Edinburgh International Film Festival 2016

The shorts are split into the programmes are listed below, with descriptions courtesy of the festival. The programme a short falls into is listed in italics.

  • Bridging the Gap: Women - From the Scottish Documentary Institute's talent programme.
  • Out of Bounds: Student Shorts - Emerging talent.
  • Scottish Shorts - A collection of seven shorts, commissioned through the Scottish Film Talent Network’s new talent programme.
  • Shorts 1: Sign Language - Seven films exploring the core of human experience.
  • Shorts 2: Fragments of the City - Five shorts mapping memory, place and the individual.
  • Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures - The personal is political in these six shorts.
  • Shorts 4: Other Planes - Tearing at the boundaries of the visual language of cinema.
  • Shorts 5: Radical Transmissions - Unearthing obscured narratives through film.
  • Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness - Exploring the intersection of landscape and the individual.
  • The Young and Wild Shorts - Showcase aimed at young adult audiences.

View other Edinburgh International Film Festival Films by strand: 70/70 Vision, Adapting Miss Highsmith, Amercian Dreams, Animation, Best Of British, Black Box, Directors' Showcase, Documentaries, European Perspectives, Film Fest In The City, FilmFest Junior, Focus On Finland, Galas, Look Again: A Celebration Of The Films Of Cinema Du Look, Night Moves, POW!!! Live Action Comic Strip Adaptations: The First Generation, Special Events, World Perspectives

No Place Like Home No Place Like Home
No Place Like Home and A Man Returned
An Ecstatic Experience (Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Ja'Tovia Gary; Writer: Ja'Tovia Gary), Official Site
A meditative invocation on transcendence as a means of restoration.
Shorts 5: Radical Transmissions
Batrachian’s Ballad (Country: Portugal; Year: 2016; Director: Leonor Teles)
Blending the lives of Romani in Portugal today with the recollections of yesterday.
Shorts 2: Fragments of the City
Bernie and Rebecca (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Melissa Kent; Writer: John Harris; Stars: Kyle Davis, Brianna Barnes, Carol Mack, Rory O'Connor, Jessica Hickam), Official Site
A blind date turns into the experience of a lifetime.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
Bright Waters (Y Berá) (Country: Argentina; Year: 2016; Director: Jessica Sarah Rinland)
A response to the educational nature films of Mary Field (1896 - 1968), filmed in the second biggest wetland in the world.
Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness
Carousel (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Kal Weber; Writer: Kal Weber; Stars: Ewen Bremner, Harmony Rose Bremner), Official Site
A man doles out a torrent of wisdom to a teen with unexpected results.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
Meet Me By The Water Meet Me By The Water
Meet Me By The Water and Piper
Chums From Across The Void (Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Jim Finn), Official Site
Little Radek, the step-dancing Bolshevik; Machera, the Andean Robin Hood, and Maria Spiridonova, the Russian socialist assassin are your guides for Past Leftist Life Regression therapy.
Shorts 2: Fragments of the City
Code Red (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Sabrina Doyle; Writer: Sabrina Doyle; Stars: Elle Winter, Kylee Russell, Sam Evans, Emily Johnson, Carson Boatman, River Kanoff, Jimmy Hudson, Charles Murphy)
What's a girl to do when she gets an unwelcome visit from Aunt Flo?
The Young and Wild Shorts
Crowman (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Duncan Nicoll)
A man and his son struggle to survive in a rural society that is on the verge of collapse.
Scottish Shorts
Dave (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Garry Marshall; Writer: Chris Watson; Stars: Leo Henderson)
Dave is a little boy zombie who, after a terrible disaster, is forced into an unfriendly world where he has to fight to survive.
Scottish Shorts
Faithful (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Rory Alexander Stewart), Official Site
Drama about a policeman with terrible instincts and a Honda Civic.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
Where Are We Now Where Are We Now
Where Are We Now and An Ecstatic Experience
Fire, Water, Air (Feu, Eau, Air) (Country: France; Year: 2016; Director: David Bart, Anne Murat; Stars: Ysabel de Maisonneuve)
This art film portrays Ysabel de Maisonneuve, a sensitive creator and poet, for whom handicraft is primarily a spiritual art.
