Title
Director
Country
Year
Runtime
Programme
Synopsis

10 min.
Jorge León
Belgium
2008
19 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
By reading a witness statement the film narrates how a young girl ends up in a prostitution ring.

4000 de trepte spre cer
4000 Steps to Heaven
Titus Mesaros
Romania
1963
10 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
First of a trilogy of documentaries about the construction of an hydroelectric powerplant in Arges, this is one of the first works of Mesaros production. The 4000 steps are, in fact, wooden boards that form an immense temporary ladder placed on the steep sides of the mountain and that workers climb everyday in an ironic rise of the working class to the communist heaven.

Acasa
Home
Paul Negoescu
Romania
2007
14 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
In searching for clients, a taxi driver meets a man returning from working in Spain. During the ride to the client’s home, we find out that the taxi driver is also interested in leaving his country and going to work abroad. But after he sees the cold reunion of his client’s family he has some second thoughts.

Aicha
Newton I. Aduaka
Nigeria, Sénégal, France
2004
13 mins
Signes de Nuit presents: Africa in Shorts 1
Set in a world where the natural and supernatural are one, a world in which the living and the dead at once exist and intermingle, a world between night and day, of mirrors. This world of coexisting opposites is the one in which Aicha and Moussa meet and share love for a moment.

Alexandra
Radu Jude
Romania
2007
24 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
Tavi, a man in his late thrities, takes his daughter Alexandra out for the weekend. After noticing his four years-old doesn't call him 'dad' anymore, the man accuses his former wife and her new partner of brainwashing his daughter against him. Winner of the First Prize for Short Fiction at Oberhausen IFF, Alexandra depicts a realistic situation with a fast, light and straight style of direction.

Amor
UK Premiere
Thomas Wangsmo
Norway
2009
14 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
Thomas has a very particular job, where, in exchange for money he provides a very professional service to people he completely despises and which fills him with self loathing. One night he prepares himself for another job, not aware of what will happen.

Apoi s-a nascut oraşul
Then a City was Born
Vaeni Constantin
Romania
1972
18 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
The film documents the disappearance of a village that must yield to a gigantic barrage.

Arena
João Salaviza
Portugal
2009
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
Mauro is under house arrest and tattooing helps him pass the time, while outside the midday sun beats down and three local kids taunt him through his window.
Palme d’Or Short Film, Festival de Cannes, 2009.

Au Centre de la Terre, des puits et des homes
At the Middle of Earth, Wells and Men
Ingrid Patetta
Niger
2008
23 mins
Signes de Nuit presents: Africa in Shorts 1
Filmed in the desert countryside of the country, the film reveals the expertise of the men who fight against the sand to reach water and the impact of desertification on the pastoral community. Sand, heat and the search for water: we have just entered the world of the traditional well-diggers of Niger.

Bâmiyân
Bamiyan
Patrick Pleutin
France
2008
14 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
In 632, the Chinese monk Xuanzang discovered the prodigious statues representing Buddha in the valley of Bamiyan -Afghanistan. In 2008, the children of the valley tell us the myths and legends about the tragic destiny of these statues that were destroyed by Taliban in 2001.

Believe
Paul Wright
UK
2009
20 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
Unable to accept his wife’s death and the reality of life with-out her, the behaviour of recently widowed Lewis becomes increasingly distressed and eccentric. Believe captures a desperate journey of undying love, played out against beautifully isolated highland landscapes.

Bes
Daniela Roos
Germany
2008
18 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
The young worker Bes and his mother are due to be deported to Kosovo the next day. Bes goes to a punk concert for the last time and, around dawn, makes a tough decision.

Between
Tim Bollinger
Germany
2008
5 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
Between is a narrative short film about the human psyche - its complex combinations and the resulting visions. Strolling in between different senses, caught in an endless loop of our inner life, the exit is the only entrance.

Boy
Joe Morris
UK
2008
15 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Boy takes a sensitive and poignant look at a middle aged man’s battle to cope with his unwanted sexual feelings towards a twelve year old boy.

Bucureşti - Wien Ora 8-15
Bucharest - Wien
Cătălin Mitulescu
Romania
2000
13 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
5 o'clock in the morning. Niki gathers everything valuable in his house. His wife and child are asleep. He intends to go to Germany as he has a passport to work illegally. He leaves with Cretu, his childhood friend as he believes it will be easier together. But their journey is far more difficult than they imagined.

Calatorie la oraş
A Trip to the City
Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania
2003
19 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
A beautiful morning, a little village’s need of the internet and the toilet that the mayor’s wife is crying for, bring together the computer empassioned teacher and the mayor’s driver for a little trip to the city. A trip starting from an obsolete way of life and pointing to a new world outlook.

Chasing the Dream
World Premiere
Pippa Lewis and Clare Atkin
UK, India
2009
6 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Screen dreams take Raj to film school…but he’s no student, and there’s the small problem of security. Made in partnership with the Whistling Woods International Film School, India.

Cikorja an' kafe
Chicory 'n' Coffee
Dusan Kastelic
Slovenia
2009
8 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
Throughout their whole life a wife has substituted her husband’s morning coffee with cheap chicory and he has never caught on to her innocent deception. For him the slush tasted better than the best coffee. A story about a small deceit between a married peasant couple who are unable to admit their mutual love - until it's too late…

Title
English Title
Premiere
Director
Country
Year
Runtime
Programme
Synopsis

Cotidiano
Day in Day out
UK Premiere
Joana Mariani
Brazil
2008
17 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
Some call life the period of time from the moment you wake up until the time you go to bed. This film is about a woman who has spent this period of time not living, but seeing life go by. She prepares food, does the laundry and washes the dishes. That’s all, no more.

