dream of living a more independent life but encounters challenges along the way.
The Pursuit of Independence
Director: Daisy Ifama
Producer: Grace Shutti
A true story about 30+ queer students in one year group and the unique collective experience that lead them to forge their identities together, in opposition to the world around them.
Twinkleberry
AS RAW AS IT GETS
A mix of documentary-style shorts that range across taboo topics, navigating complex relationships and escapism through sport, these stories are both incredibly personal and yet completely universal.
Screening date: Sunday 22 September, 12:30
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: This is a relaxed screening - all films will be subtitled.
Online screening: For Mum, Living with Vulval Lichen Sclerosus
Content Guidance: Blood, nudity, references to war, suicide and sexual assault.
Total Run Time: 66 minutes
Director: Sarah Grant
Producer: Sophie Chater
A radical and joyful reimagining of awesome pop culture dance scenes with the bodies that traditionally get pushed to the back taking up space, front and centre.
Big Moves
Director: Rachel Sarah
Producer: Rachel Sarah
Entangled focuses on the bond between two Scottish winter climbers as they explore fickle conditions, connecting with nature as well as each other.
Entangled
Director: Julie Mayhew
Writer: Julie Mayhew
Producer: Julie Mayhew
A Super 8 short about one of the easiest and most difficult relationships of our lives.
For Mum
Director: Vika Evdokimenko
Writer: Vika Evdokimenko
Producer: Frankie Fogg
A new mother dotes on her baby by day, but discovers dark feelings stirring up inside her at night. This hybrid doc explores the shadow side of motherhood which remains taboo in our culture.
I Don’t Need Adult Conversation
Director: Jess Harvey, Isolde Godfrey
Artist & Animator: Jess Harvey
A visceral experience about the VLS condition, explored through interviews with those affected and paired with striking, almost palpable imagery.
Living with Vulval Lichen Sclerosus
Director: Giovanna Trujillo
Producers: Giovanna Trujillo, Shalisa Krualphan
A group of queer Latinx skaters find cathartic release, chosen family and mastery of empowerment in their local skate community.
SHRED
Director: Maria Pankova
Producer: Sophia Carr-Gomm
Yuliia, a Ukrainian refugee now living in Scotland, fights for the future of her children while trying to maintain her relationship with her husband, who is on the frontline.
The Sound of the Wind
HOMEGROWN
A pick and mix pack of short films made here in The North showcasing the talents and possibilities of our local filmmakers.
Screening date: Sunday 22 September, 14:10
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: 59, Gobstopper, High Level, I Would Like to Live on the Moon, Where The Magpies Fly, You’ll Make It Home.
Online screening: 59, Gobstopper, High Level, Where The Magpies Fly, You’ll Make It Home.
Content Guidance:
Total Run Time: 90 minutes
Director: Nicole Pott
Writer: Nicole Pott, Maia Kipping
Producer: Tuli Litvak, Harris Tomlinson-Spence, Max Graham
At twelve, for Ellie, it’s easy to be a dreamer and less easy to ignore the harsh realities as the only Black kid at school.
2k5
Director: Jenny Dinwoodie
Filmed in springtime at the majestic Bowden Doors in Northumberland, it's an ode to nutters, to friendship, to ageing in style and trying really hard.
59
Director: Jo Lane
Writer: Jo Lane
Producer: Casey Shaw
A love story between two sisters and their mother as they struggle with their Mother's alcoholism.
Gobstopper
Director: Chess Tomlinson
Writer: Chess Tomlinson
Producer: Chess Tomlinson
'High Level' is the first in a collection of duologues on bridges set around the northeast, written and directed by northeast based women/non-binary creatives.
High Level
Director: Emily Burke
Writer: Emily Burke
Producer: Emily Burke
A young non-binary person feels overwhelmed and wants to escape - literally, to the moon.
I Would Like to Live on the Moon
Director: Heléna Antonio
Writer: Charlotte Fenton, Simon Jefferson
Producer: Charlotte Fenton
As Mia battles the effects of both her broken home and her toxic relationship, her loneliness grows, and hope is fading. Will she find hope and a route to follow?