Shorts 4: Other Planes
Fly, Fly Sadness (Vole, vole tristesse) (Country: Haiti; Year: 2015; Director: Miryam Charles; Writer: Miryam Charles; Stars: Edigh Charles)
Following a nuclear explosion that transforms the voice of all the inhabitants of an island, a journalist goes there in order to find a hermit with mysterious powers.
Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness
The Frame (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Lars Koens, Demelza Kooij), Official Site
Shorts 4: Other Planes
Ghost Copy (Country: Austria; Year: 2016; Director: Christiana Perschon), Official Site
Found footage film.
Shorts 4: Other Planes
Grimm Street (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Siri Rødnes; Writer: Emma Lennox), Official Site
As a teenager's health deteriorates, reality merges with her fairy tales.
Scottish Shorts
Hux (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Mageina Tovah, Charlie Lieberman; Writer: Mageina Tovah; Stars: Mageina Tovah, Harry Dean Stanton, Dylan Kenin, Mike Rock, Ben Messmer, Elan O'Connor, Aurora Elise, Logan Morris)
Hux, longing to connect, rebels against the lonely isolation of her autism.
The Young and Wild Shorts
The Lamps (Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Shelly Silver; Writer: Shelly Silver), Trailer
Story of the Dada movement's Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven charting her trip to the Naples Archeological Museum in the early 1900’ where she breaks into a secret room filled with erotic objects from Pompeii.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
Lick Us, Meow, Meow! (Léchez-nous, Miaou, Miaou!) (Country: Switzerland; Year: 2015; Director: Marie de Maricourt; Writer: Marie de Maricourt; Stars: Nadia Sadji, Yoram Gué, Marie Colin, Stiva Paterno, Thomas Caspar, Clément Langlais, Coralie Moreau, Frédéric Payen, Stéphane Guérin, Stéphane Brunier, Aïda Grifoll, Fulvio Balmer, Xavier Bonastre, Regine Lacour, Geoffroy De La Taille)
The sexual encounter of an institutionalised woman sparks revolt.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
L’Oiseau de la Nuit (O Pássaro da Noite) (Country: Portugal, France; Year: 2015; Director: Marie Losier)
Portrait of underground performer Fernando, aka Deborah Krystal.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
Man (Country: Sweden, UK; Year: 2016; Director: Maja Borg), Official Site
An exploratory dramatisation of the biological – and cultural body in transformation.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
A Man Returned (Country: UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Lebanon; Year: 2016; Director: Mahdi Fleifel; Writer: Mahdi Fleifel; Stars: Reda Al-Saleh)
Story of a man preparing for marriage after being sent back to a refugee camp after being deported from Greece.
Shorts 5: Radical Transmissions
Masha Natasha (Country: Germany; Year: 2015; Director: Fred Burle, Janin Halisch, Marie Losier, Cécile Tollu-Polonowski; Stars: Maria Petschanikov, Natalia Petschanikov)
Intimate portrait of two Russian artists, who are identical twins.
Shorts 2: Fragments of the City
Mast Qalandar (Country: UK, India; Year: 2015; Director: Divij Roopchand; Writer: Divij Roopchand; Stars: Rajesh Tailang, Ekavali Khanna, Mohd Samad, Manoj Kumar, Satish Gotham), Trailer
A young boy takes matters into his own hands in order to get what he wants.
Out of Bounds: Student Shorts
May A Hundred Bolts Of Lightning Open You (Country: Portugal; Year: 2015; Director: Cem Raios T'Abram Collective)
Experimental.
Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness
Meet Me By The Water (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Raisah Ahmed), Official Site
In a small fishing town on the West Coast of Scotland a young Asian woman must decide whether to leave home and family for a new life in South America.
