Events

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EMERGING - Nottingham Film Festival

EMERGING - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

EMERGING - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

The beauty of a local film festival is the ability to shine a spotlight on the vibrant voices of tomorrow. This collection of shorts celebrates the passion, innovation, and fresh perspectives of gifted storytellers in the early stages of their career. Each film showcases a unique vision, many from right here in Nottingham, while providing an opportunity for emerging filmmakers to discuss their work with audiences.
Join us as we embrace the creative spirit of the next generation.


Chrysalis (Dir: Molly-Ann Marsh) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 4:27min
A young woman named Viv tries to tackle her final project for university with her friends whilst suffering from ADHD, represented by butterflies that get in her way and change depending on her mood.

Coconut (Dir: Roshan Balu) - United Kingdom - 10:26min
Following the recent death of his grandfather, Arun, a young British Asian boy escapes his now un-recognisable home and ventures out to meet his best friend, in which he experiences strange visions causing him to confront his dual nationality.

Finger Guns (Dir: Blythe Paynter) - Norwich, United Kingdom - 8:58min
Set in the backdrop of a Friday night at the Cockpit, a punk gay bar, Addison is forced to be honest about not being experienced with women, something that she has never told anyone. Her best friend Ella watches on as Addy is finally forced to come clean about her lies and insecurities.

The Brutalist (Dir: Joe Burden) - Kettering, United Kingdom - 5:45min
Modernism meets the modern world as Marcus, an architectural photographer - who some might call a snob - explores the Brutalist landmarks of Leicester.

The Feast (Dir: Olivia "Autumn" Rennie) - Toronto, Canada - 10:32min
It’s just another [excruciating] meal for Vienna - until an offer to conquer her greatest fear in ‘three simple steps’ arrives. Desperate for freedom from her fear of eating, Vienna takes the offer up - only to realize she bit off far more than she can chew...

A little domestic bliss in blue (Dir: Josie Ellen Layton) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 0:58min
"I believe we are simple and aesthetic beings. This glimpse was captured in a day, from dawn to dusk, sharing the small things that give me joy. Living with my friends and enjoying each others company."

To A Flame (Dir: Jamie Whitty) - Derby, United Kingdom - 12:43min
Alex, a first time Director grapples with the toxicity and imbalance in his relationship with his boyfriend, Daniel. While directing a body horror film, Alex has the lines between his art and reality blur. 

Alleged (Dir: Joe Foster) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 14:30min
A hardened online conspiracy theorist confronts a vulnerable woman in her workplace, convinced that she is a "crisis actor".

AMAZING GRACE (Dir: Aiden Keltner) - San Diego, United States - 14:58min
Based on the true stories of many families, Amazing Grace tells the story of a single mother caring for her adult son with schizophrenia.


https://nottinghamfilmfestival.com/
QUEER - Nottingham Film Festival

QUEER - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

QUEER - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

From quiet personal acts to organised resistance, queer folks are pushing back and making space within the multitude of spaces they inhabit. For this programme, we have put together the best short films centering queer experience: join us for an evening with everything from comedy to documentaries to gut-wrenching drama!


Gilipollas (Dir: Joan Bentallé) - Spain - 7:20min
Lolo and Dick meet again after a long time in a friendly bar and they catch up. To the surprise of both, feelings that they thought were forgotten arise again.

Fabulous Femininities (Dir: Jonothon Lees) - United Kingdom - 20min
Fabulous Femininities is a feature documentary that explores the lives and journeys of six unique burlesque performers across the UK.

Clause (Dir: Scott Hurran) - London, United Kingdom - 6:28min
CLAUSE is a set in a school that is being attacked for its equality policies. There is going to be a board meeting to decide what happens, but what do you do when the headteacher of the school is a gay man?

TICKER (Dir: Thom Petty) - Irthlingborough, United Kingdom - 9:10min
Howard drives his partner Joseph to hospital to undergo a high-risk operation, and the intimacy of the car, alongside a long forgotten mix tape, sees the masculinity of their forty year relationship start to yield.

I FORGIVE YOU (Dir: Thom Seddon, Sarah Woolf) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 13:41min
'I FORGIVE YOU' follows a newly released prisoner as he navigates his first day of freedom; a journey which finds him on the doorstep of someone from his past.

