GSFF shocker

Viewers faint watching 'visceral' short film.

by Jennie Kermode

Flamingo
Flamingo

Events took a dramatic twist yesterday when a film screening at the Glasgow Short Film Festival shocked viewers so much that two of them fainted. Bryan M Ferguson's Flamingo, which was screening in the Skinny Short Film Competition in support of his award-winning Caustic Gulp, led to one person becoming instantly unconscious whilst another became so pale and limp as to require urgent assistance.

Eye For Film's Andrew Robertson, who described the film as 'visceral', said that the woman behind him reacted so dramatically to what was shown onscreen that he was afraid she was going to throw up on his coat.

Flamingo, which stars Katie Armstrong, Stascia Bantouvakis, Kristopher Curran and Joanne Pirrie, tells the story of an aspiring dancer who befriends an obscene phone caller after they discover a mutual interest in self-amputation.

Fortunately, audience reactions as dramatic as this are rare. The last one we're aware of happened in August 2015, when horror fans at the Fantasia International Film Festival fainted and vomited during a screening of Chad Archibald's entomological transformation shocker Bite.

Share this with others on...
News

Serious about comedy Louis Paxton on grounding the humour of The Incomer in darker elements

That shrinking feeling Shivek Gupta and Syed Shadan on the Mumbai housing market and Chaar Diwaari

A woman who didn't belong Anna Cazenave Cambet on working with Vicky Krieps in Love Me Tender

A dialogue of parchment and celluloid Jean-Jacques Annaud on Umberto Eco and The Name Of The Rose

Vampire party Nicky Murphy, Aminata Thiboult, Leonor Oberson and Louiza Aura on I Love Paris

Teenage dreams Fernando Eimbcke and Aivan Uttapa on creative insanity, on-set dynamics and Olmo

More news and features

We're bringing you reviews and more from the Locarno Film Festival.



We're looking forward to the Edinburgh International Film Festival and Frightfest.



We've recently brought you coverage of the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the Muslim International Film Festival, Docs Ireland, Sheffield DocFest, ImagineNative, Tribeca and Cannes.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

Don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.


It's a busy time for festivals and here's the latest:


Locarno Isabella Rossellini receives Excellence Award


London Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut to close festival


San Sebastian announces José Giovanni retrospective


Dinard Amira Casar to head jury, plus opening film announced


San Sebastian Leigh, Naishtat and Larraín among those joining line-up