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

Tribeca 2025 highlights Frédéric Boyer shares his thoughts on the best of this year's selection

Slice of life... and fable The President's Cake director Hasan Hadi on the challenges and craft behind his debut

In tune with the public Emmanuel Courcol on his upbeat hit The Marching Band

Mother nature Silje Evensmo Jacobsen on trust, complexity and A New Kind Of Wilderness

Cruising for a bruising as Cannes goes wild The latest Mission Impossible storms the Croisette with honorary Palme d’Or and red carpet adulation

De Niro’s Cannes voyage around his father 81-year-old star ponders his own mortality

More news and features

We're bringing you news, reviews and more from the Cannes Film Festival and Queer East.



We're looking forward to the Fantasia International Film Festival.



We've recently brought you coverage of Fantaspoa, Visions du Réel, the Overlook Film Festival, BFI Flare, the Glasgow Short Film Festival, South by Southwest, the Glasgow Film Festival, the Berlinale, Sundance, Palm Springs and DOC NYC.



Read our full for more.


Visit our festivals section.

Interact

More competitions coming soon.