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Edinburgh International Film Festival · 2023

Edinburgh International Film Festival 2023

Short Films

The showcase each short is appearing in is shown in itallics

Programme

19 films · 2 reviews

Jump to a film

A Border Between Us

When a Bangladeshi man moves across the world to be with his partner in the UK, they discover the unforeseen costs of following your heart.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Riad Arfin)

Bridging The Gap

Fitting

Explores the relationship between the director, an amputee, and her prosthetist, by their contrasting experiences during the making of a prosthetic leg.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Caitlin McMullan)

Bridging The Gap

A Float

Explores subtle modes of refusal through the lens of a Black queer swimmer in a hostile environment.

(Country: Denmark, UK; Year: 2023; Director: Isabel Barfod; Writer: Isabel Barfod)

Animation Short Films

Friends On The Outside

An experimental short documentary that tells the story of Jamie, exploring how foraging for weeds and caring for birds has helped him recover from mental illness and the chronic stress of incarceration.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Annabel Moodie)

Bridging The Gap

Fuar: A Counter-Memory

An animation series that draws attention to the collective amnesia of the 1922 Great Fire of Smyrna/Izmir by examining the urban park, Fuar, built on top of its ruins.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Ezgi Özbakkaloğlu; Writer: Ezgi Özbakkaloğlu)

Animation Short Films

Living With It

Perfectionist Lee must adapt to the imperfect reality of living with an illness – brought to life as a chaotic supernatural flatmate: Bug.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Holly Summerson; Writer: Holly Summerson)

Animation Short Films

Never Mind Walnut Street

The Polish director's homage to her adopted city of Belfast.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Marta Dyczkowska)

Bridging The Gap

The Perpetrators

Review preview for The Perpetrators

The animation interconnects, sometimes in the same image, with a beautifully recreated Eighties suburban world.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Suburban London, the 1980s. A stranger in the family becomes a ghost child and awakens the monsters and desires of a queer childhood.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Richard Squires; Writer: Richard Squires; Stars: Art Erikson, Eric Geynes, Anthony Powell)

Full review See: Interview with Richard Squires about The Perpetrators

Animation Short Films

Pink Moon (Pembe Ay)

As a family from the politically and physically divided island of Cyprus, Meray and her father developed extremely opposite views to each other. She travels from Scotland back to her childhood home and explores their relationship.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Meray Diner)

Bridging The Gap

Shackle

Three archetypal woodland spirits explore the conflicting human drives of creativity, possessiveness and our desire for status.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Ainslie Henderson)

Animation Short Films

She's My Best Friend (and I Hate Her)

Old friends Milly and June wait impatiently for each other outside a coffee shop. The longer they wait, the more annoyed they get, causing past hurts and old resentments to play on their minds.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Candy Guard)

Animation Short Films

Solo

Review preview for Solo

Solo features wonderfully detailed sets which give depth and meaning to its characters’ lives, plus fantastic costume work both on and off the stage.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
The story of Simon, who must deal with the disappointment of two impossible loves: a passionate but destructive crush on Oliver and a distant and cold relationship with his mother Claire, who has just moved back in after a 15-year absence.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Sophie Dupuis; Writer: Sophie Dupuis; Stars: Théodore Pellerin, Félix Maritaud, Vlad Alexis)

Full review

The Wool Aliens and Other Films

The Sound Of The Wind

On 24 February 2022, chef Yulia loses her former life and becomes a refugee, along with her two adopted daughters, fleeing the war in Ukraine. She now works as a butcher in Scotland and her husband is in one of the most dangerous spots on the frontlines.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Maria Pankova)

Bridging The Gap

Sweet Like Lemons

A visual reflection on getting out of a harmful relationship and moving on.

(Country: UK, Finland; Year: 2023; Director: Jenny Jokela)

Animation Short Films

A Taste For Music

Living with a sick loved one can have benefits and problems, a self-reflective documentary inspired by the memories and the record collection of the director's father.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Jordan Antonowicz-Behnan)

Animation Short Films

Tell Me About The Burryman

A collaborative film portrait of Burnfoot Community Garden, and its dedicated team of staff and volunteers, in Hawick.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Julia Parks)

The Wool Aliens and Other Films

Waldeinsamkeit

An old lady feels alienated from modern city life, but when she embarks on a magical dreamlike journey she finds wonder and a newfound appreciation for the place she lives in.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Silvana Roth)

Animation Short Films

The Wolf of Custer

A town loves telling tales about a legendary wolf. One hunter, however, proclaims it’s just an ordinary wolf. He sets out to pursue it but while on the hunt, he begins to witness and understand the power of stories.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Tanya J Scott)

Animation Short Films

The Wool Aliens

A journey into the historical and tactile entanglements between sheep’s wool, migrant plant seeds and the River Tweed.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Julia Parks)

The Wool Aliens and Other Films