The Yellow Sponge is the Dish Sponge (Dir: Michele Noble) - United States - 16:39min
Do we really need to wash sheets every week? Why would you ever have to clean a shower head? What is the difference between the blue sponge and the yellow sponge? These are the questions that haunt Jason.


https://nottinghamfilmfestival.com/
COMMUNITY - Nottingham Film Festival

COMMUNITY - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

COMMUNITY - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

This package of films invites you on a journey through shared experiences, diverse voices, the connections that bind us together and the forces that push us apart. From heartwarming tales of neighbourly kindness to thought-provoking narratives that challenge our perceptions of belonging, each film reflects the essence of what it means to be part of something larger than ourselves. Enjoy this entirely British perspective on the communities, both small and large, which prove we are never truly alone. 


Induction
(Dir: Derek Anderson) - United Kingdom - 8:56min
Johnny reluctantly makes his way to a mental health hub, a place for men to talk openly to each other.

Fifth of The Sixth (Dir: John Bradburn) - United Kingdom - 2:44min
Kian walks across his town. He talks to someone in his head. They seem to have left a while ago. A film about the difficulty men find in talking about their emotions.

Tippy Toes (Dir: Louis Paxton) - United Kingdom - 14:04min
Sam is a nice guy. Maybe too nice.
  
Office Royale (Dir: Sam Baron) - United Kingdom - 13:17min
How far would you go to climb the corporate ladder?

Speaker (Dir: Alan Hamwan) - Liverpool, United Kingdom - 6:57min
A disabled grocer goes to work as usual. On the way, he sees several men taking a girl to kill her. The grocer tries to save her life.

PATIENCE (Dir: Louis Chan) - Worcester, United Kingdom - 13:30min
Over the course of a week, experienced NHS district nurse Flora mentors final year student Kev. As they visit patient after patient, neither of them is sure Kev will see it through as the work is challenging and the career is tough.
 
An Ordinary Day in Mansfield (Dir: Sophie Johnson-Hill) - Mansfield, United Kingdom - 6:29min
An animated film co-created by children and young people on the autistic spectrum about their home town.
 
The Shelves (Dir: Espen Johnson) - United Kingdom - 4:32min
Have you ever bought haunted shelves from Facebook marketplace and tried to get your money back? Yeah? Right, well then you'll know it's not for the feint of heart.


GREEN FUTURE - Nottingham Film Festival

GREEN FUTURE - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

GREEN FUTURE - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Today

Young and old, from all corners of the world, we see and feel the direct consequences of climate change. While some shy away from an issue that seems too big to be dealt with, others face it, collaborate and take action.Join us for a screening of films that look at our world as it manifests today and ask: how do we build a green future?


Feeling the Apocalypse (Dir: Chen Sing Yap) - Canada - 7min
A psychotherapist struggling with climate anxiety explores what it means to live in a dying world.

The Planting Of A Seed (Dir: Joseff Morgan) - United Kingdom - 15min
A resolute community group in South Wales explore innovative ways of collectively responding to the threat of climate change.

Robbie & Mollie (Dir: KIDS 'N TRICKS) - Germany - 1:10min
Robbie the seal and Mollie the seagull are living the good life by the sea. But dangers have been lurking on the beach and in the water for some time now.

Hidden In Plain Sight (Dir: Rachel Levy) - United States - 33:30min
"Hidden in Plain Sight" shines a light on a rarely discussed aspect of the safari industry, uncovering the pervasive economic leakage and exploitation perpetuated by foreign-owned companies across Africa.

Cycle Path (Dir: Red Wade) - United Kingdom - 3min
After receiving an outrageous email from his anti-eco boss, a climate conscious cyclist hijacks an important meeting and teaches his colleagues a lesson they'll never forget.

THE MAN OF THE TREES (Dir: Andrea Trivero) - Italy - 18:55min
Daniel Balima is a senior horticulturist from Tenkodogo, a small Sub-Saharan African town in Burkina Faso, where he lives with his large family. In over fifty years of activity he has given life to more than a million trees, and dreams of planting another million.
 
More Stickers (Dir: James Barlow) - United Kingdom - 8:48min
A young activist fights for her place in a dangerous mission to destroy a new oil development.


https://nottinghamfilmfestival.com/
DANCE&MUSIC - Nottingham Film Festival

DANCE&MUSIC - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

DANCE&MUSIC - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

Through animated poems, music videos and performances, these filmmakers celebrate the power of storytelling through movement and sound, rather than dialogue. Join us for a programme filled with music videos, performances and animated poems where melodies meet motion on the big screen, creating a sensory feast for the soul.
  

