We're thrilled to be returning to in-person filmmaker events once again, and we can't think of a better way to start things off than with a BIFA Showcase on home turf at Showroom Cinema.
Join our BFI NETWORK team and filmmakers from across the North from 6pm on Wednesday, 18 August. Tickets cost £4.50 and include a free drink. If you require support with the ticket cost or if you have any questions about the event, get in touchwith our team.
With a line-up featuring the full list of nominees from BIFA 2020's Best British Short category, the Showcase will celebrate some of the UK's finest short form filmmaking on the big screen. Full programme details are below.
After the screening, the BIFA team will appear in conversation with two of the nominated filmmakers: John Ogunmuyiwa, Writer/Director of Mandem; and Tom Wood, Producer of Sudden Light. John and Tom will discuss their work in short film, their experiences as BIFA nominees and what they're working on next.
BIFA are currently on the look out for the best British shorts of 2021. Submissions to this year's awards are open now and entries are free until Friday, 6 August. For more information on how to submit your work, check out BIFA's Rules and Eligibility page.
Shorts Line Up
Filipiñana
Writer/Director: Rafael Manuel | Producer: Naomi Pacifique
The dysfunction of Philippine society is played out in miniature within the self-contained world of a golf course. Pampered members play alongside uniformed workers, but the gulf between the privileged and those eking out a living is vast. Although new girl Isabel still has to learn the rules, she’s already looking for loopholes to subvert the system.
Mandem
Writer/Director: John Ogunmuyiwa | Producer: Emily Everdee
A job is just a job, but as with anything, time flies when you’re doing it with your best friend. And today is no different. We follow a day in the life of Ty and Malcolm, a pair of South London drug dealers, as they go about their routine and set about conducting business as usual.
Sudden Light
Writer/Director: Sophie Littman | Producer: Tom Wood
As Mia and her sister Squeeze walk their dog in the fields near their home, the once-familiar landscape begins to morph around them. Confused by their new surroundings, the sisters are plunged into a powerless limbo and Mia comes across a strange man lurking at the edge of a dark wood. In this disturbing new reality, Mia and Squeeze must confront an oncoming grief neither is ready to face.
Aisha has never let her cancer define her and whilst she’s always known that eventually her treatment options will run out, she envisaged going out with a blast. Now a global pandemic has effectively imprisoned her and her partner, Jamie, in a tiny flat as the final months of her life play out.
The Long Goodbye
Writer/Director: Aneil Karia | Writer: Riz Ahmed | Producer: Tom Gardner
In a dystopian near-future, a British South Asian family watch a far right march play out on television. Their lives are suddenly and brutally disrupted when they are dragged from their home and packed into vans by aggressive paramilitaries.
