2015 Festival

Underwire 2015
20-22 November, Hackney Picturehouse

SCHEDULE

Wired Women: a day of discussion on filmmaking craft - Saturday 14 November 2015, 11am - 5pm, 71a Gallery

Imagine a film industry where women have the dominant voice. The day’s events look to redress the balance, and we’ll be hearing from women across filmmaking processes, while gaining an insight into craft areas that can make or break a film. Essential insider knowledge for filmmakers and film lovers, this fascinating day of discussion, demonstration and advice will deepen understanding of the collaborative work that goes into making film so enduringly compelling. Presented in association with Little White Lies.

 

11:15am - Voice It Out: Find Your Editorial Power
From blogs, podcasts, print and social media campaigns, there are many ways to provide an alternative to male-dominated film commentary. Drawing on the inspirational experiences of professional female critics and commentators of print, radio and blogging, this session offers motivation and advice on how to find and contribute your voice to the dialogue of film.

Hosted by Corrina Antrobus of The Bechdel Test Fest. Speakers include: Simran Hans (freelance journalist), Ione Gamble (Editor in Chief, Polyester Zine), Niki Alexandrou (radio host, Hoxton Radio) and MaryAnn Johanson, (freelance journalist & founder of FlickFilosopher.com). For more information about each speaker visit the Eventbrite page.

12:30pm - Sculpting Sound: Not just a visual medium
The atmosphere created by careful sound design and specially composed music has the power to captivate an audience and significantly enhance their viewing experience. The skills and insight that Sound Designers and Composers bring to the process transform assembled footage into a story. With a dynamic demonstration of their work, we will be speaking to Composer Nainita Desai and Re-Recording Mixer Kath Pollard.

Presented by Sound Disposition and Musicians’ Union.

2:30pm - Focus on Cinematographers
We’ll be hearing from the director you rarely hear from: Director of Photography. Finding out what it takes to be a cinematographer; the differences and pitfalls of shooting on film versus digital; whose work inspires them; and which films they secretly think they could have shot better themselves! Leading cinematographers give a precious insight into their magical craft. Speakers include:Nicola Daley, Gabi Norland, Kate Reid and Susanne Salavati.

Hosted by Greenkit.

3:45pm - From idea to premiere: They Will Have to Kill Us First
Director Johanna Schwartz and Producer Sarah Mosses take us behind the scenes of the making of They Will Have to Kill Us First: a documentary feature film about the banning of music in Mali that has its European Premiere at the 2015 London Film Festival, before nationwide release. From crowd-funding to filming in Timbuktu they will share insider knowledge on how they made it happen.

Opening Night: Best Actor & XX Award - Friday 20 November, 6:30pm

Underwire’s celebration of women onscreen who are unpredictable and inspiring. Women who cannot be constrained or categorised. Women who are as diverse, unusual, outspoken and daring as women really are! The Opening Night programme includes two award categories: the Best Actor Award and the XX Award.

LEADING LADIES: Best Actor Award sponsored by Casting Call Pro

Four extraordinary actors deliver striking performances and present multi-faceted characters in these compelling films. Dark comedy tussles with more sinister themes and each performance conveys a depth of characterisation that ensures high impact. Possession, cult life, unusual career choices and the complexities of motherhood in films that amuse, horrify and astound.

Award sponsored by the UK’s leading casting and networking service for professional actors, Casting Call Pro. The winner will receive one year’s premium membership.

VINTAGE BLOOD
The owner of a quirky vintage shop discovers her fiancé’s life is in danger when a cursed Ouija board comes into her possession.
Izzy: Indira Varma

MURMUR
A young woman makes a dawn escape from a commune she has grown to distrust.
WINNER: Corette: Olivia Morgan

THE DRIVE
An unhappy mother struggles to connect to her infant daughter.
Sinead: Lesley Conroy

VIDEO
Elaine is having trouble balancing her life between her teenage daughter and her secretive evening job. Over one evening, her personal life spills over into her work when faced with an indecisive young couple.
Elaine: Sharlene Whyte

XX AWARD: Best Female Representation Award sponsored by Screen International

Visions of womanhood that you should see everywhere, but won’t see anywhere else: anarchic, driven, surreal and sexual. This outrageously entertaining programme delivers the unexpected, through unconventional stories that put women first. Also putting Matthew “Stars in Their Eyes” Kelly in an unforgettable new light.

Award sponsored by Screen International, the home for news, reviews, features and box office data. The winner will be interviewed for screendaily.com.