Curtains
Julian Barratt & Dan Jemmett
UK
2009
15 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
After 50 years working the wooden dolls, things begin to fall apart for Barry Shepherd, drinking and cursing his way unrepentantly onwards, he continues with the show that threatens to take his soul.

Cutitul
The Knife
Titus Mesaros
Romania
1971
15 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
Starting from an actual event (the stabbing of a youth and the operation which saved him from death) the film is an investigation with deep ethical implications. The debate is focused on the rashness with which someone can commit an act of violence endangering the life of a fellow man. The film is a warning against violence as well as a plea for humaneness and reason.

Dancing on the Edge
World Premiere
Talal al-Muhanna
UK, China
2009
26 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
A group of Western dance artists particpate in the 5th annual Dadao Live Art Festival. The five week tour proves to be a true test of performance under pressure.

Dans Nos Veines
In Our Blood
Guillaume Senez
France, Belgium
2008
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
Lionel is a naive 17 year old who is soon to become a father. He isn’t yet to understand the responsibility and importance of this role, until he is beaten up for the umpteenth time by his father.

De crăciun ne-am luat raţia de libertate
On Christmas Day we Took our Ration of Freedom
Cornel Mihalache, Catalina Fernoaga
Romania
1990
18 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
This was written in the centre of Bucharest during the last days of 1989. Between the 23rd and the 26th December ‘89, thousands of viewers of the broadcasted Romanian revolution called the Sahia Film Studio. It is the first ‘hot’ poll about the events of December 1989. A journalist searches for his own truth among the thousands of metres of film and these phonecalls.

Dewjat zabytyh pesen
Nine Forgotten Songs
UK Premiere
Galina Krasnoborova
Russia
2008
19 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
A tiny Russian village in the Northern Urals is covered with snow and swept with winds and represents the starting point for a poetic reflection on tradition, memory, emptiness and oblivion. Old women dispassionately listen while names of relatives who have passed away are recited and sing the nine forgotten songs which is inter-spersed with the images of burnt huts that were once full of life.

Dukandar
The Shopkeeper
World Premiere
Amritpal Bindra
India, USA
2009
22 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
On the day of the big India Pakistan cricket match, a slumboy is forced to take care of his father's tea shop. As he abandons his post to watch the match, the shop gets looted and he learns that there is more to life than cricket and is forced to grow up sooner as he thought. With the Slumdog Millionaire star Mohammed Azharudin Ismail.

Dunia
Joanna Jasińska
Poland
2003
7 mins
Łódź Film School 2
Dunia tells the story about a very strange girl. She has a great imagination which, little by little, enters to her real world…

Echo
UK Premiere
Magnus von Horn
Poland
2009
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
Łódź Film School 2
After murdering a young girl, two boys relive the brutal crime they committed through crime reconstructions and by meeting the victim’s family. Confronted by their own guilt and the grief of the family, they gradually begin to realise the noxiousness of their act. Winner Best Short Fiction, Krakow Film Festival , 2009

Echoes
Rob Brown
UK
2008
12 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
Echoes follows the story of a sex trafficker called Anya which who is faced with a moral dilemma when she discovers that a young girl that she is taking from Lithuania to London is pregnant.

Edgar
UK Premiere
Fabian Busch
Germany
2009
12 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
Since his wife’s death two years ago, Edgar has been alone and without purpose. One day, he leaves his house, determined to find a job at a shop, but the store’s saleswoman does not seem to be interested in his arguments. On his way out and lost in thought, Edgar forget to replace an umbrella picked before. When the store detective detains him, everything changes for him.

Edward's Turmoil
Kim Albright
UK
2009
10 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
Grandpa; a foul mouthed old curmudgeon is stuck spending the day with his neurotic, god fearing grandson Edward. When grandpa accidentally says the F Word he discovers young Edward has a very unusual ‘allergy’ indeed and rather than leaving it be he decides it is his job to intervene in a very unhelpful fashion.

Enough
Tor Kristoffersen
UK
2008
2 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
A street gang terrorises the neighbourhood. One man has had enough.

Epizod
The Episode
Agata Gorządek
Poland
2007
6 mins
Łódź Film School 2
A film about a person experiencing schizophrenia, about his fascinations, treatment and, eventually, recurrence of the illness.

Examen
The Exam
Paul Negoescu
Romania
2006
12 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 1
A guy comes to his girlfriend’s apartment to get help writing a school paper. An everyday and apparently normal routine hides bigger and unsolved problems.

Fata galbenă care râde
The Yellow Smiley Face
Constantin Popescu
Romania
2008
15 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
The Yellow Smiley Face is a heart-warming comedy about two old and computer illiterate parents who try to get in touch with their son, who lives abroad, by means of Yahoo Messenger. After funny and hilarious technological incidents the parents finally succeed in talking to their son. Simple, direct and realistic, this is a story that could happen to any of us.

Fainje że Jestes
Nice to See You
Jan Komasa
Poland
2004
15 mins
Łódź Film School 2
Magda studies in Warsaw and seems apparently strong and independent. One day her father shows up at her dormitory for an unannounced visit that shows all her fragilities and her insecurity.

Fanatic
Yorkshire Premiere
Paul Robinson
UK
2009
23 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Don’t be confused, this short, partially filmed in Leeds and partially filmed in Barcelona is a delightful work by a local filmmaker worth watching. Daniel is a dwarf bicycle courier living and working in Barcelona. One hot sunny day, a chance meeting and an act of kindness help Daniel take stock.