Shine (Dir: Adam Pelling-Deeves) - United Kingdom - 4:14min
An experimental animated poem, Shine is a meaningful and playful combination of word and image which rewards repeated watches through its use of purposeful, mischievous invention.

Moments In Life – Colour Telly (Dir: Edward Hendry Browne) - London, United Kingdom - 3:58min
'Moments In Life' is an experimental music video focusing on the interconnection of two people between metaphysical worlds separated by television screens.

Mobius (Dir: Zexi Liu) - China - 6:36min
Innocence, desire, greed, pain... Driven by the initial innocence and desire, the blindly obedient crowd is antagonistic and unified.
 
NO DRINKS ON THE DANCE FLOOR (Dir: Laura Weston) - Leicester, United Kingdom - 5:57min
In a working-class town in England where nightclubs are facing extinction, we follow a young girl on a journey through city streets to a place that is free. Somewhere that played host to sweaty mosh pits, first kisses, boozy punch ups and life-long friendships.

One and All: Black Ballerinas (Dir: Shashamani Jackson) - Wolverhampton, United Kingdom - 13:31min
Black Ballerinas is a short documentary that explores what it means to be Black in a pink space, through interviews and experimental footage with three ballerinas of varying ages.

Ruins Within Ruins (Dir: Lefteris Parasyris) - Greece - 9:23min
A group of dancers positions themselves between the ancient and modern ruins of the island of Crete, Greece. Drawing inspiration from its rich heritage, they craft a series of kinetic forms and patterns influenced by folk dances.

Dancing Through Time (Dir: André James Bonsor) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 30:20min
A celebration of Dance and Legacy at Clarendon Chambers, Nottingham.
  
Akadia – Mehr oder weniger (More or Less) (Dir: Vesely Marek) - Austria - 4:39min
The music video “MEHR ODER WENIGER” is based on the biblical creation story and the genesis of a world.

https://nottinghamfilmfestival.com/
SPACE&PLACE - Nottingham Film Festival

SPACE&PLACE - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

SPACE&PLACE - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

We confront the challenges of life through the spaces we navigate, filtered by the lenses of our own psychological state.?Indoor and outdoor, physical or imaginative, joyful or deprived, crowded or deserted, earthly or extraterrestrial, feared, beloved and everything in between: this programmes brings us on an explorative mission to map the spaces and places of human experience.


The Edge of Reality
(Dir: Darren James-Teale) - United Kingdom - 6:42min
The dramatised story of 17 year old Ben whose life hangs in the balance between a normal life at college and developing a psychotic disorder.

Family Ties (Dir: Anderson J West) - Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom - 11:04min
After being stuck indoors for most of the pandemic, a supposed outdoor-savvy father attempts to reconnect with his tech and social media-addicted son with an overnight hike in the Peak District.

Forgotten in Time (Dir: Paul Birkett, Andrea Jovanovska) - Gloucester, United Kingdom - 13:10min
An old man, alone in his flat, experiences the daily struggles of living with dementia.

Sections (Dir: Darren Rapier) - United Kingdom - 14:30min Safe Home (Dir: Holly Jack) - United Kingdom - 12:13min
A new patient is admitted to the Manor Lake Adolescent Psychiatric Unit, just as a new member of staff is also arriving. This 'slice of life' drama follows their first few hours.

Wish I Were There (Dir: Neil Baker) - Lincoln, United Kingdom - 1:52min
A poetic ode to the flawed but compelling English seaside.

Planet of Rust (Dir: George Merabishvili) - Cyprus - 11:26min
Sent on a routine delivery mission to an exoplanet, cosmic courier Pon faces a perilous twist of fate when his spaceship malfunctions.

The Bloke in the Boot (Dir: Taylor Caddick) - Leeds, United Kingdom - 11:52min
Somewhere in Northern England, Mogg (Jude Pollitt) accidentally murders his driving examiner.

DOCUMENTARY - Nottingham Film Festival

DOCUMENTARY - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

DOCUMENTARY - Nottingham Film Festival

Showing Sunday 13 October

Documentary shorts are the perfect venue to step into someone else’s shoes and challenge our own perspective of the world. Each short presents an opportunity to witness real-life, incredible narratives that spark conversations and inspire change. From intimate portraits of loneliness and loss to portraits of the small communities hidden all around us, this lineup celebrates the power of documentary filmmaking, a medium that not only informs but also transforms.