EGG
Egg is an absurd comedy about friendship and expecting the unexpected. Ivy and Margaret meet for tea, same time, same place, everyday. But today Ivy has some important news…
Writer/Director: Alice Trueman

OFFSIDE
After learning from her father that she will soon lose her position on the local boy’s football team, eleven-year-old Kirsty struggles to come to terms with her evolving identity as a young woman.
WINNER: Director: Jimmy Dean

PINEAPPLE CALAMARI
Pineapple Calamari is a little horse who dreams of becoming a racing champion. He is taken care of by two sisters, who share a very special connection. When tragedy befalls this happy family, their social life takes a dramatic turn into the unexpected.
Director: Kasia Nalewajka

CHERRY CAKE
Award-winning actors Mathew Kelly and Eve Pearce star in Cherry Cake, a wry, quintessentially British drama set in the heart of rural England British director Jaine Green known for tackling taboo subjects with humour takes a peek into the picture-perfect world of 86 year old Ingrid. You will never look at your grandmother the same way again…
Director/Writer/Producer: Jaine Green

The Violators: Feature Screening + Q&A - Friday 20 November, 8:45pm

This searing drama from novelist Helen Walsh marks her startling debut as a filmmaker. Set in the urban wastelands of Cheshire, not far from where Walsh grew up, the film follows teenager Shelly, a survivor determined to overcome her background of deprivation and abuse. Electrifyingly portrayed by Lauren McQueen, Shelly is drawn into manipulative relationships that threaten to force her to lose what little control of her life she has. This will be the London Premiere screening of The Violators.

Followed by a Q&A with Director/Writer Helen Walsh, Actor Lauren McQueen and Actor Brogan Ellis, chaired by Sophie Monks Kaufman, Staff Writer at Little White Lies.

“Unlike many new filmmakers from a writing background, Walsh has conceived her story in keenly image-based terms. Richly shot in unexpected ice-cream tones — a fresh break from the cement palette that dominates this corner of British film — the pic lingers on the fallen gambling arcades and muggy factory silhouettes of the region. Such ragged environmental texture plays heavily into our restless-but-routeless heroine’s state of mind.” Guy Lodge, Variety

The Violators is a powerful first feature film from Helen Walsh, who wrote and directed. With strong themes about the objectification of young women, the film depicts Shelly as defiant against the sexualised treatment she is subjected to. A charismatic and compelling character, she is determined to shake off the expectations of those who aim to exploit her. The Violators is social-realist in aesthetic only however, with a suspenseful plot that grips attention.

Having received comparisons to Andrea Arnold, Shane Meadows and Pawel Pawlikowski, following the film’s premiere at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, Helen Walsh is already being tipped as an important directing talent to watch. With this audacious debut that mixes genres and showcases an emphasis on beautifully constructed visual storytelling, the film marks the beginning of what we hope will be an enduring career.

 

Underwire’s Features Programme is supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.

 

DREAM DRAFTERS: Best Writer Award sponsored by Euroscript - Saturday 21 November, 11am

Identity, family, memory and nostalgia course through these stories that are alternately humorous, traumatic, poignant and heart-warming. Featuring Martin Freeman and Prunella Scales among the casts of diverse and engaging characters, these moving films present themes that affect us all.

Award sponsored by screenwriting development organisation Euroscript. The winner will receive free access to any Euroscript evening and weekend training courses for one year.

MIDNIGHT OF MY LIFE
Steve Marriott is one of the British music scene’s greatest vocalists. Midnight Of My Life is a poignant study of talent, ageing and what success means.
Writer: Nina Gerstenberger

SUB ROSA
Sub Rosa observes 8 year old Tilda who lives with her grandmother who runs a flower shop. The young girl roams around freely and discovers a world of indecent activities lurking behind the florists walls.
Writer: Snjolaug Ludviksdottir

EVERYDAY STORIES OF COLOSSAL IMPORTANCE
Edward, an eccentric recluse in his late sixties, is forced to sell the house that he has lived in for the last forty years. As the auction draws closer, a mysterious investor comes with news that will drastically alter the world he has known for so long.
Writer/Director: Sarah-Mace Dennis

SIDETRACKED
Jim, sits alone at a train station and waits. Sarah, approaches the edge of the platform, standing close to the yellow line, teasing it with her feet. Jim notices her and tries to start a conversation. It’s not a good conversation, he’s out of practice.
Writer: Jodi Gray

