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Official Short Film Selections 2026

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Director | Kat Butterfield, Daniel Audritt | UK

Life Goes On

BILL is in end of life care waiting for the sweet release of death - but unfortunately for him, he's stuck in an infinite time loop, causing the day to restart the second his heart stops...

Starring BAFTA winner David Bradley (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones).

The film is Academy Award Long-listed & BAFTA qualified and has currently played 11 Academy Award Qualifying festivals. It was named in Hollywood Reporter's most recent Oscar predictions for Best Live Action

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19:00 minutes

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Directors | Christian Stevens | UK

God of Mischief

"He's ten, he's trouble and he thinks he's a God"

When a cheeky 10-year-old boy sets his sights on playing Loki in the school play, his over-the-top confidence costs him the role, but he hatches a mischievous plan to prove he's the real god of mischief after all.

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13:52 minutes

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Watch trailer

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Director | Lizzie Hart, James Newman | UK

Kitty

Neurodivergent Kitty, lover of trinkets and Kate Bush, finds her favourite jumper ruined and must find a replacement. When the perfect jumper seems unattainable, she’s left with one choice: sell her precious collections, or risk losing the jumper forever.

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14:37 minutes

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Director |  Yoann Zak | UK

4 Minutes Before Forever

A psychological thriller exploring surveillance, privacy and whether free will exists when algorithms know us better than we know ourselves.

Logline: What starts as harmless fun with their phones becomes an unstoppable countdown to destruction when the algorithm predicts a couple's relationship's demise with terrifying precision.

Starring Tilly Woodward, recently featured in PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN (2026), and Gabriel Gil-Sanllehi.

 

13:49 minutes

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Watch trailer

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Director | Maeve Murphy | UK

The Wolf

Leah has forgotten who she is. She thought the man known as ‘The Wolf’ was going to be her knight in shining armour but when he subjects her to attacks and then tries to hurt her son, she knows now is the time to escape…

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10:00 minutes

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Directors | Ben and Ruth Rusnak | UK

Boy

A young queer man’s encounter with an older stranger exposes the cost of living in the closet.

While housesitting alone, Danny invites an older stranger over for a casual hookup. The charged encounter pushes Danny out of his comfort zone and into a world of confusion, forcing him to face the mismatch between who he is and who he appears to be.

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13:20 minutes

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Watch trailer here

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Director | Stefan Maximilian Lan | USA

Terms & Conditions

Desperate for a shortcut to success, an aspiring actor signs a vague casting contract—unknowingly surrendering his digital likeness to an AI firm, with absurdly tragic consequences.

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9:30 minutes

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Director | Madeleine Shenai, Ivana Mazza-Coates | UK

Dressed to the Nines

Luke goes on a journey of self-discovery in his mum's bedroom. Playfully exploring various things he finds, he loses himself to the connection. Ron, his unsuspecting dad catches him and tensions in the house reach boiling point.

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6:05 minutes

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Director | Tortor Smith | UK

Stumbling Blocks

When everything falls apart, how do you find your balance again?

From literal loss, to masking identity struggles, anxiety and depression… This is a film that illustrates the combustion that happens when you try to hold something in.

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3:51 minutes

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Watch the Trailer

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Director | Rob Ayling | UK

Punching Bag

An amateur boxer battling his demons as well as his opponent in what could prove to be the fight of his life.

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12:00 minutes

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Director | Michael Mui | Hong Kong

Travelling on the Night Tube, Thinking about Iced Lemon Tea, Less Sugar

On a quiet London night, a boy and a girl from Hong Kong meet by chance and travel together on the night tube.
She says she is searching for iced lemon tea with less sugar. And he doesn’t ask why.
As the train glides through the sleeping city, their conversation wanders between memories and losses.
When they arrive at Heathrow Airport, there is only one question that remains: “Where are we going next?”​​

13:22 minutes

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Watch the trailer

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Director | Amir Zargara | Iran

A Good Day Will Come

Arash is a professional wrestler with dreams of representing his country and winning gold medals. The country is in turmoil and its people are suffering. Arash must decide between using his platform to stand up to tyranny, or put his head down and remain silent.

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25:00 minutes

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Director | Katya Mokolo | France

Bartogay Lake

An old man crosses the boundless Kazakh steppe, driving alone. Haunted by memories of a lost love, he stops by Bartogay Lake, flowers in hand. But as he tries to step out, his car door refuses to open, trapping him between past and present.

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9:25 minutes

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Director | Parker Croft | USA

The Liars of Black Mountain Road

Academy Award-nominee Abigail Breslin presents:
The Liars of Black Mountain Road.

When a couple runs over a stranger's dog, they compete for the moral high ground at any cost.

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12:30 minutes

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Watch the Trailer

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Director | Lou Burns, Aaron Burns | UK

Gan Canny

A BAFTA and BIFA Qualifying, Royal Television Society award winning darkly comic, working class, North Eastern family comedy/drama. Siblings Tyler and Paige don't agree with the way their estranged mam has arranged their Nana’s funeral, and impulsively take matters into their own hands. What follows is a clumsy grand theft hearse as the siblings decide to take Nana on one last road trip before saying their final goodbyes. What could possibly go wrong?

