London Film Festival 2009

Little films, big ideas. The films below form one of the following programmes. The programme a short falls into is listed in itallics:

  • Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences - Little films suitable for little people.
  • Animation Panorama - A mixture of the best of British plus international award-winners.
  • The Gothic And The Grotesque - The disturbing and the beautiful combine.
  • I Fought The Law - Are you ready for a fight? Then this showcase is for you.
  • Landscape As Character - Films in which the setting plays a crucial role.
  • London Calling - Capital work from the capital's filmmakers.
  • People Are Strange - Odd bods populate this short cuts.
  • A Thing Called Love - Films examining relationships.
  • The Young - Films which look at the art of growing up.
  • View other London Film Festival Films by strand: Cinema Europa, Experimenta, Film On The Square, French Revolutions, Galas And Special Screenings, New British Cinema, Treasures From The Archives, World Cinema

    Harvest Harvest
    Harvest and Cicada
    After Tomorrow (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Emma Sullivan)
    A guesthouse owner doesn't want James to leave...
    People Are Strange
    Alfred (Country: Sweden; Year: 2009; Director: Johan Hagelbäck)
    The almost true story of Alfred Nobel.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    Arena (Country: Portugal; Year: 2009; Director: João Salaviza)
    A man under house arrest is taunted by children. Winner of the short film Palm d'Or at Cannes 2009.
    The Young
    Believe (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Paul Wright)
    A portrait of one man's grief and desperation following the death of his wife.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Birth (Country: Italy, US; Year: 2009; Director: Signe Baumane; Writer: Signe Baumane; Stars: Clyde Baldo, Kim Gatewood, Kimmy Gatewood, Karen Gilliam, Rebecca Honig, Kamala Sankaram, Eileen Stevens, Anne Thibault), Official Site
    Amina, 17, is pregnant. She is afraid of giving birth. She asks her friends and aunts for more information, sympathy and support. She receives quite the opposite.
    Animation Panorama
    Cherry On The Cake Cherry On The Cake
    Cherry On The Cake and What Light (Through Yonder Window Breaks)
    Brave Donkey (Country: New Zealand; Year: 2009; Director: Gaysorn Thavat; Writer: Greg King; Stars: Cameron Rhodes), Trailer
    Brian didn't think he had anything left to lose...
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Cherry On The Cake (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Hyebin Lee; Writer: Hyebin Lee; Stars: Rupert Degas), Official Site
    A young girl is disappointed on her birthday.
    Animation Panorama
    Chick (Country: Poland; Year: 2008; Director: Michal Socha; Writer: Michal Socha), Official Site
    Male-female relationships, infatuation and its consequences form the basis for this animation.
    A Thing Called Love
    Cicada (Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Amiel Courtin-Wilson; Writer: Daniel P Jones, Amiel Courtin-Wilson; Stars: Daniel P Jones)
    Story of a five-year-old child who witnesses a murder.
    People Are Strange
    Committed (Country: Iceland; Year: 2009; Director: Isold Uggadottir; Writer: Isold Uggadottir), Official Site, Trailer
    A couple struggle to overcome their insecurities after moving in together.
    The Young
    The Continuing And Lamentable Saga Of The Suicide Brothers (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Arran Brownlee, Corran Brownlee; Writer: Rupert Friend, Tom Mison; Stars: Rupert Friend, Tom Mison, Keira Knightley), Official Site
    Brothers Barath (Tom Mison) and Bourbon (Rupert Friend) break up the boredom of their lives by trying to kill themselves each day, forever overlooking the presence of the long-suffering fairy (Keira Knightley) who lives with them.
    People Are Strange
    C Block (Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Vladimir Kooperman; Writer: Vladimir Kooperman), Official Site
    Animation. The director says: "It's all about space dogs, toys, rockets, nukes, and good old brainwashing. In other words it's all about society."
    A Thing Called Love
    Danse Macabre (Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: Pedro Pires), Official Site
    For a period of time, while we believe it to be perfectly still, lifeless flesh responds, stirs and contorts in a final macabre ballet.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Don't Look Back (Country: Poland, USA; Year: 2009; Director: Julius Onah)
    A young man chases his dream of love.
    Landscape As Character
    Driver (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Stephen Fingleton; Writer: Stephen Fingleton; Stars: Ben Caplan, Jess Randell, Ben Willens, Jonathan Rhodes, Eva Tecedeiro), Official Site, Trailer
    Nelson is tasked with driving his best friend's estranged wife to her new home. During the tense car journey, he finds his loyalties tested.
    A Thing Called Love
