London Short Film Festival are proud to announce our 2020 UK and international competition selection.
With our largest intake to date of submissions, we are as dedicated as ever to rigorous collaborative programming, with many a hard decision made in whittling down to the 45 competition-qualifying films we here present. Including 11 UK premieres, each film selected we believe to be a singular and compelling work, aligning with and expanding on the festival’s own ethos of elevating the short form and maximising on its creative potential.
We are also pleased to announce our 2020 international jury, supported by the British Council, which will welcome musician and filmmaker Baloji (Zombies), actress Stacy Martin (Nymphomaniac, Vox Lux) and programmer Lydia Ogwang (Toronto International Film Festival) to deliberate on the award-winning films.
This edition’s UK Competition is presented in partnership with i, with all four programmes hosted exclusively at the BFI Southbank, and our International Competition in partnership with frieze, hosted exclusively at the ICA.
Image: The Giverny Document Single Channel by JaTovia Gary
AWARDS
BEST BRITISH SHORT FILM
Sponsored by the British Council, the Best British Short Film Award champions stimulating filmmaking in the UK. Its winner will receive a £1,500 grant towards their next project, and will have the opportunity to screen their work through i. A Special Mention will be awarded £500 towards their next project.
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM
The Best International Short Film Award in partnership with frieze celebrates ambitious, conscientious filmmaking from across the globe, specifically work that demonstrates formal innovation. The Best International Short Film award winner will receive an award of £1,500.
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The Best Documentary Award recognises an outstanding ability to use the documentary form engagingly and exhibit a careful understanding of the relationship between the filmmaker and the documented. The Best Documentary Short winner will receive an award of £1,000.
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Best Animated Short Film award recognises the skillful rendering of worlds in their chosen animated form, looking to animation’s capacity for experimentation through storytelling. The Best Animated Short winner will receive an award of £1,000.
Image: Suspended Island by Jane and Louise Wilson
UK COMPETITION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH i
- 4:3, Ross Hogg, UK, 5’
- Azaar, Myriam Raja, UK, 22’
- Another Decade, Morgan Quaintance, UK, 28’
- Be Still My Beating Heart, Ruth Paxton, UK, 25’
- Black Pond, Jessica Sarah Rinland, UK, 43’
- Dad Joke, David Abramsky, UK, 16’
- Drum, Hayley Williams, UK, 9’
- End-O, Alice Seabright, UK, 15’
- Field of Infinity, Guli Silberstein, UK, 6’
- The Fight, Georgi Banks-Davies, UK, 14’
- They Found Her in a Field, Ellie Rogers, UK, 6’
- Goldfish, Hector Doctrill, UK, 19’
- GUO4, Peter Strickland, Hungary/UK, 4’
- Hydebank, Ross McClean, UK, 17’
- If You Knew, Stroma Cairns, UK, 6’
- Kingdom Come, Sean Dunn, UK, 17’
- Listen to Me Sing, Isabel Garrett, UK, 13’
- Memoirs of a Geeza, Theo James Krekis, UK, 3’
- Pompeii, Harry Lighton/Marco Alessi/Matthew Morgan, UK, 8’
- Quarantine, Astrid Goldsmith, UK, 13’
- Suspended Island, Jane and Louise Wilson, UK, 16’
- The Trap, Lena Headey, UK, 30’
- White Rocks, Carmen Mueck, UK, 14’
Image: Drum by Hayley Williams
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH frieze
- After Two Hours, Ten Minutes Had Passed, Steffen Goldkamp, Germany, 20’
- Bamboe, Flo Van Deuren, Belgium, 19’
- The Bite (A Mordida), Pedro Neves Marques, Portugal, 26’ (UK premiere)
- China not China, Richard Tuohy, Australia, 15’
- E-Ticket, Simon Liu, Hong Kong, 13’
- FragMANts, NEOZOON, Germany, 6’ (UK premiere)
- The Giverny Document (Single Channel), Ja’Tovia Gary, USA, 42’
- The Glamorous Boys of Tang, Su Hui-Yu, Taiwan, 15’ (UK premiere)
- The Hissing of Summer Sands, Catarina Mourão, Portugal, 16’ (UK premiere)
- horizōn, Anya Tsyrlina/Sid Iandovka, Switzerland, 8’
- Imbued Life, Ivana Bosnjak/Thomas Johnson, Croatia, 13’
- Instructions on How to Make a Film, Nazlı Dinçel, USA, 13’
- ЮНАК [juˈnʌk], Georgi Stamenov, Bulgaria, 9’
- Parsi, Eduardo Williams/Mariano Blatt, Argentina/Switzerland, 23’
- La Pute Arabe, Drew Lint, Canada, 7’ (UK premiere)
- Sandoval’s Bullet, Jean-Jacques Martinod, Ecuador, 17’
- Surge, Billy Roisz/Dieter Kovacic, Austria, 6’ (UK premiere)
- Swinguerra, Bárbara Wagner/Benjamin de Burca, Brazil, 23’ (UK premiere)
- Syndrome IO, Anastasia Braiko/Anastasia Veber/Egor Sevastyanov, Russia, 20’ (UK premiere)
- tx-reverse, Martin Reinhart/Virgil Wildrich, Austria, 5’ (UK premiere)
- Volcano: What Does a Lake Dream?, Diana Vidrașcu, France/Romania/Portugal, 21’ (UK premiere)
- Yung Lean, Please Be My Yung Love, Julia Mellen, USA, 15’ (UK premiere)
Image: Volcano: What Does a Lake Dream? by Diana Vidrașcu
The full LSFF 2020 programme is live now.
Lead image: Pompeii by Harry Lighton, Marco Alessi and Matthew Morgan