SHORT NARRATIVES
All short films are FREE. No need for a ticket.
REASONS FOR REASONING
(USA) – 8 mins – OUT OF COMPETITION
SYNOPSIS
In order to escape the victimhood with a horrific experience, she barricaded herself in her room and tried to distort her memories.
Writer / Director: Yuqian Zhang
Producer: Xinyu Qi
Cast: Liya Ma
SCREENING
Friday 24 November – 16.00
Castle Cinema : 64 – 66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Since making his first short film at the age of 16 and screening it in a theater on his high school campus, Yuqian Zhang has been making documentaries, feature films, music videos, etc. For some reason, early in his career, he used fake names such as Sam Urai or Zhaneu-Chan when his films were about supposedly “forbidden” topics. He graduated with honors from the China Academy of Art in 2021 and is still working on his films. In 2023, he was admitted to New York University.
METAVERSE
(China) – 9 mins
SYNOPSIS
In the era of artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence is combined with the film and television industry. This work uses the method of combining artificial intelligence to generate video and personal creation, to tell a story about a kind of psychological therapy provided by artificial intelligence for human beings in the future.
Writer / Director / Producer: Ping Qi Ge
With: Jiuhe Zhou
SCREENING
Wedesnesday 22 November – 18.30
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Ping Qi Ge is a master student majoring in digital image design and creation at Shandong University of Art & Design
DESTROYER
(UK) – 8 mins – OUT OF COMPETITION
SYNOPSIS
During a shoot, an indifferent photographer recounts her childhood and her newfound relationship with a cousin.
Writer / Director: Albert Bullock
With: Sin Heng Chan, Sasha Jagsi, Jorge Fernandes
SCREENING
Friday 24 November – 15.00
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Albert Bullock (born October 3, 2001) is an English amateur filmmaker. He currently attends the University of Warwick where he studies Film and Television.
KNIGHT OF CUPS
(Italy) – 5 mins
SYNOPSIS
Inside a rough and surreal environment under renovation, there are a teenager and an elderly man, sitting at a table playing a game of Scopa. On the sidelines, an elderly lady is busy sewing. As the boy gradually drops a card, the old man makes his play and with satisfaction earns points. Suddenly, just before the last possible play, the two elderly people disappear and with them also the last playable card. The boy, amazed and intrigued by the noises that echo in the environment, explores the rest of the house, among dark and surreal situations, until he finds a mirror set in the wall. Looking in the mirror, he faces himself. Attracted by yet another disturbing noise, he reaches an adjoining room where he finds the two elderly people. The man gives the boy the card he should have played. The boy returns to the gaming table and drops, in place of the old man, the card which allows him to earn yet another point and win the game.
Writer / Director: Fabio Ravioli
Cast: Alessio Nicolai, Daniele Bimbi, Laura Biondi
SCREENING
Saturday 26 November – 18.30
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Ravioli Fabio (Italy), Tuscan director and screenwriter born in 1982. His stories start from simple and real situations, a pretext to delve into the human soul. From a solo trip, “Single Room” (2017) was born, which deals with the theme of solitude and emotional independence. Hence the first satisfaction: the short was selected for the CortoDino Film Festival XII Edition in Torre Annunziata. In 2018 the sentimental “A lume di candela” was filmed. After a break due to the Covid pandemic, he directs two new shorts: “Non transigo” (2021) made for the 48 Hour Film Project in Rome and “Selva rossa” (2022) shot on the occasion of the Dante celebrations at the request of the Municipality of Tresana (MS). In September 2022 he participated in the 79th Venice International Film Festival by screening the trailer of the short film “Non transigo” inside the Fedic Forum. In 2023 he experiments with filming with smartphones and with “Priorità” he ironically recounts a cross-section of Italy during the 2020 Lockdown. The experiments continue and, wanting to dedicate a part of himself to his missing grandparents, he creates “Knave of Cups”, a disturbing psychological thriller that wants to tell the eternal help that our loved ones give us even when they can no longer be physically present.
OUR FUTURE
(France) – 25 mins
SYNOPSIS
A face-to-face meeting behind closed doors on the theme of Amazon deforestation brings together two heads of state. At the same time, a school director accompanies a student particularly concerned by the climate emergency to an unknown destination.
