EDINBURGH SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2024 PROGRAMME (18+)
Oct 25th – Nov 10th 2024
FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER: PRE-LAUNCH NETWORKING WITH CINETOPIA
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 6:00pm-11:00pm FREE
We’re kicking off our 2024 edition with a free, opening night networking event with our partners, Cinetopia at Summerhall. Come along and meet Edinburgh-based filmmakers and find out more about this year’s ESFF!
FRIDAY 25TH OCTOBER (OPENING NIGHT)
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
ANOTHER LIFE – TICKETS
This collection of shorts explores the secret lives of those unseen or unnoticed. Survivors of the apocalypse welcome the dawn of a new day, a mysterious man arrives dead on an airplane, and a small hermit crab struggles to find a new home. Featuring a variety of animation, including the winner of the Jury award for Best animation at SXSW, and a Unifrance Short Film Award winner.
Content Advisory: Nudity, death, offensive language, animal death.
Our opening night, with (brief) highlights from our friends at the 7 Second International Film Festival.
WANDER TO WONDER Nina Gantz Animated Shorts Jury Award South by South West 2024
THE NOBODY Razan Madhoon BFI London Film Festival
COQUILLE Justine Aubert, Cassandra Bouton, Grégoire Callies, Maud Chesnau, Anna Danton, Loic Girault, Gatien Peyrude, Justine Raux
THE JUBILEE Wilma Smith Nominated for the Thelma Schoonmaker Prize for Short Filmmaking Excellence
THE CREATORS Madeleine Homan Tribeca Film Festival 2024
THE BUURDS Martin Lennon
THE CALLBACK Kara Herold Maryland Film Festival 2024
SOLEIL GRIS Camille Monnier Locarno Film Festival 2024
THE CHROMAKEY MAN William Samaha Best Alternative Short NY Independent Film Festival
SATURDAY 26TH OCTOBER
Venue: The French Institute
Time: 7:00pm
IT’S BEEN A LONG NIGHT – TICKETS
It’s a long night for everyone involved in this series of shorts. An eventful evening is in store for those in Ali’s Shop, Mothers & Monsters await their perfect child at a never-ending dinner, and a board game with impossible rules drags on for far too long in Donut Hole. Don’t be late, you have a shift at the restaurant from hell to look forward to in Glute!
Content Advisory: Violence, gore, offensive language and drug use
ALI’S SHOP Anne-Lise Morin Brussels Short Film Festival 2024
TO THE BRINK Hugo Docking Winner Best Student Animation Bolton Film Festival 2023
MOTHERS & MONSTERS Edith Jorisch Critics Award Festival Regard 2024
DONUT HOLE Charles Parisé, Fred Lavigne & Robin Anctil Fantasia Film Festival 2024
GLUTE Victor Ruprich-Robert Best Editing & Best Sound Brussels Short Film Festival 2024
SIXTY EGYPTIAN POUNDS Amr Salama El Gouna International Film Festival 2024
SUNDAY 27TH OCTOBER
Venue: The French Institute
Time: 7:00pm
LONELY HEARTS – TICKETS
Feeling hopeless and looking for love? Heartbroken souls wander the plane between life and death in a musical, a punk artist falls for a construction worker and a super-fan mourns the death of Jean-Paul Belmondo. A strong mixture of comedy and drama feature in this strand, with international award winners and nominees in both categories.
Content Advisory: Domestic abuse, death.
BYE, BYE BOWSER Jasmin Baumgartner Sundance Film Festival 2024
FALLING FOR GRETA Gustavo Arteaga Animafest 2024
THE COMPANIONS José María Flores Best Cinematography Budapest Short Film Festival 2024
PLASTIC Maximilien Rolland Fantasia 2023
OLGA’S EYES Sarah Carlot Jaber Sci Fi & Fantasy Grand Prize Award Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival 2024
HOOKS Charles Parisé Calgary International Film Festival 2024
AU REVOIR BELMONDO Lisa Kohn Best Comedy Västerås Film Festival 2024
THURSDAY 31st OCTOBER
Venue: The French Institute
Time: 7:00pm
IS THIS LOVE?- TICKETS
Where does love begin and end? These shorts explore the complexity of love in all of its forms. Featuring a Gripping drama that won the jury award at South by Southwest, a fantastic Italian short that explores the changing relationship dynamics of youth and a secret shared between friends that won the technical award at the Venice Film Festival.
Content Advisory: Drug use, offensive language, gore and nudity.
TRANSYLVANIE Rodrigue Huart Midnight Shorts Jury Award South by SouthWest 2024
A SHORT TRIP Erenik Beqiri Best Short Film Venice International Film Festival 2023
FEBRUARY SIXTEENTH NINETEEN FORTY-SEVEN Jessica Miinguuaqtii Montréal International First Peoples’ Festival
EDSON’S GRAVY Ryan George Kittleman Albany Film Festival 2024
PINOQUO Federico Demattè Venice International Film Festival 2023
WE SHOULD ALL BE FUTURISTS Angela Norelli Best Technical Contribution Venice International Film Festival 2024
TO DANCE WITH DRAG QUEENS David Hutchison
BROONO Gerald Lepkowski Long Beach International Film Festival 2024
SATURDAY 2nd NOVEMBER
Venue: The French Institute
Time: 7:30pm
EUROPEAN FILM FESTIVALS SHOWCASE – TICKETS
Braving Brexit with their best films, we’re delighted to welcome Shortcutz Amsterdam, Adriatic Film Festival, Budapest Short Film Festival and FICBUEU, screening some of their recent favourites. A panel discussion hosted by Aidan Stanley of RTE follows the screening, discussing what makes a great short film.