Scottish Shorts
Murderous Injustice (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Gavin Scott Whitfield; Writer: Gavin Scott Whitfield; Stars: Thom Heath, Kate Hodgson, Samira Saeed, Connah Turner, Samira-Saaed, Tom Hughes, Arthur Roberts)
Crime drama based on the true story of a refugee who was murdered by his neighbour.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
A Night in Tokoriki (O noapte în Tokoriki) (Country: Romania; Year: 2016; Director: Roxana Stroe; Writer: Ana Maria Gheorghe, Roxana Stroe; Stars: Costi Apostol, Cristian Bota, Iulia Ciochina, Andrei Ciopec, Sorin Cocis, Adrian Loghin, Tudor Morar, Daniela Preda, Cristian Priboi, Cristian Toma), Trailer
In an improvised night club called "Tokoriki" the whole village celebrates Gianina's 18th birthday. Her boyfriend and Alin will give her a most surprising gift, one that nobody will ever forget.
The Young and Wild Shorts
The Northleach Horror (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: David Cairns), Official Site
A short First World War/sci-fi/horror/comedy film following the exploits of deranged scientist Whitsuntide.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
No Place Like Home (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Cat Bruce; Writer: Cat Bruce; Stars: Janette Foggo, Erin Bruce )
Under threat of imminent eviction from her countryside home, a self-reliant woman struggles to preserve her way of life.
Scottish Shorts
Oh Gallow Lay (Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Julian Wayser; Writer: Julian Wayser; Stars: Andoni Anastasse, Lucas Elliot Eberl, Ben Graupner, Giovanni Martinez, Joberde Metellus, Edgar Morais, Rafael Morais, Marianna Palka, Jason Ritter, John Robinson, Kelsey Sanders, Katy Townsend, Kellie Trumper, Janeva Zentz)
Imagining what would happen if hippies stumbled across Muammar Gaddafi living in the Hollywood Hills.
Shorts 5: Radical Transmissions
Piper (Country: US; Year: 2016; Director: Alan Barillaro)
A baby bird learns how to catch food on the shoreline.
Screening with Finding Dory
The Rat King (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Pavel Shepan; Writer: John Gibb; Stars: Nick Cheales, Steven Cree, Julie Hale, Susanne Wuest), Official Site
A Christmas horror story.
Scottish Shorts
Remembering The Pentagons (Country: US, Iran; Year: 2015; Director: Azadeh Navai), Trailer
Depiction of the director's earliest memories.
Shorts 4: Other Planes
The Review (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Wilma Smith), Official Site
Documentary about the relationship between a mum and her teenage son, who plays pro youth football.
Bridging the Gap: Women
Sea Child (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Minha Kim; Writer: Islay Bell-Webb, Minha Kim), Trailer
On the verge of becoming a woman, Sora is woken by a nightmare and decides to follow a group of men into the city in the hope of finding her mum.
Out of Bounds: Student Shorts
Silent Laughs (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Natalia Kouneli)
Documentary about deaf stand-up comedian Leah Kalaitzi.
Bridging the Gap: Women
Solitary Acts #5 (Country: US, Turkey; Year: 2016; Director: Nazli Dinçel)
A young girl explores her sexuality.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
So We Do Sometimes Think Because It Has Been Found To Pay. Wittgenstein’s House. (Manchmal also denkt man, weil es sich bewährt hat. Wittgensteins Haus.) (Country: Austria; Year: 2016; Director: Lotte Schreiber)
Experimental short.
Shorts 2: Fragments of the City
Spermwhore (Country: Sweden; Year: 2016; Director: Anna Linder), Official Site
Spermwhore is a queer experimental film about unwanted childlessness in a world where normative heterosexual relationships dictate who can become parents and in what way.
