UK’s emerging filmmakers comes under the spotlight in this selection of shorts films that will provoke tears, anger, fear, and laughter.
The following shorts are screening:
Closets (2015, 19 mins).
Winner of Best British Shorts, Iris Prize 2015.
Henry is a teenager struggling with his sexuality in 1986. Hiding in his wardrobe, he time travels to the present day where he meets with another teenager, Ben, with a different viewpoint. Manchester-based director Lloyd Eyre-Morgan looks at changing attitudes towards homophobia and bullying with sensitivity and humour. Starring Julie Hesmondhalgh and Tommy Knight.
Putting on the Dish (2015, 6 mins).
Directed by Brian Fairbairn and Karl Eccleston.
London, 1962, a time when being gay is still a criminal offence. Two strangers meet in a park and strike up a conversation using polari slang to talk about their experiences.
G O’Clock (2016, 11 mins)
Director Mitchell Marion gives a harsh but honest view of London’s controversial chemsex scene. Having saved the life of a young boy who has overdosed on GHB, paramedic Alex discovers his caring instincts come with a dangerous price, Starring Philip Weddell (Rise of the Footsoldier) and Leon Lopez (EastEnders) who also directed the popular Soft Lad which screened during the 2015 POUTfest tour.
Nightstand (2015, 27 mins)
Directed by Charlie Parnham and produced by Stephen Fry, Nightstand is a dark exploration of repressed yearnings and urban loneliness between a married man and the barman he picks up one night, but who has the greatest fears? Starring Nicholas Gleaves (TV’s Waterloo Road, Scott & Bailey)
Sauna the Dead: A Fairy Tale (2016, 20 mins).
Director Tom Frederic fuses a love of 80s fantasy adventure movies, Disney and zombies, this is a genre-hopping modern fable about the dangers of cruising with zombies in a sauna. Not everyone lives to see the dawn.
Trouser Bar (2016, 18 mins)
Set in a menswear shop in 1970s London, there’s more than a taste of corduroy on the mind of its young customers. Intended as a project for the ‘Godfather of gay porn’, Peter De Rome, Trouser Bar has been finally brought to life by legendary director Kristen Bjorn with cameo appearances from Julian Clary, Barry Cryer and Nigel Havers.