Fard
UK Premiere
David Alapont, Luis Briceno
France
2009
13 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
In a near future the world seems to work in an efficient and controlled way. Oscar is working at a company and one day he discovers a fatal secret that nobody never should know. A struggle against an unreal and simulated society begins…

Farseh chob
The Wooden Carpet
UK Premiere
Abdolrahman Mirani
Iran
2008
19 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
A flood has destroyed a bridge in a Kermanshah village at the Iran-Iraq border, and the people of the village work hard to replace it.

Film, że Mucha Nie Siada
A Film with No Fly
Michał Poniedzielski
Poland
2004
2 mins
Łódź Film School 2
This short funny animation show a day in the life of an exhibitionist fly.

First Elections
Sarah Vanagt
Belgium, Congo
2006
15 mins
Signes de Nuit presents: Africa in Shorts 1
Large parts of Goma in the DRC were covered with lava after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in January 2002. Today kids live in the ruins on the lava. They sell paper hankies to grown-ups in the city, and lava rocks to construction builders. Their new city is complete with radios and TVs, white jeeps and blue helmets, commercials and hate campaigns, cemeteries and election fever.

Five Miles Out
Andrew Haigh
UK
2009
18 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Cass is sent away on a camping trip with her cousins, away from the problems back home. She is in no mood for a holiday however and just wants to be alone, but beneath the cliffs and among the rock-pools, she finds someone to talk to. A boy with a dangerous plan.

Fliegen
Fly
UK Premiere
Piotr J. Lewandowski
Germany, Poland
2009
26 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
Young criminal Dima is about to be deported from Germany when he meets Sarah, a student working on a documentary about young foreigners' lack of prospects and opportunities. Sarah offers him sanctuary in her garret, only for the duration of the filming, of course…
Winner of Best Short Film, Iasi International Film Festival, 2009.

French Roast
Fabrice O. Joubert
France
2008
8 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
In a fancy Parisian Café, an uptight businessman is about to pay his bill when he realises to his dismay that he's lost his wallet. While ordering more coffee to kill time and think about what to do the situation slowly seems to change. Without any dialogue the film displays pride and prejudice in a class divided society.

Ghosts
Jan Ijäs
Finland
2008
15 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
A film about a building that was originally built as an envelope factory (located 500 km below the Artic Circle) and is now a reception centre for asylum seekers - a warehouse for humans. - ‘I just exist, that's the only word I can use. I'm not dead, I just exist.

GirlLikeMe
Rowland Jobson
UK
2009
13 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
Lucy is young. Lucy is pretty. Lucy is damaged. Living with abusive, dysfunctional parents, her only comfort is strangers and her sidekick Becks: She wants to be a woman, older, independent, but how far will she go?

Goda råd
Good Advice
UK Premiere
Andreas Tibblin
Sweden
2009
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
It is the early 1980’s. Ten-year-old Rasmus is tired of his parents never listening to him and decides to run away from home. But before leaving he records a cassette tape with different advice on how to handle life for his unborn brother.

Hammerhead
Sam Donovan
UK
2009
14 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Oddball Boris tries to reunite his separated parents on a shark-spotting trip off the North Yorkshire coast. The only problem is his biggest enemy is along for the ride… his mother’s girlfriend, Lilah. Only once Boris accepts Lilah can he unite his family in his own unique way, through his obsessive love of sharks.

Hanasaari A
UK Premiere
Hannes Vartiainen
Finland
2008
15 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
Hanasaari A is an experimental documentary about the demise of the old coal power plant of Helsinki's Hanasaari island and the irreversible change in the cityscape of Helsinki. The film is based on half a million photographs from the last two years of the power plant's life.

Humanitaire!
Fatou Jupiter Touré
Senegal, Belgium
2006
8 mins
Signes de Nuit Presents: Africa in Shorts 2
In a refugee camp a medical team is working under harsh conditions facing the frozen frontiers between soldiers and partisans. Especially land mines on the road representing a particular risk... Roamba's work points out the absurd inhumanities in war times and the personal risk some persons are ready to take just to follow their human engagements.

Hunger
UK Premiere
Carolina Hellsgård
Germany
2009
17 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
The neglected siblings Roland and Paul watch the deportation of their immigrant neighbours. After the police leave, they decide to enter the abandoned apartment. Inside they discover another world; food, music, clothes and make-up. For a moment they have the chance to immerse themselves in a world of play - however when their father discovers them, they are quickly brought back to reality.

I am a Poet (trailer)
World Premiere
Daniel Lucchesi and Alex Ramseyer-Bache
UK
2009
10 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
A prelude to a feature documentary, this is the second EPIC award film made by recent NFS graduates. Following a group of young Leeds poets in a worldwide competition.

Inaintă si dupa 22/12/1989
Before and After 22/12/1989
UK Premiere
Andrei Cohn
Romania
2009
24 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 1
This is the story of two encounters between an architect and a member of the secret police before and after the fall of the Romanian communist regime.

Interior, scara de bloc
Interior, Block of Flats Hallway
UK Premiere
Ciprian Alexandrescu
Romania
2007
16 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 1
A story which could take place in anybody’s life. The death of a person starts a chain reaction which involves the neighbours. A satire of the world we live in based on a true story.
Winner of the Arte Prize, Hamburg ISFF 2008 and Special Mention, Uppsala IFF 2008.

Ioana, cum e la constructe
Ion, What is it Like on a Building Site?
Sabina Pop
Romania
1983
13 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
The film captures original aspects from young builders’ lives in a big town, the way they work, learn and enjoy themselves, to put it short, the way they live. They provide a vital individual and social necessity with their work: having a house, a home, the ability to build up your own road in life. Problems that preoccupy young couples acutely.