Lanterns Flicker (Dir: Yoni Collins) - Canada - 14:19min
A Canadian veteran who served in Afghanistan turns to music to help him in his battle with PTSD and to raise awareness of veteran suicide and mental health.

AMANZE (Dir: Lucy Hawes) - Wells, United Kingdom - 8:52min
From Harlesden to Luton, we are transported through time, peeling back the layers of Ronald Amaze and his incredible life. The son of Windrush parents, we explore his Jamaican roots, following as he navigates adolescence before founding the successful Time Radio pirate station and then ultimately losing it all, until one day he receives life changing news that will shape his life forever.

GRIT (Dir: Thomas James Ellison) - Lancaster, United Kingdom - 9:59min
The documentary follows Ben's story as he goes from competing in the Enduro World Series to becoming an IronMan. He expresses how outdoor sport helped forget abut what was bringing him down and focus on what is important: his health.

Pets’ Corner (Dir: Andrew Stevenson) - Manchester, United Kingdom - 18:56min
Pets' Corner is located in a public park in Manchester, England. It offers a home to 2 goats, 4 rabbits, 7 ducks and 11 chickens, and is entirely run by local volunteers. This short film is an affectionate portrait of what it is like to live and work there. 

Landlocked: Never Too Far (Dir: Joshua James Brown, Edward Tucker) - Nottingham, United Kingdom - 9:49min
A deep dive into the culture of inclusivity and dedication in Nottingham university’s strangest sports club... Surf.

The Birdwatchers (Dir: Thomas Winward) - London, United Kingdom - 13:41min
What does it mean to be a birdwatcher? Four women challenge the stereotype and share their love, passion, and fears in the world of birding.

The Circlemakers (Dir: Matthew W Sterling) - Bath, United Kingdom - 8:46min
Meet the Circlemakers, a small group of artists predominantly residing in the South West of England who create jaw-dropping pieces of land art in crops every year.

https://nottinghamfilmfestival.com/
Farming the Revolution

Farming the Revolution

Showing Saturday 19 October

Farming the Revolution

Showing Saturday 19 October

Farming the Revolution takes us to the heart of the massive year-long protests against the Indian government’s then newly enacted farm laws during the COVID lockdown. Over half a million protesters gathered – men and women from all generations, religions, classes and castes – and reinvented co-existence at massive protest sites that burgeoned on the borders of Delhi. The film invites us to experience the everyday textures and indomitable spirit of this historic farmers’ movement – until, finally, victory!

Videodrome

Videodrome

Showing Thursday 24 October

Videodrome

Showing Thursday 24 October

Whilst looking for new content for his “sleazy” TV channel, Max Renn comes across Videodrome. Curious he embarks on a manic trip to uncover the origins of the show.


Wilding

Wilding

Showing Saturday 26 October

Wilding

Showing Saturday 26 October

Based on Isabella Tree’s best-selling book by the same title, Wilding tells the story of a young couple that bets on nature for the future of their failing, four-hundred-year-old estate. The young couple battles entrenched tradition, and dares to place the fate of their farm in the hands of nature. Ripping down the fences, they set the land back to the wild and entrust its recovery to a motley mix of animals both tame and wild. It is the beginning of a grand experiment that will become one of the most significant rewilding experiments in Europe.


Until the Last Drop + Q&A

Until the Last Drop + Q&A

Showing Sunday 27 October

Until the Last Drop + Q&A

Showing Sunday 27 October

Fighting to stop one of the greatest threats to human civilisation: the growing freshwater crisis.
This beautifully-shot documentary exposes the global cost and consequences of the destruction of nature. Life-giving rivers have been especially badly hit. Shot on location in Canada, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Albania, and Poland, the film conveys a strong message about one of the greatest threats to human civilisation: the growing freshwater crisis.
For our Q&A, we will be joined by Tom Aplin.
Tom is the Partnership and Engagement Manager for Trent Rivers Trust, focusing on projects which engage the public and key stakeholders about their local river, including citizen science and wider volunteering work.

About Trent Rivers Trust:
Trent Rivers Trust are a river restoration charity working across the Trent catchment, delivering a mix of capital and engagement projects. They focus on nature-based solutions to improving river health, and natural flood management to help build flood resilience for urban areas. They also engage the wider public to discuss the condition of the river, how it impacts wider biodiversity, and how they can help work to protect their local waterway. 
Check out their website here: https://www.trentriverstrust.org/