Content Advisory: Gore, death, violence, offensive language.
TILIPIRCHE Francesco Piras Adriatic Film Festival
HABITAR Anxos Fazans FICBUEU
TRYPTYCH OF THE KEEPER Annabella Schnabel Budapest Short Film Festival
I’M NOT A ROBOT Victoria Warmerdam Shortcutz Amsterdam
DIVE Aldo Iuliano Adriatic Film Festival
GNOMES Ruwan Heggelman Shortcutz Amsterdam
THE LOW AND MIGHTY Péter Karácsony Budapest Short Film Festival
COLDNESS Andrea Sanchez FICBUEU
VEGAN MAYO Luca Tóth Budapest Short Film Festival
SUNDAY 3rd NOVEMBER
Venue:The French Institute
Time: 7:30pm
QUEBEC CARTE BLANCHE – TICKETS
We’re delighted to welcome one of North America’s biggest dedicated short film festivals, Festival Regard and programmer Alexandra Garon
to present a night of Quebec shorts, exploring Quebecois life and culture via short film. A discussion with Alexandra follows the screening.
Content Advisory: Animal deaths, offensive language.
UWD Brigitte Poupart & Myriam Verreault Festival Regard 2024
6 MINUTES/KM Catherine Boivin Festival Regard 2024
A TOI LES OREILLES Alexandre Isabelle Festival Regard 2024
UN TROU DANS LA POITRINE Jean-Sébastien Hamel & Alexandra Myotte Festival Regard 2024
LES FLEURS SAUVAGE Rodolphe Saint-Gelais & Thierry Sirois Festival Regard 2024
CHIEN DE SANG Louis Moulin Festival Regard 2024
EXTRAS Marc-Antoine Lemire Festival Regard 2024
FRIDAY 8TH NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
Supported by Cyrenians
LIFE ON THE EDGE – TICKETS
This programme of shorts explores those who live on the edge and the challenges they face. Whether it be an emotional edge, the unknown space between life and death, being on the front lines during a pandemic or living in a war zone, these films all explore the extraordinary intensity of life and the after-life. Featuring a variety of tense social dramas, life-affirming animations and two experimental shorts that blur the boundaries between existence and mythology.
Content Advisory: Death, discussions of suicide and graphic scenes.
Cyrenians are an Edinburgh-based national charity tackling the causes and consequences of homelessness through over 60 services and projects focussed on prevention, early intervention and support into a home. Building Trusted Relationships is a short film by Bircan Birol about how people who have experienced trauma can learn to “speak trust as a second language”, explored through stories from across Cyrenians.
BUILDING TRUSTED RELATIONSHIPS Bircan Birol
A DAY IN FEBRUARY Klaas Diersmann Best Director Venezia Shorts 2024
I SMELL A MOUSE Iiti Yli-Harja Tampere Film Festival 2024
OLD GODS David Ian Bickley
THE C WORD Serafima Serafimova
BABYLONLAND Francis Delfour
BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT Henna Välkky & Eesu Lehtola Tribeca Film Festival 2024
THE ROBBERS Isa Schieche Best Short Max Ophüls Preis 2024
FOLLOW THE DOGS Isabel Garrett Galway Film Fleadh 2024
SATURDAY 9TH NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
SCOTTISH SHORTS – TICKETS
Contemporary Scottish shorts and new filmmakers celebrated in a dedicated Scottish shorts programme. Co-curated with Glasgow Media Access Centre, including shorts commissioned via GMAC’s ‘Little Pictures’ programme and some ESFF in competition filmmakers to watch out for.
Content Advisory: Nudity,Death, offensive language, mental health issues.
MOTHER DAUGHTER Sophie Wu Sunderland Short Film Festival 2024
MAKING MOUNTAINS Sammi Duong The Smalls Film Festival 2024
FITTED Diane Devlin
OPEN Richard Paris Wilson
ENTANGLED Rachel Sarah Kendal Mountain Festival 2023
SHRAPNEL Holly Barbour
FIRST CONTACT James Crang
HEN DO Alia Ghafar BFI London Film Festival 2024
CARE Jagoda Tłok Winner Best Drama RTS Scotland Student Awards Scotland 2024
ONE SHOT Zam Salim Best Scottish Short Glasgow Short Film Festival
SUNDAY 10TH NOVEMBER (CLOSING NIGHT & AWARDS)
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
IN MEMORY – TICKETS
Loved ones are memorialised, a fish shop worker clutches at a forgotten childhood and two famous writers face-off in this eclectic programme of shorts. This programme explores how we experience memory through feelings of loss and breathes new life into who have left this world. Including a BFI funded drama, and a UK premiere for a short screened at the Cannes Film Festival.
Closing nights awards ceremony follows the screening.
Content Advisory: Discussion of death, mental health issues.
MONSOON BLUE Jay Hiukit Wong & Ellis Kayin Chan ASIA Grand Prize & Best Animation 25th DigiCon6 Asia
SALVAGE Jonny Dry
PURGA Antanas Skučas & Gintarė Valevičiūtė-Brazauskienė Best Animated Film Lithuanian National Film Awards 2023
STEPHEN & DAVID’S TOY CUPBOARD Blair Stewart Bolton Film Festival 2024
PIGEON HOLDING Liv Dugdale Fest Anca International Animation Festival 2024
THE DEER’S TOOTH Saif Hammash Cannes Film Festival 2024
SHAKES VERSUS SHAV Damian Farrell & Gerry Hoban Best Literature Short 2024 Bloomsday Film Festival Dublin