    Fetch (Country: Finland, US; Year: 2009; Director: Jyri Koski; Stars: Gautam Basu, Jucci Hellström, Rich Orlow, Gene Ruffini, Vinny Vella), Official Site
    An Afro-American gangsta hires two has-been old-school wiseguys to recover his lost shipment of drugs.
    I Fought The Law
    Fox Bay (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Gregoire Colin)
    A young boy on the cliffs watches a luxury yacht down in the bay. On board is a handsome couple. The boy waits until night.
    Landscape As Character
    The Girl With The Yellow Stockings (Das Mädchen mit den gelben Strümpfen) (Country: Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Grzegorz Muskala; Writer: Hannes Held, Phillip Kaminiak, Grzegorz Muskala; Stars: Thomas Fränzel, Rosalie Thomass)
    A young couple is spending the day in bed. He asks her if she wants to marry him.
    The Young
    Hawker (Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Dustin Feneley; Writer: Dustin Feneley; Stars: Syd Brisbane)
    A travelling salesman looks for meaning in his life.
    Landscape As Character
    Heat (Year: 2009; Director: Debbie Tucker Green; Writer: Debbie Tucker Green)
    Michael wants to know... and Donna is running out of excuses.
    Landscape As Character
    Harvest (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Alex Winckler; Writer: Richard Bean; Stars: Andrew Tiernan, Michael Socha, Sam Kelley, June Watson, Ryan Kygill)
    Two thieves break into a farm, but they're not alone.
    I Fought The Law
    How People Got Fire (Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Janke), Official Site
    A traditional tale from the Yukon territory of Canada.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    I-Do-Air (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Martina Amati)
    A little girl, afraid of water, holds her breath to escape reality.
    Landscape As Character
    If I Should Fall Behind (Country: Ireland; Year: 2009; Director: Morgan Bushe; Writer: Morgan Bushe; Stars: Jordan Boyle, Brendan Conroy, Amy Cox, Rhianna Cunningham, Kim Donohoe, Graham Dunphy, Denis Furlong, Jessica Kavanagh, Bill Murphy, Shane Murray-Corcoran, Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Matthew Reid, Paul Roe, Saoirse Sheridan, Maureen Whelan)
    A young boy tries to help his parents who are haunted by grief.
    The Young
    Inside (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Alexandre O Philippe; Stars: Allison Savoy, Jeff Pointer, Kerry Deignan Roy), Official Site
    A youngster waiting in a car for her dad wants to be outside.
    Landscape As Character
    Jade (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Elliott; Writer: Daniel Elliott; Stars: Aisling Loftus, Jonathan Phillips, Michael Socha)
    Jade is pregnant. She has to make a decision. Which path will she take?
    Landscape As Character
    Jelly Fishers (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Steve Subotnick; Writer: Steve Subotnick)
    A family floating at see are helped by a jelly fish.
    Animation Panorama
    John Wayne Hated Horses (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Andrew T Betzer; Writer: Andrew T Betzer; Stars: Mark Derbaremdiker, Anton Saunders)
    A young son and his father struggle with their very different ideas of masculinity.
    Landscape As Character
    Joseph's Snails (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Sophie Rose)
    Valuable lessons can be learned from snails.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    Kid (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Tom Green)
    A boy becomes embroiled in the world of his dad.
    A Thing Called Love
    Kids Might Fly (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Alex Taylor; Writer: Alex Taylor; Stars: Georgia Christou, Christie Leigh Emby, Kyle Hill, Kevin Lee, Danielle Lucas, Samuel Markham, Azzees Minott, Kamil Minott, Carmen Straker, Seema Tolooe)
    Offbeat portrait of young people in East London.
    The Young
    The Last Breath (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: David Jackson)
    A family are on a scuba-diving trip to an idyllic countryside lake. While diving there's an unexplained catastrophic event.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Lies (Lögner) (Country: Sweden; Year: 200; Director: Jonas Odell), Official Site
    The animator uses different techniques to explore the nature of mendacity.
    Animation Panorama
    The Little Dragon (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Bruno Collet)
    Thirty-five years after his death, Bruce Lee is reincarnated in the form of a toy figure.
    I Fought The Law
    Little Red Hoodie (Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Jørn Utkilen; Writer: Jørn Utkilen; Stars: Kazmin Borrer, Noel Boyd, Giselle Hammond, Kezia Doran, Nicola Jo Cully), Official Site
    Grim twist on Red Riding Hood.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Love Hate (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Blake and Dylan Ritson; Stars: Ben Wishaw, Hayley Atwell, Hattie Morahan)
    A charity worker faces trouble when he falls for a mysterious woman.
    People Are Strange