Jade
Daniel Elliott
UK
2009
16 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
Jade, caught in a dilemma of her own making, struggles to choose the right path. It becomes apparent to her, though, that she may have no choice at all.

Jestes Tam
You are There
Anna Kazejak
Poland
2004
12 mins
Łódź Film School 1
Marlena is 16 years old. She has a strong need to meet her father, whom she hasn’t seen for a long time. She believes he is able to solve all her problems and give her the feeling of being loved.

Kids Might Fly
Alex Taylor
UK
2009
7 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
An off-beat portrait of kids living in East London – an Essex boy sings a love song, a young girl with her singing dog, two strange boys living in a caravan on a farm in Stepney Green. These portraits hang on the central story of Danielle, a young girl who attempts suicide but finds solace in the story of 'The Pig of Happiness'.

Kinshasa 2.0
Teboho Edkins
South Africa, Germany
2007
11 mins
Signes de Nuit presents: Africa in Shorts 1
The relationship between the internet, the virtual spaces of Second Life and democracy are explored in this short film inspired by the arrest of Marie-Thérèse Nlandu, a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Congo and leader of the Party for Peace in Congo. An investigation into the effects of the arrest on the family, with Carine, the niece of Marie-Thérèse.

Klusums
Silence
UK Premiere
Laila Pakalniņa
Latvia
2009
14 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
Marija’s visits a museum, the space is filled with silent paintings, sculptures and provocatively loud visitors. The film resembles Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and the contrasting sound and silence take on different, ironic meanings.

La femme squelette
The Skeleton Woman
World Premiere
Sarah Van Den Boom
France
2009
9 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
Tired and bored by her graceless daily life, a young housewife mourns her lost American lover and dreams of a better life, elsewhere. Inside her, the skeleton woman, hidden into the dark, is waiting to be saved. The film is like a modern initiatory tale, a story about a drift of the inner being and the salvation by a fisherman, who is not who you expected.

La Maison en Petits Cubes
The House of Small Cubes
UK Premiere
Kunio Kato
Japan
2008
12 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
A house built up on memories. The Oscar Winner 2009 tells a story about the family memories of a old widower who lives in a house which is slowly being submerged in sea water. As the water level rises, the man builds another one on top of it. After a while when he dives into the water he recalls different stages of his life.

Laitue
Nicholas Brooks
UK
2008
9 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
This is a hand-drawn film that describes a short journey from loss to reunification. Two characters are separated by time and space but nevertheless coincide, lap over and penetrate each other all the time in a series of movements which form a unique choreography of anticipation and unrest.

Lamb
Andrew Mcvicar
UK
2008
10 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
A farm in spring. A teenage boy, visiting there, is excluded from the sexuality his friends are exploring. Alone in the unfamiliar house he’s frustrated, until a chance encounter that draws him out into the wilds.

Lampa cu căciulă
The Tube with a Hat
Radu Jude
Romania
2007
23 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 1
Marian, a 7 years old boy from a small and isolated Romanian village, wakes up his father and persuade him to go to the city, in order to fix their old TV set. A short road-movie about father-and-son relationship and about the importance of small things in life.
Best Short Film in Hamburg ISFF, Kraków FF and Uppsala IFF 2007.

L'arbitro
The Referee
Paolo Zucca
Italy
2008
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
In the hellish mayhem of a lowest division football match, the destinies of two thieves cross paths.
Winner Special Jury Prize, Clermont Ferrand International Short Film, 2009.

Lars og Peter
Lars and Peter
UK Premiere
Daniel Borgman
Denmark, New Zealand
2009
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
Lars' mother has passed away and life has been empty and dysfunctional with out her. All he wants is for his father to be happy and his family to be together. On the eve of his birthday, Lars accidentally witnesses his widowed father Peter in a desperate act and struggles to understand what he has seen.

Laska
Chick
Michał Socha
Poland
2008
5 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
A humorous story about male-female relations modelled on true-life, as declared by its director. Infatuation and its consequences are depicted in a ironic way: In a red room a man falls for a femme fatale. They talk, sip drinks, dance and make love. But what will be the final outcome…

Le Coeur de Amos Klein
The Heart of Amos Klein
Michal and Uri Kranot
Israel, The Netherlands, France, Denmark
2008
15 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
During a heart transplant operation, as a struggle between life and death, Amos Klein returns into his past as it unfolds from the end to the beginning. As a child Amos is forced to conform to the dictations of a militaristic environment, as he ages he becomes a person corrupted by power losing all compassion. The key moments of his life correspond with significant landmarks in Israeli history.

Le Cri de la Mer
The Cry of the Sea
Aïcha Thiam
Senegal, Belgium
2008
26 mins
Signes de Nuit presents: Africa in Shorts 1
Le Cri de la Mer is the struggle of a mother Yaye Bayam Diouf, who lost her only son in a boat bound for the Canary Islands. Today her neighbourhood of Thiaroye-sur-mer and her life is devoted to the fight against illegal immigration. The Cry of the Sea is also a cry from the heart, a singular light on a scourge that carried away more than 3000 young Senegalese.

Le Nœud Cravate
The Necktie
UK Premiere
Jean-François Lévesque
Canada
2008
12 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
Valentin, a human, likeable character, works every day in a dead-end job as his birthdays go by and boredom replaces hope. His compelling quest for the meaning of life regains happiness. This story enabled us a critical look at the immutable powers-that-be, the dehumanizing nature of futile work, and hope reborn after all.

Le Petit Dragon
The Little Dragon
Bruno Collet
France, Sweden
2009
8 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
35 years after Bruce Lee’s disappearance, his soul reincarnates in the body of a little doll of himself. With self-confidence, the rubber toy sets out to discover the world surrounding him, battling with adversary along the way.

