

NINE
YARDS
FILMS
Official Short Film Selections 2026

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
19:00 minutes

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.
13:52 minutes

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.
14:37 minutes

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

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…
10:00 minutes

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.
13:20 minutes

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.
9:30 minutes

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.
6:05 minutes

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.
3:51 minutes

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.
12:00 minutes

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

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.
25:00 minutes

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.
9:25 minutes

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.
12:30 minutes

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?
17:43 minutes

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.
13:00 minutes

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.
16:10 minutes

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)
7:04 minutes

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.
5:00 minutes

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.
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
Best Original Score
God of Mischief
4 Minutes Before Forever
A Good Day Will Come
Overy-Acting
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Best Actor
James Harkness - The Wolf
Daniel Ings - Dressed to the Nines
David Bradley - Life Goes On
Sebastian Arroyo - Terms & Conditions
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
Best Editing
Punching Bag
Fractured Frame
Bartogay Lake
Dressed to the Nines
Life Goes On
Best Writer
Life Goes On
The Wolf
This Conversation Has Been Removed
Terms & Conditions
Fractured Frame
Best Cinematography
Travelling on the Night Tube
Bartogay Lake
4 Minutes Before Forever
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Life Goes On
Best Director
God of Mischief
Dressed to the Nines
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Fractured Frame
The Wolf
A Good Day Will Come
Best Animation
Profitable Place
Ovary-Acting
Stumbling Blocks
Best Comedy
Gan Canny
This Conversation Has Been Removed
God of Mischief
Life Goes On
Kitty
Best Drama
The Liars of Black Mountain Road
Boy
Rhubarb Rhubarb
4 Minutes Before Forever
The Wolf
A Good Day will Come
Best International Film
A Good Day Will Come
Bartogay Lake
The Liars of Black Mountain Road
Ovary-Acting
Best UK Film
Dressed to the Nines
The Wolf
4 Minutes Before Forever
Gan Canny
Rhubarb Rhubarb