EDINBURGH SHORT FILM FESTIVAL 2023 PROGRAMME 
Oct 26th – Nov 5th 2023
THURSDAY 26TH OCTOBER: PRE-LAUNCH NETWORKING WITH CINETOPIA
Venue: The Royal Dick Bar, Summerhall
Time: 7:00pm-11:00pm FREE
We’re kicking off our 2023 edition with a free, pre-launch networking event with our partners, Cinetopia at The Royal Dick bar in Summerhall. Come along and meet Edinburgh-based filmmakers and find out more about this year’s ESFF!
THURSDAY 26TH OCTOBER (OPENING NIGHT)
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
ENDLESS LOVE – TICKETS
Love knows no bounds in these shorts which explore the complexity of relationships. Featuring an extraordinary and haunting experimental film that screened at Annecy International Animation Festival, two Scottish shorts that explore changing relationship dynamics and a heartfelt stop-motion animation that screened at Cannes Film Festival.
DRAMWAY 71 Guillaume Lion Brussels Short Film Festival
CLOSE Tom Gentle Aesthetica Short Film Festival
ETHEL Beatrice Jäggi Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival
ALL MY SCARS VANISH IN THE WIND Angélica Restrepo & Carlos Velandia Winner Best Short Film Bilbao Int Festival of Documentary & Short Film
A90 Olivia Middleton Aesthetica Short Film Festival
SPRING ROLL DREAM Mai Vu Winner Lights on Women Award Cannes Film Festival 2022
Content Advisory: Domestic violence, abuse
FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
AT THE END OF THE DAY – TICKETS
What happens after the sun goes down on another day? An eclectic programme featuring a range of shorts, from a fantastic Scottish comedy featuring the grim reaper herself to a human guarding the last bee on earth.
LAST DAYS OF SUMMER Stenzin Tankyong Rotterdam International Film Festival 2023
PEANUTS PARADISE Ségolène Romier
KOERKORTER Priit Tender Winner Best Animation Award Tampere Film Festival 2023
SAFE HOME Holly Jack
DISSOLUTION Sujin Kim Montreal International Animation Film Festival 2023
THINK SOMETHING NICE Claudius Gentinetta Winner Best Animated Short Film Rome Independent Film Festival 2023
PEANUTS PARADISE CASTING Ségolène Romier
NIGHTPAY Rachel Fitzgerald
THE LAST BEE ON EARTH Nick Flügge Winner Jury Award Cannes Short Film Festival 2023
SHUCK Emerson New
GINNY REAPER Niamh McKeown Women in Horror 2023
SATURDAY 28TH OCTOBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 1pm-3pm
FREE ENTRY – TICKETS
LOW BUDGET FILMMAKING MASTERCLASS & PANEL
Low Budget Filmmaking Workshop
Our panel of invited guests will dissect low budget filmmaking from finance to casting, location shooting to essential crew; and beyond.
In collaboration with the Glasgow Media Access Centre and led by documentary filmmaker Duncan Cowles, the panel includes our festival ambassador, actor and BAFTA Breakthrough nominee and award-winning actor Jamie Robson, filmmakers Kate Hammer and Ashley Dick, and producers Isabella Basset and Gabija Linkevičiūtė, and GMAC’s Ana Songel.
SATURDAY 28TH OCTOBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
SCOTTISH SHORTS – TICKETS
Scottish shorts explored in our programme which we’ve co-curated with Glasgow Media Access Centre, including shorts commissioned via GMAC’s ‘Little Pictures’ programme and some ESFF filmmakers to watch out for.
BEAR Kate Hammer
SWEET LIKE LEMONS Jenny Jokela
WHIT’S FUR YE Ashley Dick
FISHBALL REVOLUTION Dhillon Clarke
LOOK AT ME Benedetta Zanetti
ARCHIVIA Ross Wilson Winner Spirit Award Brooklyn Film Festival
WAVES CRASH HERE George Farrow-Hawkins
NEXT IN LINE Seyma Dag
Content Advisory: Strong Language, Descriptions of domestic abuse
SUNDAY 29TH OCTOBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 3:00pm (Matinee)
SNAP! – TICKETS
What happens when you just can’t take it anymore? A very hungry crocodile eats too many starlets, a woman addicted to silence turns to violence and a man on the brink of discovery gets arrested. This exciting collection of award winning shorts sees patience pushed to its absolute limit.
FAIRPLAY Zoel Aeschbacher Special Jury Prize Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival 2023
DISH 8 Cashell Horgan Finalist Fastnet Film Festival 2023
THE SMILE Erik van Schaaik Winner Best Animation Shortcutz Amsterdam 2023
DA ETERNAL CATERPILLARS Abel Bourreau
THE RIDE Tara Aghdashloo Cinequest Film Festival 2023
A.S.M. ORTAL Maxime S. Girard Fantasia International Film Festival 2022
THE LIMELIGHT LIFE Juho-Pekka Tanskanen
A CONSPIRACY MAN Valerio Ferrara Cannes Film Festival 2023
Content Advisory: Police brutality, bloody violence, mention of sexual assault
SUNDAY 29TH OCTOBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
EARTH’S CREATURES – TICKETS
A programme exploring life on earth in all its fantastical forms. A young woman holds the power to regenerate the land, cranes dance sadistically as the people around them fall into disarray and horses provide the answers everyone has been looking for. This incredible selection of shorts explores everything earthly from the past, present and not-too-distant future!