Shorts 3: Flaming Creatures
Spoetnik (Country: Netherlands; Year: 2015; Director: Noël Loozen; Writer: Noël Loozen; Stars: Marcel Zwoferink), Official Site
A young man starts working at a food stand, just across the street from a brothel
The Young and Wild Shorts
Spores (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Frances Poet, Richard Poet; Writer: Frances Poet; Stars: Maureen Beattie, Lewis Howden, John Kazek, Lorraine McIntosh), Official Site
A 50th birthday gathering goes horribly wrong when the hostess serves her sister and their husbands deadly wild mushrooms.
Scottish Shorts
Strawberry Or Vanilla (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Tracey Fearnhough, Holger Mohaupt)
Drama.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
Summer (Estate) (Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2016; Director: Ronny Trocker; Writer: Ronny Trocker; Stars: Umaru Jibirin), Trailer
On a sunny Mediterranean beach, time seems to be frozen. A black man, utterly exhausted, painfully crawls to leave the beach.
The Young and Wild Shorts
Swan (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Lindsay Brown)
An autistic teenager approaches adulthood.
Bridging the Gap: Women
Territory (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Eleanor Mortimer), Official Site, Trailer
Documentary about the tensions between the people and monkeys of Gibraltar.
Out of Bounds: Student Shorts
There Is Land! (Há terra!) (Country: France, Brazil; Year: 2016; Director: Ana Vaz)
An encounter, a hunt, a tale of looking and becoming.
Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness
A Thing Among Things (Country: Netherlands; Year: 2015; Director: Giovanni Giaretta), Official Site
The video combines a recollection of visual memories of a blind person with close-ups of transparent minerals.
Shorts 4: Other Planes
Transit Zone (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Frederik Subei; Writer: Frederik Subei)
A film.
Out of Bounds: Student Shorts
Transmission From The Liberated Zones (Country: France, Germany; Year: 2016; Director: Filipa César)
Transmission from the Liberated Zones, is an experiment bringing together statements and documents accessed and presented by a young boy through a low-fidelity feedback channel.
Shorts 6: Voices From The Wilderness
Vanished (Vanescer) (Country: UK, Brazil; Year: 2015; Director: Colette McWilliams Carrilho, Glemerson Carrilho; Writer: Glemerson Carrilho, Colette McWilliams Carrilho; Stars: Maracy Mello, Guta Magnani, Henrique Taubaté Lisboa, Ariana Lang, Marcelo Coutello), Official Site
A man is driving his elderly and stubborn mother to Sao Paulo City to view the newly released state documents that will finally reveal the truth behind the disappearance of his father in 1978, under Brazil’s Military dictatorship.
Out of Bounds: Student Shorts
War (Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Nilesh Bell Gorsia), Official Site
Two rival gangs clash on a council estate, but no one could have predicted the outcome.
The Young and Wild Shorts
A Well Spent Afternoon (Country: Slovenia, Croatia; Year: 2016; Director: Martin Turk), Official Site
After failing yet another job interview, the father is spending an afternoon with his seven-year-old son. They happen to find a wallet full of money, and father teaches his son the right thing to do.
The Young and Wild Shorts
What We Know (Country: Australia; Year: 2015; Director: Marion Pilowsky; Writer: Marion Pilowsky, L.A. Sellars; Stars: Luke McKenzie, Joel Jackson, Simon Maiden, Brittany Smith, Maria Humphreys, Louise Heesom Smith, Tim Lucas), Trailer
One year after the death of his wife, Vincent invites her friends to meet his new girlfriend. Not a good idea.
Shorts 1: Sign Language
Where Are We Now (Country: UK; Year: 2016; Director: Lucie Rachel; Stars: Alex Kingsley, Lucie Rachel), Official Site
Documentary about the relationship between a daughter and trans-parent as they embark on the road to transition.
Bridging the Gap: Women
Yellow Fieber (Country: Greece; Year: 2015; Director: Konstantina Kotzamani; Stars: Mamadou Diallo, Eutychia Stefanidou), Official Site
The story of the loss of a city.
Shorts 2: Fragments of the City
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