Legende de John l'Inverse
The Legend of John the Inverted
UK Premiere
Philippe Lamensch
Belgium
2008
18 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
John is born with his feet back to front. His parents, small-town storekeepers for whom normality is a cardinal virtue are very upset and they entrust him to the best orthopaedist of the capital where twenty years of ferocious operations will follow: “But, at the end of the day, your son will be a normal man, just like you and me!”

L'estraneo
The Outsider
UK Premiere
Fabian Ribezzo
Italy
2008
22 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
A man helps an old woman to carry her shopping bags home, and comes back to her house to help clean up the kitchen. He doesn’t know why he's doing all of this, but soon finds out...

Letünt világ
Lost World
UK Premiere
Nemes Gyula
Hungary, Finland
2008
20 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
Shot over ten years in a forgotten landscape in the centre of Budapest, this is a film about the demolition and reconstruction of the Kopaszi Dam and it’s people who are living in houseboats and wooden houses, struggling against flooding, snow and investors who want to evict them.
Winner of Best Short Documentary Award, Karlovy Vary, 2008.

Luksus
Luxury
Jarosław Sztandera
Poland
2009
38 mins
Łódź Film School 2
When he is deserted by his pimp for being too old, Luksus, a 17-year-old child prostitute, must deal with his new situation. On his travels he meets Maly, a homeless 10 year-old kid, that could be his way to get back into the game. But looking at Maly and at the different life he could have chosen at his age, Luksus is confronted by a difficult life choice.

Lungul drum spre casa
The Long Way Home
UK Premiere
Anamaria Chioveanu
Romania
2009
20 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
It is late night in one of the outlying neighborhoods of Bucharest. Diana is waiting for the last bus, which never arrives. She doesn’t have enough money for a taxi, so she is forced to walk alone. But the journey home proves to be more than her usual walk.

Ma Bar
Adrian McDowall and Finlay Pretsell
UK
2008
11 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
Bench pressing isn't a hobby for 73-year-old Bill McFadyen; it's a way of life, and he is on a quest to be the best in the world.

Mână lui Paulista
Paulista´s Hand
Cristian Mungiu
Romania
1998
14 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
What happens when Latin-American soap operas become a way of life? This is a good question that leads Cristian Mungiu to explore the reality and fiction of a soap opera, and also to mix some words in everyday language.

Marea Aventura
The Big Adventure
Valentin Hotea
Romania
1984
7 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
Two youngsters in the night are looking desperately for a place to make love. In the end they just do it. But what it will be the consequences for their relationship?

Marilena de la P7
Marilena from P7
Cristian Nemescu
Romania
2006
45 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Mid Length Films
Andrei, a 13 year old teenager, living on the outskirts of Bucharest decides to steal a trolleybus in order to impress Marilena, a prostitute he has fallen in love with. The things you do for love…

Megatron
Marian Crisan
Romania
2008
14 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
For Maxim´s birthday, his mother has promised to take him to McDonald´s where he could get his beloved robot Megatron. All he really wants is the last chance to see his family celebrating together again.
Palme d’Or - Short Film, Festival de Cannes, 2008.

Melodramat
Melodrama
Filip Marczewski
Poland
2005
18 mins
Łódź Film School 1
A tale of a fourteen-year-old boy who is emotionally and sexually maturing. It is a story of an erotic fascination with an older sister, a friendship with a girl in the courtyard, and a complicated relation-ship with the man his sister is engaged to marry. All are in search of warmth, tenderness, and above all, love.

Męska Sprawa
A Man Thing
Sławomir Fabicki
Poland
2001
25 mins
Łódź Film School 1
Set in the depressing reality of contemporary Poland, the film tells the harsh story of three days in the life of a thirteen year old boy trying desperately to keep the fact that his father beats him a secret. Lonely and with no support from his mother or from school, tyrannised by his sport teacher, the boy finds his only friend in an old stray dog from the kennels.

Miasto Ucieczki
The Refuge City
Wojciech Kasperski
Poland
2006
16 mins
Łódź Film School 1
A film based on a real events of 8 May 2004. The fans of a soccer team stir up riots in a student town, police fire live ammunition into the crowd. The film shows the untold story of these events through the main characters, who are fervent fans that must decide what is more important to them – fighting or friendship.

Mihai şi Cristina
Mihai and Christina
Cristian Nemescu
Romania
2001
14 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
Mihai loves Cristina, they're classmates. Mihai imagines their first day as innocent and pure but he is brought back down to earth as reality differs a lot from his expectations and leads him to do things he never thought he would be able to. Practice rather than theory builds experience.

Missen
Missing
Jochem de Vries
The Netherlands
2009
12 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
A seven-year-old girl is taken to school by her mother. Today is an exciting day for her; she is going on a school trip with her class. Bringing the girl to school isn’t very easy for her mother and quickly becomes an insurmountable obstacle.

Muto
Blu
Italy
2008
7 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
An ambiguous experimental animated film painted on public walls in Baden and Buenos Aires. With surrealistic, abstract and futuristic elements the drawings are moving along the wall in a disturbing as well as fascinating way.

My Love Anna
World Premiere
Daniel Lam
UK
2009
12 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Jacek tries to win Anna’s heart but his struggles with the language barrier backfire badly. When he does succeed in patching things up, does he really want what he gets?

Next Floor
Denis Villeneuve
Canada
2009
12 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
During an opulent and luxurious banquet, eleven pampered guests participate in what appears to be ritualistic gastronomic carnage. In this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events undermines the endless symphony of abundance.
Canal + Award Best Short Film, Festival de Cannes, 2009.