Writer / Director: Thibault Martin
Writer: Marc Koenig
Cast: Marie Bunel, Cécile Garcia Fogel, Alexandre Padilha de Azevedo
SCREENING
Saturday 25 November – 18.30
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Producer and Director of commissioned films since 2005, Thibault Martin feels mature and decides to dive into the cinema in 2018. In parallel with writing a feature film, he develops the script, direction and production of his first short film, “Our Futures”. Self-taught, touches everything, optimistic, he likes to make the extraordinary as plausible and forbids himself few things ; as for example, starting a career as a filmmaker at 50. Deeply aware of the fragility of democracy, he considers everything political and tries to express it in a poetic and universal way. He founded the production company Artmystis films in 2022 to tell “vertebrate” stories that sensitize all generations. A fan of teamwork, he attaches as much importance to the image as to the sound he particularly defends. His bet: to make political film like a flight and a show.
THE STORY OF FERNANDO
(UK) – 5 mins
SYNOPSIS
A young Spanish Embassy worker visits an old colleague who is dying to present him credentials.
Writer / Director: Natallia Bulynia
Producer: Andre Manuel Nobre Quinteiro Lopes
Cast: Natallia Bulynia
SCREENING
Wednesday 22 November – 13.30
Castle Cinema : 64 – 66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Natallia Bulynia is an actress and a writer originally from Belarus. At age 20 she moved to Seoul, South Korea, where she started her acting career. She is London based since 2018. She started writing in 2020.
Acting credits include BBC KILLING EVE Season3, MARVEL SECRET INVASION.
Natallia is a Multiple Sclerosis patient.
EVERYTHING CALLS
(Israel) – 30 mins
SYNOPSIS
Interpersonal connections may be trouble for some, so connect to a stream that provides you with solutions.
A troublesome man is looking for the one connection that will solve everything
Everyone calls?
Writer / Director: Nimrod K. Eilat
Producer: Merav Ktorza
Cast: Eldar Brantman
SCREENING
Friday 24 November – 20.40
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
INHERITANCE
(Russia) – Narrative 13 mins
SYNOPSIS
A father gathers his sons for a festive dinner, where he announces the distribution of inheritance. The younger son, who hasn’t lived with his parents for a long time, receives his father’s workshop, while the older son, who has always been by his side and helped develop the workshop, receives nothing.
Director : Aleksandr Letunov
Writer: Ekaterina Bobrovenko
Producer: Elena Tepukhina
With: Semyon Aleshin, Anatoly Krasnopivtcev, Elisey Bobrov
SCREENING
Friday 24 November – 20.40
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Aleksandr Letunov
2022 Graduate Moscow Film School (Directing fiction films, cource A.Popogrebsky, P. Bardin)
2016 Graduate Chelyabinsk State Institute of Culture and Arts (Directing Films and TV)
HOBO
(USA) – 3 mins
SYNOPSIS
As the commuting rabbit hurried past, it accidentally knocked over the sign of a homeless walrus by the street. The walrus wanted to confront the rabbit about the incident, but the rabbit seemed to be facing a bigger crisis of its own…
Writer / Director / Producer: Tianai Zhang
Cast: Joshua Howell
SCREENING
Saturday 25 November – 15.00
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Tianai Zhang is a Chinese artist based in New York and New Jersey, with a primary focus on background design, concept art for animation, and illustration. Tiani is passionate about bringing stories to life through her art and infusing each project with a touch of magic.
GETTING TO THE MOON
(UK) – 4 mins
SYNOPSIS
A whimsical animation that follows a young astronaught in 1969 as he tries to get to the moon by various means before meeting another astronaut with the same goal. Made entirely by one person with no budget in two weeks.
Writer / Director: Jacob Nicholson
SCREENING
Saturday 25 November – 15.00
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Jacob Nicholson is a Film Student studying at Arts University Bournemouth.
TOSHA-MOMONTOSHA
(Russia) – 19 mins
SYNOPSIS
Six-year-old boy Antosha lives in orphanage. He thought to himself that the volunteer girl would become his mother. Angels fulfill his dream: one day they go home together, like mother and son. Almost a magical story, one might say, a parable. “But was it really or this the story takes place somewhere in heaven.” And the names of the characters in the film are not accidental: nannies Vera and Nadezhda, mother Lyubov, Angelina and Nikolai.
