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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2011

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2011

Short Films

Short film showcases like this are an important place for talented new filmmakers to draw attention to their work. Many of the world's most famous directors started out making shorts, so watching them is a great way for you to discover new talent.

Programme

12 films · 12 reviews

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Arsenic

Review preview for Arsenic

Purposefully constructed, and to this point well-made.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
A contemplation of the fallibility of memory, especially as we age.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Robert Todd)

Full review

Blood And Dust (Blood & Dust)

Review preview for Blood And Dust

We see the battlefield medics at work in handheld, single camera setups.

Scott Macdonald · 4.5 out of 5
A short documentary about medical auxiliaries working to save lives on the battlefields of Helmand.

(Country: US; Year: 2011; Director: Vaughan Smith) , Official site

Full review

Food

Review preview for Food

Not so much leftovers reheated as new twists on old classics.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
With sustenance running short, people start to look around for new things to eat.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Jonathan van Tulleken; Writer: Christian Contreras; Stars: Laurence Spellman, Nav Sidhu, Paterson Joseph, Roger Allam, Togo Igawa)

Full review

Geronimo

Review preview for Geronimo

Dean Stalham's script is nicely paced, touching, and Nele Hecht's direction catches plenty of nuance in the cast's performances.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A father and son working in the haulage industry are linked by an awkward sentimental attachment to a ring.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Nele Hecht; Writer: Dean Stalham; Stars: John Ashton, Tanya Franks, Colin Mace, Lee Ross, Ben Smith)

Full review

Heidi Kim at W Hong Kong Hotel

Review preview for Heidi Kim at W Hong Kong Hotel

The mysteries are infinite.

Scott Macdonald · 3.5 out of 5
A beautiful woman reclines mysteriously in an anonymous hotel. What is her secret?

(Country: Austria; Year: 2010; Director: Friedl vom Grüller)

Full review

Home

Review preview for Home

This is an excellent film, rewarding audiences with a slowly crystallising sense of dread.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
Homeless acquaintances discuss the apparent disappearance of a man they know.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Baff Akoto; Writer: DC Moore; Stars: Johnny Harris, Lorraine Stanley, Branko Tomovic, Anthony Welsh)

Full review

Hooked

Review preview for Hooked

For all the subtlety in Alexander Stewart's script and the confidence of Henry Darke's direction it is Tyson and Dobson who make the film.

Andrew Robertson · 4.5 out of 5
A mixed-heritage woman falls out with her resentful white mother on a turbulent housing estate.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Henry Darke; Writer: Alexander Stewart; Stars: Cathy Tyson, Anita Dobson, Adeel Akhtar, Satnam Bhogal)

Full review

Home Movie

Review preview for Home Movie

Seems to convert someone else's memories to someone else's acid flashbacks.

Scott Macdonald · 1 out of 5
An exploration of family memories now distorted.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2010; Director: John Price)

Full review

Magic

Review preview for Magic

John Williams' direction is good, managing to make stage magic look like stage magic while using screen magic to make photographs come alive.

Andrew Robertson · 3.5 out of 5
A glimpse into the lives of a troupe of stage magicians trying to keep the magic alive.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: John Williams; Writer: Nick Mohammed; Stars: Jane Horrocks, Ricky Grover, Moya Brady, Perry Benson, Wilfred Taylor)

Full review

Micah

Review preview for Micah

The performances are predicated upon an excellent script.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
Tensions escalate between two brothers as the apparently respectable life of one begins to unravel.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: John Maidens; Writer: Levi David Addai; Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, David Ajala, Cecilia Noble)

Full review

Photo Session

Review preview for Photo Session

If photographs are infinitesimally small slices of time captured, the movies give us that additional dimensionality that turns them into real, living and breathing people.

Scott Macdonald · 3 out of 5
The passion a couple reveal during a photo shoot is lost when they are captured in still images.

(Country: Austria; Year: 2010; Director: Friedl vom Grüller)

Full review

Rough Skin

Review preview for Rough Skin

This is at times quite uncomfortable viewing, intimate, neatly demonstrating the barriers that can be created for and by people in their lives.

Andrew Robertson · 4 out of 5
A former prisoner struggles to readjust to family life.

(Country: UK; Year: 2011; Director: Cathy Brady; Writer: Laura Lomas; Stars: Anna Clark, Lorraine Ashbourne, Marc Ryan-Jordan, Natalie Burke, Vicky McClure)

Full review