No More Room in Hell
World Premiere
Dan Murphy
UK
2009
10 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Typical urban annoyances in Leeds for a group of friends as they need to catch the last train out of town. As long as the zombies don’t get them first.

No Way Through
Alexandra Monro & Sheila Menon
UK
2009
7 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
Imagine if London was controlled by the military and you had to go through specific checkpoints to go to school, go to work, visit your friends or go to the hospital. No Way Through brings the shocking reality of Palestinian life in the West Bank uncomfortably close to home.

Nunta Lui Oli
Oli's Wedding
UK Premiere
Tudor Cristian Jurgiu
Romania
2009
20 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
Alone in his flat in Bucharest, Dorel prepares a party for his son’s wedding which he is going to watch through a webcam because it is taking place in the USA. Together with two of his son’s friends he meets the bride and her father, and witnesses the ceremony. A bitter-sweet story about scattered families and lonely parents.

O zi buna de plaja
A Good Day on the Beach
Bogdan Mustaţă
Romania
2007
9 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
Three teenage criminals escape from a juvenile detention facility and before leaving the country they kidnap a prostitute and a truck driver and take them to the beach.
Winner of the Golden Bear for Shorts in Berlinale 2008

Pal/Secam
Dmitry Povolotsky
Russia
2008
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 1
At the dawn of Perestroika, little Boris ravaged by hormones, seduces the neighbourhood with his mothers VCR.
Winner of Best Short Film, BAFTA/LA, 2008.

Panc
Sabina Pop
Romania
1989
22 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
Documentary about a group of layman actors that manage to share their common passion for theatre in spite of the hard work in the fields. Shot in the mid-80s Panc shows the hopes and resignation of a forgotten population in rural Romania with a need to express themselves in a creative act. Prohibited by censorship the film was thought destroyed but was miraculously found and released in the 1990s.

Photograph of Jesus
Laurie Hill
UK
2009
7 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
Getty Image’s Hulton Archive receives thousands of image requests every year. Many are perfectly reasonable but Hill’s brilliant short animation bring to life some of the more unusual requests the archivists receive, including one request for a photograph of Jesus.

Porno
Porn
Jan Wagner
Poland
2006
11 mins
Łódź Film School 1
Sharp dialogues and excellent performances in a story about a teenage boy who is intimidated and at the same time intrigued by the advanced sexual teasing of a new girl on the block.

Poste restante
UK Premiere
Marcel Łoziński
Poland
2008
14 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
A documentary about what happens to the millions of letters in Poland that are addressed to people who do not exist like the one from a child written to God, they all end up in the Department of Unsent Mail.

Poveste la scara C
C Block Story
Cristian Nemescu
Romania
2002
15 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 2
Madly in love with his neighbour Monica, Andrei, a shy teenager, calls an erotic phone line to find out how he could seduce a girl in an elevator, an idea which is also going to spice up his parents' marriage. Elevator love stories in the outskirts of Bucharest…

Ra, The Réparatrice
Mamadou Cissé
Mali
2007
25 mins
Signes de Nuit Presents: Africa in Shorts 2
In Ra, la Réparatrice, the main character is a 25 year old woman awaiting her wedding day in Bamako, repairing generators and training young men.

Red
World Premiere
Ivan Szabo
UK, Hungary
2009
12 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Rebe and Tera haven’t laid past relationships to rest, giving rise to shocking consequences from which there is no going back…
Made in partnership with the Hungarian Film School.

Red Sands
David Procter
UK, Spain
2008
24 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 6
Bullfighting endures the stigma of animal cruelty, but still keeps the grace and elegance of tradition. This paradox evokes an inner conflict rarely addressed. An objective and Eisenstein-esque documentary about the San Fermin Festival in Spain, raising questions about age old tradition and its future.

Renovare
Renovation
UK Premiere
Paul Negoescu
Romania, Germany
2009
24 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
A family with different priorities: besides her daily work, mother Doina tries to manage the renovation of the family’s apartment. Her son Alex can hardly find any time for both the renovation and his girlfriend as the deadline for his Master’s thesis comes close. His grandmother Flori insists to help the family, although her support is not always welcome.

Rumbo a peor
Worstward Ho
UK Premiere
Alex Brendemühl
Spain
2009
12 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
Two men dressed as football players wander through nature. As they go astray, they meet a woman on the road and overwhelmed by her beauty, they pester her to join them. They row downriver without course or destiny which might be the beginning of something or nothing, maybe.

Secret Machine
Reynold Reynolds
Germany
2009
11 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
The body of a woman is being studied. Her movements are recorded on a grid, her eyes are observed augmented through lenses, her breath is submitted to a resistance rate under water, needles are used to quantify her pain reactions and storage machines capture voice and motion. The scientific measurement is understanding.

Semeyna terapia
Family Therapy
UK Premiere
Petar Valtchanov
Bulgaria
2008
13 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
Mr. and Mrs. Radoslavovi are squabbling in their car. They arrive home to discover two doped and aggressive adolescent thieves who teach them a cruel life lesson. Based on a true story.

Slavar
Slaves
Hanna Heilborn, David Aronowitsch
Sweden
2008
16 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
Like thousands of other children, nine-year-old Abouk and fifteen-year-old Machiek were taken by government sponsored militia in Sudan and used as slaves. The appalling predicament of these children is based on an interview made in 2003.
Annecy Cristal for Best Short Animation and Unicef Award, Annecy International Animation Film Festival, 2009.

