Watch Hub-funded shorts at Manchester Film Festival 2025.
Manchester Film Festival will run from 14 - 23 March as the city’s flagship celebration of storytelling through cinema. 5 shorts funded through our BFI Short Film Fund have made the official programme:
Nettle Days,
The Test,
Softy,
Before I Do and
Caterpillar.
The BFI NETWORK Short Film Fund supports filmmaking teams based in the North who are working on fiction shorts in live action, animation and immersive/virtual reality. The Fund will reopen for applications in February for amounts from £5,000 up to a maximum of £25,000. Projects can be of any length, up to a maximum of 15 minutes.
North West Shorts 1 - Saturday 15 March
Nettle Day
Dir. Jack Nicholls
An idealistic young teacher's faith in kindness is ripped apart as she struggles to save a destructive child from being kicked out of school.
Jack Nicholls is a writer based in Manchester. His first play Harsh Noise Wall was read at the Royal Court and Northern Stage, and was longlisted for the Bruntwood Prize. His poetry pamphlet Meat Songs is published by The Emma Press. He is a founder of the Arts Council England-funded live art event FLIM NITE, and is a performer with the sketch group Beach Hunks.
The Test
Dir. Meng Han Hsieh
I-Ling's experience whilst taking her Life in the UK test reminds her of the difficulties and constraints she faces as an immigrant working hard to get her citizenship.
Hsieh Meng Han is an award-winning writer and director from Taiwan. Her award-winning short films Bleeding Lies and HOME, and her commercial Kindness Takes You Forward, were accepted into multiple film festivals worldwide. Meng Han works as a Creative Video Director at THG Studios and is developing her first feature film.
North West Shorts 2 - Wednesday 19 March
Softy
Dir. Joshua Reeves
Desperate for change, 13-year-old Camran takes extreme measures to secure a better future for himself and his dad.
Joshua Reeves is a Manchester-born and based writer and director. Joshua's debut film, Marcus, is available on Amazon Prime: his follow-up, Oxtail, was made with the support of Sony and Eleven and has featured at film festivals around the globe. His latest film, Long Walk Home premiered at BAFTA-accredited British Urban Film Festival.
Before I Do
Dir. Gitika Buttoo
On the morning of her wedding day, Mona, a British-Indian woman, questions her rushed marriage and reflects on a period of self-discovery from her past.
Gitika is a Queer British South Asian Director from Yorkshire, currently based in Manchester. She directs theatre, film and radio nationally and has recently been resident Staff Director at The National Theatre, Regional Associate of Tamasha, and Associate Director of LUNG Theatre Company. Gitika was one of Headlong Theatre's Origins Directors.
North West Shorts 3 Shorts 5 - Saturday 22 March
Caterpillar
Dir. Dorny Sunday
After her mother is diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, a movement artist's life of motion is turned into one of stillness.
Dorny Sunday is a writer and director from England working in film and advertising. Their films have screened at festivals across Europe and have featured on NOWNESS, DAZED, BoooomTV, PromoNews and Director's Notes.