Writer / Director / Producer: Oksana Stashenko
With: Marina Yakovleva, Maxim Kolosov, Oksana Stashenko
SCREENING
Saturday 25 November – 15.00
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Director and screenwriter – Oksana Stashenko,
Honored Artist of Russia (2009), People’s Artist of Ossetia
(2011), theater and film actress, winner of Russian and
foreign film festivals, TV presenter
I DO NOT EXIST
(UK) – 39 mins
SYNOPSIS
Circumstances have led to them requiring his services again, the man with the skills to remove any lingering doubts and give them the confidence to go through with it, but afterwards, will that be enough, have their actions been justified?
Writer / Director / Producer: Samuel J. May
With: Henry Davis, Paul Parker, Reece Alexander-Putinas
SCREENING
Thursday 23 November – 21.00
Piccadilly Vue : 19 Lower, Regent St., London SW1Y 4LR
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Originally aiming to become a painter, Samuel J. May grew interested in film in late adolescence, after graduating from university with a degree in Film Production he was unable to work in the industry for several years due to injury and changed focus to writing, being published at sites such as Indiewire, Little White Lies and Filmmaker Magazine. When able to return to work properly he looked to put together his own projects, both short and feature, though these became curtailed by logistical issues and then covid. Once the pandemic ended he was able to put ‘I Do Not Exist’ into production
GOOD TO TALK
(Ireland) – 10 mins
SYNOPSIS
A man who feels he is near the end stumbles upon a counselling office with the light still on he takes it as a sign and sets forth trying to get help.
Writer/Director/Producer: Stephen Broekhuizen
Producer: Emmet O’Brien
Cast: Baz Black, Erin Hendrika, Angela Newman
SCREENING
Wednesday 22 November – 13.30
Castle Cinema: 64-66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Stephen Broekhuizen studied film at USM before returning home to Ireland where he worked both in film and as a journalist. In 2016 with 3 friends he set up Deep Red Productions and to date have been involved in well over 100 projects primarily as a producer and director.in 2021 Broekhuizen completed his first two feature films and in 2022/23 Deep Red Productions plan on starting production on two new ones.Outside of film making Broekhuizen teaches film at college and is involved with his local soccer team both as a coach and as a member of the board.
RESCUE
(Lithuania) – 10 mins
SYNOPSIS
A young guy’s girlfriend dies during a sailing regatta. His grandfather comes to help him deal with this tragedy.
Writer/Director: Ivan Shalaev
Producer: Ksenya Uryvaeva
Cast: Vladimir Simonov, Evgeniy Kravtsov, Anastasia Panova
SCREENING
Thursday 23 November – 14.30
Castle Cinema: 64-66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Ivan Shalaev
JUNE & GINA
(UK) – 12 mins
SYNOPSIS
A short drama film that explores an unlikely friendship that forms between recently widowed June and her late husband’s former carer Gina. The friendship is born in a time of grief and loneliness as the pair navigate a new, uncertain world whilst living together. Their friendship slowly flourishes across the course of a year despite the pairs differences in age and culture, which can cause tension at times. However when Gina’s mother falls ill, she must return home to Romania to care for her, leaving June alone but optimistic for this new chapter in her life, a chapter she didn’t think would ever be possible.
Writer/Director: Sam Sterland
Writer: Alex Nicklin
Producer: Ruby Sinclair
Cast: Paddy Glynn, Monica Vieru
SCREENING
Thursday 23 November – 14.30
Castle Cinema: 64-66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
Sam Sterland is a a soon to be filmmaking graduate at UWE Bristol. He has a keen passion for telling intimate stories in eye-catching ways. Throughout university Sam has directed the experimental super short film ‘Before You Wander Off’ which explores how grief impacts memory and the comedy skit ‘The Pub Manifesto’ which explores British pub culture. Aside from directing Sam is an experienced cinematographer serving as Director Of Photography on several short films including ‘Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster’ and ‘Justify’.
MEMORIA
(Russia) – 12 mins
SYNOPSIS
Two gifted scientists create a time machine to help people heal trauma. While trying to test its technical abilities, they get stuck in the past, forced to face their darkest memories.
Writer / Director / Producer: Alina Bichieva
Cast: Malcolm Jeffries, Autumn Fenn
SCREENING
Wednesday 23 November – 13.30
Castle Cinema : 64 – 66 Brooksby’s Walk, London E9 6DA
MEET THE DIRECTOR
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