Scent follows the tragic and harrowing tale of an elderly man gripped with grief following the death of his wife, Patricia. John (David Barnaby) refuses to acknowledge his grief, choosing not to inform family or friends of his bereavement, instead keeping Patricia at home in bed so he can continue to care for her body. As time passes John makes evermore futile attempts to preserve his wife’s body and continue his daily routines. He tenderly bathes her, changes her clothes and makes increasing attempts to cover the stench, but nothing can stop the inevitable decay of her body. The fear of discovery looms over John with every given moment; the phone incessantly rings, neighbours become concerned and John struggles to hold things together. Despite overwhelming difficulties he cannot accept that his life as he has known it for so long, has altered irreparably.

Scent asks us to question our own ability to cope with separation and loss after a lifetime together. How can we begin to function alone, or acknowledge the dependence we may have had on another? How, in the end, are we able to begin a journey towards acceptance after such a shattering loss? This quiet, sensitive and poignant film explores themes of love, loss and denial through a delicate observation of what is essentially a heart breaking, yet most intriguing situation.

• Accolade Competition – Award Of Excellence in Short Film
• Holmfirth Film Festival – Northern Film Winner
• San Francisco Int. Festival of Shorts – Winner
• George Lindsay UNA Film Festival – Best Professional Narrative, Best Directing, Best Sound Design, and Best Editing

Set in the quiet and idyllic village of Hewson, Vigilante is a dark and satirical mockumentary that provides insight into a group of villagers determined to eradicate crime and anti-social behaviour in their community. The villagers, driven by a lack of police intervention and a disdain for bystander apathy, have formed a vigilance committee with the goal of tracking down and dealing with those committing criminal offences.

Through the eyes of a documentary film crew, we follow the story of committee member Pep (Simon Cassidy) a passionate and playful character, as he embarks on his nightly patrols of the village. Pep’s agenda is simple – to clean the streets of scum – by whatever means necessary, and it appears for a while that his methods are working; crime has lowered by 30%, criminals have moved out to surrounding villages and the elderly have begun to feel safe in their homes. With the local police force on his side Pep works harder than ever cleaning up the litter, intercepting graffiti artists and putting a stop to football hooligans singing in the street. But as the crew continue to follow him, his methods for controlling the ‘scum’ become evermore unorthodox and violent and, comparing himself to Batman, he begins to take on the role of judge, jury and executioner.

In this comic, and at times harrowing, short film, Pep’s actions lay the foundations for a much wider debate, in which audiences are asked to interrogate their understanding of crime and punishment and ultimately to what lengths should we, and would we, go to make our community a better place.

Awards Info

At a vulnerable point in her family life, Hannah acts out a reverie of fantasy and mischief to fill the widening void between her and her father.  Her transition from child to adulthood comes with a selfless and cathartic act that snatches her father back from the edge of collapse.

Awards Info

‘Every failed love another piece is gone. Too much broken love and eventually there’ll be none.’ A visual poem which tells a dark fairytale of broken love. All but one small piece of Link’s heart has been taken away by all the girls he’s loved. He realises that he can’t let another girl take the last piece and knows he will have to spend the rest of his life alone. But he ends up falling for Leelae, a customer at the butcher’s he works at. Every time Leelae tells Link she loves him, his one piece of heart grows more and more, the lump in his chest gets bigger and bigger, bursting through his chest plate. But Leelae gets scared – she wonders when or if the growing will stop. She thinks his heart is growing out of control, out to explode; maybe it was best she was gone. If she stays with him he may die, but how can she leave the man she loves?