Slitage
Seeds of the Fall
Patrik Eklund
Sweden
2009
17 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
Middle-aged couple Rolf and Eva live in a passionless relationship. They wear and tear at each other and Eva feels sexually frustrated. One night she tries to seduce Rolf. He dismisses her but then something happens that will change their relationship forever.

Smáfuglar
Two Birds
Rúnar Rúnarsson
Iceland
2008
15 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
A journey from innocence to the stark reality of adulthood. During a bright summer night a group of young teenagers are hanging around in their small town’s pier. After a while the four teens decide to join a grown up party filled with seedy characters, alcohol and drugs. For two of them the party seems to end in a terrible nightmare…

Spãrni un Airi
Wings and Oars
Vladimir Leschiov
Latvia
2009
6 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
A former pilot reminisces about varied stages of his life – memories about the earth, the sky, the women. The journey took place from an airfield to an abandoned nautical station.

Stuf
Reed
Titus Mesaros
Romania
1966
10 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Sahia Film Studio
With the solemn soundtrack of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’, Reed is an impressive symphony of images. The pictorial character and the poetry of the images pass beyond the simple illustration of the activity itself, everything seems out of this world. A poetic intro-spection into the fascinating world of the Danube and its customs, where images and music fuse together in a marvellous dialogue.

Sunday Morning
World Premiere
Tommi Murshed-Parish
UK
2009
7 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Brendan is caught in a vicious trap of furtive activities leading to manic guilt. Determined to break the cycle, he hopes that salvation lies waiting in a prostitute’s grimy bedroom…

Surtout souriez!
Above All Smile
Adama Roamba
Bukina Faso
2007
16 mins
Signes de Nuit Presents: Africa in Shorts 2
‘It is by chance that I met Maymunah when I was lost in a bus station. Her spontaneity and freedom made me curious. Gradually we grew a real friendship. I wanted to film her in her effervescence, most near to her daily reality, to try to understand, what makes her so particular and touching for me.’

Surviving History
Jesse Quinones & Daniel Quinones
UK, Lithuania
2009
28 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
Lithuania, once described as the Jerusalem of the North, witnessed the highest percentage of Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Of the 240,000 Jews in the region only five percent managed to walk away with their lives. This moving short documentary tells the story of seven of those survivors.

Telefon în strainatate
The International Call
Hano Hoffer
Romania
1997
8 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
An old man is trying to make an international phone call from a card phone. He wants to call up his son who is a student in the USA and lives together with three other students from different countries. Unfortunately there is nobody at home but the answering machine.

Terminal
UK Premiere
Jörg Wagner
Germany
2009
9 mins
Experimental Shorts International Competition
A journey into the workflow of container terminals where images, editing and music condense the rhythms of a working day to form a fascinating and poetic vision of heavy machinery.

The Archive
UK Premiere
Sean Dunne
USA
2008
8 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 2
True dedication is evident in the form of Paul Mawhinney who has given his entire life to amassing what has become the world’s largest record collection. Mawhinney has over a million albums in his possession, including the world’s 1st flat record made in 1881. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry, Paul is being forced to sell his most prized collection.

The Cat Piano
Eddie White, Ari Gibson
Australia
2009
9 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
A vibrant city of singing cats is preyed upon by a shadowy figure intent on performing a twisted musical masterpiece.

The Dogs
Ronald J. Wright
UK
2009
7 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Based on a short story by Hanif Kureishi (with the author’s blessing). A young battered wife and her small son find themselves stranded on a threatening housing estate, desperately seeking a main road and safety. They just need to cross a dark, open field…

The Inventor of Happiness and his Lost Love (trailer)
World Premiere
Barry Sells
UK
2009
5 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
There once was a man, an inventor of a man, an unhappy man. His machine to manufacture happiness would not work. Whatever he did, sadness was the only result…

The Retirement Job
World Premiere
Dennis Olsson
UK
2009
10 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
George’s escape from his retirement home is thwarted by other residents with much more entertaining ideas in mind. Even with newfound friends, can he call this institution a home?

The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space
Peter Thwaites
UK, Hungary
2008
11 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
A 1940’s space adventure story in which two children, ‘Starman’ and ‘The Princess’, struggle to escape their doom. As the truth of their situation becomes clear we realise the terrible nature of their predicament as this stunning short boldly reminds us of the power of a child’s imaginative.

The Trolley Man
Demetrio Francisco Marquez
UK
2009
14 mins
British Short Film Competition 1
This funny and charming short documentary follows pensioner Ernest Smith, known throughout the London suburb of Enfield as the Trolley Man. For the last five years Ernest has campaigned for the removal of abandoned supermarket trollies in his local area, a plight not everyone takes quite as seriously as he does.

The Wake
Loren Slater & Kerry Kolbe
UK
2009
11 mins
British Short Film Competition 2
In this moving short where the silences speak volumes volatile Darren forces his way onto Neil’s fishing boat where the two men must face up to a dark secret from their past.

Think I’m Gonna Crash
World Premiere
Jamie Moore
UK
2009
3 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Stylish and stark, this promo plays on our fears of youth culture, fashion and inner city alienation. Prepare to be hypnotised by a dazzling array of the visual and aural.

Tout à Refaire
Sadio Doucourè
France, Mali
2007
32 mins
Signes de Nuit Presents: Africa in Shorts 2
Mamad has just celebrated his 18th birthday. Born in Mali, he has lived in France for fifteen years with his parents, brothers and sisters. Following a regular police check, Mamad is made to return to Bamako where he hardly understands the language and knows nothing about his country.

