Starting today, it’s Encounters. Alongside our event programme preview, and our interviews with some SP members with films in the festival, below we spotlight some more of the great short films made by the Shooting People community, with links to where you can see them.

London Tomorrow – Short Film: Stranger Danger

Dir: Nimer Rashed
United Kingdom 2017
12 mins 59 secs
Fiction

London Tomorrow‘s Writer and Director Nimer Rashed, has been previously recognised by the International Emmy Awards for his screenwriting abilities.  After moving on to direct his own shorts including Baghdad Express and Touch, as well as multiple spots on Doctors, he was named on BBC’s New Talent Hotlist.

Produced by Lincia Daniel, London Tomorrow, stars Ammar Jaj Ajmad and Omar Tibi.  This short follows a 10-year-old refugee living in the ‘Jungle’ refugee camp of Calais.  He seizes the opportunity to escape to a better life – whatever the cost.  This powerful film captures the harsh realities of immigration and the common struggle to escape to a better life.

Rush – Comedy: Love Bites

Dir: Karni Arieli, Saul Freed
United Kingdom 2017
3 mins 41 secs
Fiction

In 2010, directing duo Karni Arieli and Saul Freed, showcased their short film Turning, made with the BBC, which went on to festivals worldwide, winning three.  It was also nominated for a BAFTA in 2011. They have remained partners in the making of commercials, music videos, and short films.  They are currently developing their first feature film with Warp, Creative London, and Film4.

Rush, is a colourful music video about the longevity of love, with music and lyrics by Nacho Scola.  Images of spores and metaphorical sperm galore as Karni and Saul’s visuals touch on procreation in humans and in nature.

4 – Deaf Shorts Showcase

Dir: Bim Ajadi
United Kingdom 2014
6 mins 24 secs
Fiction

Beginning as a Graphic Designer and Animator, Bim Ajadi worked in post-production for companies such as BBC and Channel 4.  For the past decade Bim has directed and produced a wide variety of works.  His personal deafness has proven a strength, as it has given him a unique visual perspective.

4 shows a young deaf man, portrayed by deaf actor Stephen Collins, who is challenged to a game of Connect 4.  He soon finds that this is no ordinary game. Are the odds stacked against him?  Bim succeeds in his use of dark, rhythmic visuals to emote the characters conflicting state of mind.

Santiago – Animation: Packing A Punch

Dir: Emma Allen
United Kingdom 2016
1 mins 26 secs
Animation

Emma Allen, an internationally recognised artist is best known for her body-paint animation work which has been exhibited all over the world, received millions of views online, and press coverage in both print and online and featured as a TV news story in 12 countries.  Her work has a focus on the human condition, and how it interacts with nature.

The film, Santiago, is an animated self-portrait exploring the line of human evolution and a projection of a possible future. As our evolution turns from biological to technological, combined with our created digital identities. Are we now the bridge between the born and the made?  The simple but powerful visual, shows the deep connection that exists between the past, present, and the surprising future.

Howls – Short Film: Happy Together

Dir: Catriona MacInnes
United Kingdom 2017
16 mins 19 secs
Fiction

Filmmaker, Catriona MacInnes originally trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.  She worked as an actor and drama practitioner for 4 years before going on to study film.  Her first film, I’m In Away From Here was BAFTA nominated and premiered in 2008 at the 65th Venice International Film Festival.  Catriona is currently working with THIRD Films, supported by the Scottish Film Talent Network through the BFI.net scheme to develop a new feature length screenplay titled Safe Days.

Her most recent project, Howls, follows young mum Janey who tries to escape her problems by taking her fragile son Brodie to a woodland hut community in Scotland and doorsteps of a random boy she has met. When hope of acceptance in the community quickly fades, she looses control, whilst Brodie finds solace in a mysterious wolf.  Howls was commissioned SFTN’s Emerging Talents Program with Creative England.