    The Magic Stamp (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Tomoko Oguchi; Writer: Tomoko Oguchi; Stars: Liam Mundy, Paul Savior), Official Site
    Can a stamp really grant a boy a wish?
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    Magic Water (Country: Latvia; Year: 2009; Director: Maris Brinkmanis; Writer: Maris Brinkmanis)
    Magic water brings trouble for two pals trying to grow a tree.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    Malban (Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2008; Director: Elodie Bouédec)
    A girl, Claude, is on holiday with her mother and her brother in their house near the sea. One night, the sudden visit of an unknown, Victor, confronts Claude to his past and the memory of his father now missing.
    Animation Panorama
    Mandarin Peel (Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Anna McGrath; Writer: Anna McGrath; Stars: Minnie Liszukiewicz), Official Site
    Two girls explore their friendship and the joy of a juicy mandarin in the dry Australian landscape.
    Landscape As Character
    The Man In The Blue Gordini (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Jean-Christophe Lie; Writer: Jean-Christophe Lie), Official Site
    Animation set in a suburb, where residents wear neither underwear nor trousers, only orange tops. With the help of a masked rebel driving a blue R8 Gordini, Mister R and his wife plot a radical clothing revolution.
    I Fought The Law
    Memotech (Country: Faroe Islands; Year: 2009; Director: Marianna Mørkøre, Rannvá Káradóttir)
    Experimental film set against the backdrop of the Faroes.
    Landscape As Character
    The Mill (Country: Ireland; Year: 2009; Director: David Freyne; Writer: David Freyne; Stars: Lesley Conroy, Liam McEvoy, Fionn O'Shea, Paul Roe)
    A young boy, while camping with his family, wakes up one morning to find himself entirely alone.
    Landscape As Character
    Mirror (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Stephen Cellar; Writer: Stephen Cellar; Stars: David Solomon, Maggie Brannon, Bijani Casalan, Danny Watters, Colin Williams, Britney Kroetz, Kiara Feliciano)
    The primitive survivors of mankind have their lives torn asunder, when two brothers discover an ancient relic from the 20th century.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Missing (Missen) (Country: Netherlands; Year: 2009; Director: Jochem de Vries; Writer: Jochem de Vries; Stars: Gitta Fleuren, Lotje Molin)
    A mum and her daughter prepare for a school trip.
    The Young
    Modern Life Is Rubbish (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Gill; Writer: Philip Gawthorne; Stars: Rebecca Night, Rafe Spall), Official Site
    The scenario of a couple splitting their record collection at the end of a relationship, is given an Ipod generation twist.
    A Thing Called Love
    The Nail (Country: Iceland; Year: 2009; Director: Benedikt Erlingsson; Stars: Þorsteinn Gunnarsson)
    Inside every man is an animal... it takes only an accident to release it.
    People Are Strange
    The Odds (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Paloma Baeza; Writer: Richard Fisher; Stars: Mark Strong, Ian McDiarmid)
    A suspicious casino floor manager confronts a very successful punter.
    I Fought The Law
    The One Last Time (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Scott Weintrob; Writer: Scott Weintrob; Stars: Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Siobhan Flynn, Lenore Thomas, Glen Ratcliffe, Anthony Okungbowa, Michael Frierson, Patrick Prentiss, Randy Bautista, Carl Isherwood, Percy Anthony Smith, Stuart Starr, Albert Stroth, Oliver Rayon, Yvonne Frontera, Judith Shekoni), Official Site
    Problems arise when two gangs attempt to hold up the same bank.
    I Fought The Law
    Pollphail (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Matt Lloyd)
    A deserted village in limbo on the west coast of Scotland where two men share an obsession with an imagined future.
    Landscape As Character
    Romka-97 (Country: Finland; Year: 2007; Director: Anastasia Lobkovski; Writer: Anastasia Lobkovski; Stars: Dmitry Filimonov, Inessa Pereligina, Vitaly Pichik, Anastasia Teplykova), Official Site
    Story about the son of an animal smuggler and his first love.
    The Young
    The Sack (Country: UK; Year: 2009), Official Site
    A Very Bad Man has an identity crisis of deadly proportions.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Sam's Hot Dogs (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: David López Retamero; Writer: David López Retamero), Official Site
    Sam lives a relaxed life selling hot dogs in the middle of a road that crosses a forest. His hot dog van, his huge bear and a bit of company once in a while are all he needs.
    Animation Panorama
    The Search (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Mark Buchanan; Writer: Gregor Barclay; Stars: Matt Berry, Tim Plester, Flora Montgomery), Official Site
    A lonely man finds his life changing after he comes into contact with a bereaved family.
    A Thing Called Love