Internal Abyss
Director: Juliet Klottrup
Writer: Juliet Klottrup
Producer: Leo King, Tim Hardy
Documentary following Joe Cannon Snr, a retired farrier and traveller making this annual journey to Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria, UK.
Travelling Home
Director: Jonluke McKie
Writer: Rachel Stockdale
Producer: Rachel Stockdale
Telling the story of her youth in Middlesbrough in the North East of England and her weight gain journey from a size 8 to a size 18.
Where All The Extra Pounds Came From
Director: Amy Mains
Writer: Amy Mains
Producer: Stuart Hunter
Kyle, an avid Newcastle United fan, embarks on a mission to raise funds to take his ailing grandad to the match, one last time.
Where The Magpies Fly
Director: Sheryl Jenkins
Writer: Bridie Jackson, Nick Pierce
Producer: Bridie Jackson, Nick Pierce
You’ll Make It Home is an animated music video about supporting, and being there for someone dealing with depression.
You’ll Make It Home
A tapestry of stories that delve into the many facets of motherhood. The sacrifices we make, the challenges we face and the deep and often overwhelming love that may come with it. Along with the pain, anger and loss of identity it can also throw at us.
THE MOTHERLOAD
Screening date: Sunday 22 September, 16:00
Films with subtitles available:
In person screening: Winter Song
Online screening: Latch, Winter Song
Content Guidance: References to child loss, postpartum depression, bleed, references to suicide and drug use.
Total Run Time: 89 minutes
Director: Katie Harriman
Writer: Rachael Sampson
Producer: Amy Banks
A young woman forms an unusual attachment to a stuffed toy bunny as she struggles to get her life back on track after suffering a miscarriage.
Huggo
Director: Ruby Abbiss
Writer: Ruby Abbiss
Producer: Arpita Ashok
After preparing for her first night of motherhood in the postnatal ward bathroom, Thea rushes to soothe her crying baby. But when Mother interrupts Thea’s moment of maternal bliss and claims that the baby latched onto her breast is her own, Thea is forced to admit her mistake.
Latch
Director: Sophie Wu
Writer: Sophie Wu
Producer: Chris Young, Jonny Sweet, Simon Bird
A divorced mother’s relationship with her teenage daughter is strained when she attempts to find a connection through a dating agency.
Mother Daughter
Director: Jerusha West
Writer: Jerusha West, Geoffrey Hazelton-Swales
Producer: Sara Pagliaro, Megan Townley-Wakelin
Recollecting her youth during the 'Baby Scoop Era', Edith looks back on Solidago, an all-female rural community she was sent to in order to give birth to a child conceived outside of marriage.
Solidago
Director: Ornella Hawthorn Gardez
Writer: Ornella Hawthorn Gardez, Valerie Hawthorn
Producer: Kate Brady
Discovering her daughter has been taken,
a mother embarks on a tense, harrowing midnight chase
Slow-Down
Director: Beth Park
Writer: Beth Park
Producer: Molly Murphy, Isabella Speaight
A successful woman finds an abandoned baby and is stalked by the mother.
Wild Animal
Director: Kate Graham
Writer: Kate Graham
Producer: James Bridger
At an isolated house in Yorkshire, a composer’s reality starts to crumble as she struggles to balance work and early motherhood.
Screening Friday 20th September 20:00pm at The Hullaballoo Theatre, as part of Women X Film Festival
In Partnership with Rainbow Screen and Queerish Bookshop.
From Director Rose Glass comes an electric new love story. Reclusive gym manager Lou falls hard for Jackie, an ambitious bodybuilder headed through town to Vegas in pursuit of her dream. But their love ignites violence, pulling them deep into the web of Lou's criminal family.—A24 Films
Starring Anna Baryshnikov, Kristen Stewart, Dave Franco
Friday Day Pass Holders and Weekend Pass Holders have access to this screening as part of their pass.
This screening is supported by Film Hub North with National Lottery funding on behalf of BFI Film Audience Network.