PINA Jérémy Depuydt & Giuseppe Accardo Winner Best Animation Short Flickerfest 2023
GUTTER Theodore Drusba Winner Best Short Film New Jersey Int. Film Festival 2023
THE BONNY MOORHEN Jonathan Farr
A HISTORY OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GETTY IMAGES Richard Misek HotDocs Toronto 2022
AND THE CRANES KEPT DANCING Natasza Cetner Imaginaria International Animation Film Festival 2023
MARONII llonneau Dimitri, Guitet Maxime, Plata Lucas, Nguyen Ngoc Mai, Matuszczak Guilian, Argentieri Flore, Courtel Hugo
HOT ROD Juliette Gilot Flickerfest 2023
THURSDAY 2ND NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
PERSEVERANCE – TICKETS
This strand explores the resilience and determination of humanity, those who overcome boundaries everyday. From a body positive Scottish comedy to a multi-award-winning Moroccan thriller hosting it’s UK premier, this strand features an international array of films.
NO KEY Walid Messnaoui Winner Best Crime Short Los Angeles International Film Festival 2023
KANAK Gino Pitarch Winner Best Short Film Festival de la Foa 2022
AN EVENING WITH LAILA Haya Alghanim
CANDY Sarah Grant Nominated for Best Comedy Aesthetica Film Festival 2023
GABY’S HILLS Zoé Pelchat Berlinale Generation, 2023
F*CKING HEAD Grégory Carnoli & Thibaut Wohlfahrt Winner Audience Award, Best Actor Award Brussels Short Film Festival 2023
Content Advisory: racism, violence, police brutality, domestic abuse
FRIDAY 3rd NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
BELGIAN SHORTS –TICKETS
The ESFF brings a programme of Belgian short film curated by the Belgian Short Film Agency, one of the biggest short film commissioning programmes in Europe.
Exploring contemporary Belgium filmmaking, life and society through the lens of some award-winning Belgian short film. Q and A follows the screening.
NKOSI COIFFURE Frederike Migom
MY HEART BACKWARDS Sarah Gouret
ALLEEN IK Jasper De Maeseneer
MY PLANET Valery Carnoy
LE MUR Samuel Lampaert
Content Advisory: Some offensive language
SATURDAY 4th NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 1pm-3pm
FREE ENTRY – TICKETS
PHONE & TABLET FILMMAKING WORKSHOP
The workshop provides a complete guide to filmmaking with a mobile phone or tablet.
Providing practical advice on completing film projects professionally and covering shooting on a phone, editing, sound design,
useful tools, and software systems. Led by Margherita Berti and Fabiana Pernisco.
SATURDAY 4TH NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
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 to talk about what makes a great short film, follows the screening.
WE ARE EUROPEANS Szilvia Papp Budapest Short Film Festival
HOUSEMAID #2 Roxanne Stam Shortcutz Amsterdam
MITCH MATCH Géza M. Tóth Budapest Short Film Festival
GUERRA TRA POVERI Kassim Yassin Saleh Adriatic Film Festival
THE TENANTS Regos Abel Budapest Short Film Festival
SEABREAKER Eloy Domínguez Serén FICBUEU
MAESTRO Géza M. Tóth Budapest Short Film Festival
MIRANDA’S MIND Maddalena Crespi Adriatic Film Festival
TRIPE AND ONIONS Márton Szirmai Budapest Short Film Festival
SPOTLESS Emma Branderhorst Shortcutz Amsterdam
FINALE Balázs Simonyi Budapest Short Film Festival
Content Advisory: Offensive language, Nudity, Sexual content
SUNDAY 5th NOVEMBER
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 1pm-3pm
FREE ENTRY – TICKETS
STOP MOTION FILMMAKING WORKSHOP
Led by Emma Dougherty of StopMoGo, the workshop provides an introduction to the techniques of stop motion and concepts of animation.
Participants will make short animated sequences, with tips and advice on how to make professional stop motion.
SUNDAY 5TH NOVEMBER (CLOSING NIGHT & AWARDS)
Venue: Summerhall
Time: 7:30pm
PERSPECTIVES – TICKETS
The stories we tell help to shape the world around us. Perspectives merge in this wonderful mixture of drama and documentary from around the globe. From an incredible documentary exploring discrimination against women in Turkey to a swirling dancing animation set to music that uses phonotropes; this programme explores different ways of seeing the world.
Awards ceremony follows the screening.
LOW COST GENERATION Fabiana Pernisco
THE OLYMPIC FLAME Guil Sela Valencia International Film Festival 2023
OUROBOROS Jennifer Linton Winner Best North American Animation Female Eye Film Festival 2023
COTTON FEVER Daniel Schwartz Winner Best Short Film Massachusetts Independent Film Festival 2023
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ECONOMICS: INDEPENDENT FILM IN THE UK Nick Spyropoulos
EVERYTHING HAS IT’S PRICE Zeynep Kececiler
Content Advisory: Drug addiction, Discrimination