    Seeds Of The Fall (Country: Sweden, USA; Year: 2009; Director: Patrick Eklund)
    Middle-aged couple Rolf and Eva live in a passionless relationship. But when Eva decides to seduce Rolf one night it will change their relationship forever
    A Thing Called Love
    Six Dollar Fifty Man (Country: New Zealand; Year: 2009; Director: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland; Writer: Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland; Stars: Oscar Vandy-Connor), Official Site
    A youngster who lives in an imaginative world of superheroes must face reality if he is to combat a bullying threat facing he and his pal.
    The Young
    Speechless (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Daniel Greaves)
    Modern life and mobile phones.
    Animation Panorama
    Spot And Splodge In Snowstorm (Prick och Fläck snöar in) (Country: Sweden; Year: 2008; Director: Lotta Geffenblad, Uzi Geffenblad)
    Spot is spotty and splodge is splodgy. They enjoy snowball fights together and making angels with arms, legs and ears. And when they cuddle up on the couch inside their warm house everything is just as it should be.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    Spunkbubble (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Tom Browne; Writer: Tom Browne; Stars: Daniel Cerqueira, Pandora Colin, Martin Compston, Karl Davies, Simon Day, Tom Fisher, Aidan Gillen, Alice Temple)
    A surveillance team witness an unspeakable series of sordid and bizarre events.
    People Are Strange
    A Story Of A Missing Car (Country: Poland; Year: 2009; Director: Grzegorz Jaroszuk)
    A glimpse into the life of a directionless young man.
    People Are Strange
    Team Taliban (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Benjamin Kegan)
    Who will you root for?
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Thompson (Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Jason Tippet; Stars: Ryan Andres, Alyssa Ernstmeyer, Matt Thompson), Official Site
    The director says: "Since second grade Matt and Ryan have shared the bond of speech impediments, weapons, and things that go fast. But as their last days of high school speed by, the two friends find that their go-carts, dirt bikes, and RC cars can’t outrun adulthood."
    The Young
    Three Mothers (Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Daniel Schachter; Writer: Daniel Schachter)
    Animation exploring three generations of a matriarchy.
    A Thing Called Love
    Touch Of Red (Director: Neil Ilderton)
    As Edgar Poe writes his seminal work ‘the fall of the house of usher’, we journey with him... through the beautiful, the macabre, and the unknown.
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    Trunk (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Christopher D'Elia; Writer: Christopher D'Elia, Michael Klein; Stars: Kyle Gallner, Zachery Ty Bryan, Brandon Molale, Steve Larkin, Suzanne Quast), Official Site, Trailer
    A series of deadly accidents recklessly spin the moral compass of two college students in this thriller/dark comedy set in the California desert.
    I Fought The Law
    When Apples Roll (Kad aboli ripo) (Country: Latvia; Year: 2009; Director: Reinis Kalnaellis)
    A cat lives with a devoted mouse. It’s autumn and, as usual, the cat would like to pick apples in an orchard on the outskirts of the old town. But the plan is interrupted when a strange egg suddenly rolls into the field of fruit.
    Animated Shorts For Younger Audiences
    A Whore And A Chick (Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Clément Michel)
    At a bus stop in the middle of nowhere, a young woman sees a man cycle past dressed as a chicken…
    Landscape As Character
    Wolves (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Rafael Sommerhalder)
    A howling wolf, an embarrassing accident and a missed opportunity.
    Animation Panorama
    Wunderkammer (Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Andrea Pallaoro), Official Site
    Andrea Pallaoro and Orlando Tirado
    The Gothic And The Grotesque
    What Light (Through Yonder Window Breaks) (Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Sarah Wickens; Writer: Sarah Wickens), Official Site
    Sunlight cast through a window breaks free and takes on a life of its own.
    Animation Panorama
    X Returns (Country: US, UK; Year: 2009; Director: Ammo), Official Site, Trailer
    Animation. After nearly 40 years of false imprisonment, cruel scientific testing and denial by the US government, Agent X is finally a free man again.
    I Fought The Law
News

59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground

More news and features

Playing Now

Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:

Glasgow Short Film Festival

Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Showcase of films with a humanitarian focus

Flare

South by Southwest

Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival
Greek celebration of factual film

In the Archive


Archive of festival coverage.

Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.

Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.