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17:43 minutes

Watch the Trailer

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Director | Ida Melum | Sweden

Ovary-Acting

While stuck at her sister's baby shower a thirty-something woman is forced to decide whether she wants to have kids or not after unexpectedly giving birth to her reproductive organs.

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13:00 minutes

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Director | Kate McMullen | UK

Rhubarb Rhubarb

In the legendary Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle, Jo and her elderly father produce the pink delicacy that made the region world-famous a century ago. Harvesting by candlelight like their ancestors before them, they could not prepare for the danger looming in the dark.

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16:10 minutes

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Director | Andrew Nolan | Ireland, United Kingdom

This Conversation Has Been Removed

When Peter and Jill engage in an online flame war, they learn just how wrong "making it personal" can go

"Punchy and funny... the film’s visual grammar is its greatest strength, delivering character, depth, and humour" Film Ireland

Best Irish Short Nominee | Light in Motion Competition | Foyle Film Festival (Oscar accredited)

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7:04 minutes

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Watch the Trailer

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Director | Natalie Lauren, Simon London | UK

Fractured Frame

A woman's psyche is haunted and fractured by the relentless demands of the predatory industry she sought to break into.

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5:00 minutes

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Watch the Trailer

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Director | Alex Maximov | Belarus

Profitable Place

This laconic and ironic story, using the example of a not very prosperous place, shows how business can interfere in the lives of ordinary people.

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5:11 minutes

Short Film Award Nominees

​Best Costume

Gan Canny

Dressed to the Nines

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Life Goes On

 

Best Production Design

Rhubarb Rhubarb

4 Minutes Before Forever

God of Mischief

Kitty

Life Goes On

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Best Original Score

God of Mischief

4 Minutes Before Forever

A Good Day Will Come

Overy-Acting

Rhubarb Rhubarb

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Best Actor

James Harkness - The Wolf

Daniel Ings - Dressed to the Nines

David Bradley - Life Goes On

Sebastian Arroyo - Terms & Conditions

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Best Actress

Kellie Shirley - The Wolf

Joanna Scanlan - Rhubarb Rhubarb

Tilly Woodward - 4 Minutes Before Forever

Natalie Lauren - Fractured Frame

Millie Gibbons - The Liars of Black Mountain Road

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Best Editing

Punching Bag

Fractured Frame

Bartogay Lake

Dressed to the Nines

Life Goes On

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Best Writer

Life Goes On

The Wolf

This Conversation Has Been Removed

Terms & Conditions

Fractured Frame

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Best Cinematography

Travelling on the Night Tube

Bartogay Lake

4 Minutes Before Forever

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Life Goes On

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Best Director

God of Mischief

Dressed to the Nines

Rhubarb Rhubarb

Fractured Frame

The Wolf

A Good Day Will Come

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Best Animation

Profitable Place

Ovary-Acting

Stumbling Blocks

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Best Comedy

Gan Canny

This Conversation Has Been Removed

God of Mischief

Life Goes On

Kitty

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Best Drama

The Liars of Black Mountain Road

Boy

Rhubarb Rhubarb

4 Minutes Before Forever

The Wolf

A Good Day will Come

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Best International Film

A Good Day Will Come

Bartogay Lake

The Liars of Black Mountain Road

Ovary-Acting

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Best UK Film

Dressed to the Nines

The Wolf

4 Minutes Before Forever

Gan Canny

Rhubarb Rhubarb

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Screenplay Award Nominees

Short Screenplay

Best International Short Screenplay
Candyfloss - Sarah Kate O'Connor
Loque Florece - Alycya Mayana
Piggyback - Vincent Gallagher
Ruff Ruff Rapture Care - Schleicher & Morgan


Best UK Short Screenplay

Full Tilt - Martin Richmond
Tree - Benjamin K Dyson
The Purge of a Great Evil - Theo Spofforth
The Duel & The Dye - Will Pinhey
Did You See The Gorilla? - Jamie Glass

Feature Screenplays

Best Comedy
Growing Wilder - Luke Ollerton
Deadwood - George Marshman
The Midnight Ride of William Dawes - Marc Weinberg & Victoria Fraser

Best Sci-Fi
Life Twice Lost - Mark Vincent Roush
Leda - Sergio Mario Illuminato
Station - Sam Grierson
Bright New Eden - Alan Robert Howcroft


Best Drama
Richard Spong - Terry Po
dnar
Modern Lovers - Ben Hackworth, Vivien Walsh, Lizzette Atkins
Hard-Knocked - Harley Jones
What Are We? - Jake Shiptenko
Heirloom - Philip Edwards

Bestirred - Victoria Louise Bradley

Best International Feature
Modern Lovers - Ben Hackworth, Vivien Walsh, Lizzette Atkins
Emery - Victoria Rogers
Life Twice Lost - Mark Vincent Roush

The Midnight Ride of William Dawes - Marc Weinberg & Victoria Fraser
 
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