Trickster
UK Premiere
Alexander Pohl
Germany
2008
15 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 2
Projected onto the screen of a vaudeville-like cinema and watched by an uncaring audience in a voyeuristic manner, an involuntary circus-clown dreams of his beautiful counterpart, the whiteface clown and finally finds his cruel identity, the immortal archetype of the Trickster. A metaphor for the selfishness of our society.

Tristis
Bronisława Nowicka
Poland
2001
11 mins
Łódź Film School 2
Piotr leaves the house where his wife is dying. An impression of sadness caused by the passing of a close person. In visually stunning black and white, Tristis show the difficult and different ways people react to the loss of someone they love.

Two Children
World Premiere
James Melrose
UK
2009
4 mins
Northern Film School Showcase 2009
Two young boys live in worlds apart, yet are somehow connected... This project was from a slate of films made in partnership with The Royal Armouries, Leeds.

Un cartuş de Kent şi un pachet de cafea
Cigarettes and Coffee
Cristi Puiu
Romania
2003
11 mins
Romanian Retrospective: The First Generation of New Romanian Cinema
The bus drops Mr Tomescu in downtown Bucharest, in front of Graceland restaurant. He enters and sits down at the table where Vlad is already waiting. Mr Tomescu is in his early 60s and Vlad has invited him to lunch to listen to his problems. Recently dismissed, two years before he was due to retire, Mr Tomescu asks for Vlad’s help to find him new employment…

Urs
Moritz Mayerhofer
Germany
2009
10 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
This animation short produced by German Film Academy tells the fragile relationship of a man to his mother in the middle of gigantic mountains. Many years Urs was living in loneliness with his ageing mother. Now he sets out for a dangerous journey: He carries her up a mountain to find a better place for both of them. But his mother doesn’t want to leave her home.

Valuri
Waves
Adrian Sitaru
Romania
2007
17 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Enfants Terribles 1
On the beach at the seaside two people experience extreme situations. A beautiful western mother asks a gypsy boy to look after her 4 year old boy; a husband and a father fight boredom by fliring with the same beautiful foreigner while teaching her how to swim. But everything changes when the beautiful mother disappears in the waves…

Varmints
Marc Craste
UK
2008
24 mins
Animation Shorts, International Competition 1
In the face of overwhelming urbanization, insensibility and reckless-ness, a small creature struggles to keep a remnant of the beauty he once knew. His selfless acts of love plant the seeds of change that will prove the salvation of his world. But at what cost to himself…
Nomination for Best Animated Short, BAFTA, 2009.

Venciu
Vanquished
UK Premiere
Santos Hevia
Belgium, Spain
2008
20 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
At the end of the dictatorship in Spain, a teenager returns from his home in Belgium to his hometown in Spain. Looking for the tomb of his father in a beautiful extensive hilly landscape, he only finds a wall of silence and forgetting that surrounds him.

Vigilante
Darren Bolton
UK
2009
12 mins
Yorkshire Short Film Competition + Short Film City Awards
Vigilante is a dark and satirical mockumentary that follows one member of a village group as he sets out to eradicate crime and anti social behaviour. This compelling short interrogates our understanding of crime and punishment, asking to what lengths should we, and would we, go to make our community a better place.

Visul lui Liviu
Liviu's Dream
Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania
2003
40 mins
Romanian Retrospective: Mid Length Films
A strange dream forgotten in the morning and an unaccountable feeling of frustration and anxiety about his never born brother are making Liviu view the world he lives in with resignation. Will his awakening open the door for a brighter future?

Vivre encore un peu…
To Live a Little More…
UK Premiere
David Lambert
Belgium
2009
16 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 4
In the early hours of every single night, while his lover Pierre is asleep upstairs, Nico works with his father in the bread shop. All of a sudden he collapses and dies. His father doesn’t know how to deal with the loss of his beloved son and tries to go on working as usual together with his son’s lover without mentioning anything to him.

Wagah
Supriyo Sen
Germany
2009
13 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
Every day the town Wagah, with the only border-crossing between the two opposing states of India and Pakistan becomes the scene of a bizarre event. Amongst military representations from both sides, thousands of people gather to witness the opening of the border for one moment and to greet their former neighbours.

Wanamutsého!
Auguste Bernard Kouemo Yanghu
France, Belgium, Cameroon
2008
21 mins
Signes de Nuit Presents: Africa in Shorts 2
Kabera and Uwamungu are Rwandan students living together on the outskirts of Toulouse. When chaos breaks out in their country, Kabera discovers that his family has helped massacre his friends.

Ważki
Dragonflies
Justyna Nowak
Poland
2006
14 mins
Łódź Film School 1
Everyone plays the fool sometimes. Especially when they are in love. But when you fall for the wrong person, it's time to be sensible and put some distance between yourself and your feelings. Tola finds herself hopelessly trapped under Kuba's spell, and she must confront her emotions to set herself free. But it will take more than good advice to help her fall out of love …

When Fish Fly
UK Premiere
Vilka Tzoura
Greece
2008
34 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 3
Despite the differences between them, a tender relationship develops between Mrs. Fotini, an elderly political refugee from Istanbul and Anya, a 30 year-old immigrant from Russia who is her home care provider. Through love and mutual understanding they will find the courage to follow their own paths. For one it is the road that leads to death and for the other it is the start of a new life.

Wunderkammer
Andrea Pallaoro
USA, Italy
2008
13 mins
Louis Le Prince International Short Film Competition 5
An elderly woman and her disabled son struggle to coexist in a house that shelters a countless menagerie of birds. Surrendering to their co-dependence, inside a world that bears no exit, they go about their bedtime ritual, resisting and succumbing to each other’s needs. Within the banality of their gestures and movements lurks a secret, and the anticipation of what might come is the question.