WOFFF/Best of the Fest: Tales of the North + Q&A

Older women from Stockport to Amsterdam have had enough of biting their tongues. They’re standing up and speaking out – about grief, about long-held secrets, about a man up a ladder who thinks he’s the king.

Event/ This screening will be followed by a Q&A with actress Elizabeth Rider (The Outing) and documentary subject, Jayne Toulson-Burke (We are here but we are lost), chaired by festival curator Nuala O’Sullivan

Short films screening in this programme:

Split (U)

Dir Clare Holman/GB 2021/18 mins

Angela and Paul meet in an almost-empty bungalow. These two strangers share their stories, but something doesn’t quite add up. Who can you trust when the past has been stripped away?

AI and I (U)

Dir Cecelia Condit/US 2021/7 mins

A woman interrogates her AI device as she walks through the woods, dragging electrical cords behind her. As humans we find comfort in nature and in technology, but it’s complicated. Our very survival may depend on how we manage both. A playful film examining the nature of consciousness.

Housemaid #2 (12A)

Dir Roxanne Stam/NL 2021/12 mins

When 52-year-old Nora plays her supporting role for the umpteenth performance and has to endure the toxic behaviour of the theatre company and the bullying of the lead male actor again, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

The Outing (PG)

Dir Joanne Mitchell/GB 2022/15 mins

The harrowing story of a woman grappling with a dark family secret, based on one of the most notorious crimes in Britain’s history. In the 1970s in the North East of England, Nellie meets Frank on a trip to the seaside and unexpectedly makes a connection. But even away from home, she can’t escape the shame that surrounds her.

We are here but we are lost (PG)

Dirs Sally Patterson, Joe Baxter/GB VN 2022/16 mins

Jayne’s son Bob died suddenly from Dengue Fever while he was backpacking around Southeast Asia. As part of her grieving process, Jayne retraces Bob’s journey across Vietnam and Thailand, staying in every hostel he slept in, experiencing the sites he saw, and meeting the people he had befriended along the way. A story of grief, motherhood and memorial.