SCARLET
Desperate to replace her stolen train tickets and get to London for an important home office appeal, a destitute asylum seeker preys on a bankrupt fisherman for the cash and finds unexpected kinship.
Writer/Director: Annetta Laufer

FLOTSAM
A dark comedy following two half sisters as they embark on a disastrous hill walk to scatter their late Father’s ashes.
WINNER: Writer/Director/Producer: Gillian Park

 

LOOKING GLASS: Best Cinematographer Award sponsored by Greenkit - Saturday 21 November, 1pm

From a music video for Damon Albarn, to the seedy underworld of Soho via depictions of repressed memory and insight into alternative states of mind, this category’s lyrical and visually arresting films display an inventiveness and beauty that only film can fully realise.

Award sponsored by London based lighting equipment hire company Greenkit. The winner will receive £2,000 worth of energy efficient lights to use on their next project.

RACHEL COMING HOME
Rachel returns home for the funeral of her estranged mother.
Cinematographer: Sophia Tamburrini

HEAVY SEAS OF LOVE
The challenge was to make an interactive video for Damon Albarn using Interludes software. See the interactive version at Genero TV. Inspired by ‘Heavy Seas of Love’ Damon Albarn and Keats ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ a ‘Charlotte Sometimes’ Alice in Wonderland style adventure through historic time lapses in London.
Producer/Director/Editor/Cinematographer: Ruth Gardiner (Roofjee Films)

THE ROARING
Frank and Bea embark on a trip to the Cornish coast in order to satisfy Franks’ obsession with the sea serpent, Morgawr.
Director of Photography and Camera Operator: Faith Glenister

KNIT ME SOME HAPPINESS
Knit Me Some Happiness is about the day the Sheffield Knitting Club collectively made a picnic blanket. It turned out to be a big picnic.
Directors of Photography: Nicola Daley & Jen Fearnley

NAZI BOOTS
Narrated and inspired by the memories of Holocaust survivor Janine Webber, Nazi Boots dramatises Janine’s childhood trauma while exploring her adult need for catharsis.
WINNER: Cinematographer: Kate Reid

LIQUID GOLD IS THE AIR
Liquid Gold is the Air is a split screen triptych full of richly coloured iconographic images and fleeting dances set within the Cathedral of Trees, an arboretum planted on the footprint of Norwich Cathedral. Eighty people of all ages move with grace and vitality through the dappled sunlight.
Cinematographer: Roswitha Chesher

ROXANNE
Roxanne is a cold and isolated transgender sex worker who takes in Lily, an 11 year old girl who has been abandoned by her mother, when she sees the girl in danger. Bringing the girl into her home throws Roxanne’s life into disarray, and as the pair begin to bond, she is forced to question her priorities.
Cinematographer: Rina Yang

 

FRESH BLOOD: Best Under 25 Award sponsored by BFI Future Film - Saturday 21 November, 3pm

Controversial subjects handled with skill and assurance that show potential for a very bright future for the UK film industry. From transgenderism, to drug-dealing, to infamous photographer Terry Richardson, these films deliver the unpredictable and unexpected.

Award sponsored by BFI Future Film. The winner will receive two delegate passes for the BFI Future Film Festival in February 2016, BFI membership and a BFI goodiebag

MOTHER FATHER
Mother Father is an intimate insight into a relationship constantly challenged by issues regarding gender. Issues that were kept a secret from everyone outside of their relationship, including their daughters. A true story, captured and shared by the youngest daughter of two very brave women.
Director/Producer: Lucie Rachel

SCORING
Scoring is a different kind of coming of age story about friendship, drugs, being young and making bad decisions. Two girls set out to score weed without guys which leads them on a journey of independence and self empowerment.
Katja: Marli Siu

THE WAY WE WANDER
The Way We Wander is a life affirming adventure. That of Reuben and Violet, a quirky pair who’s chance encounter in a launderette leads them both spontaneously into a blossoming friendship. At a point in their lives where they are both in need of some stability and dependence, their unexpected meeting allows them to grow together and come to realise whatever happens happens - they aren’t alone.
Producer: Rashida Noray

THE SCHOOLBOY
Claire Adams, a former teacher is haunted by her memories of a mysterious event that happened a year ago. In order to come to terms with her past, she decides to return to the place where her sense of guilt originates from: school.
Producers: Katelyn Connerty, Raluca Ionescu

YELLOWSTONE
Following the eruption of super-volcano Yellowstone, Wyoming, Amy wanders the UK searching for the next chapter of the human race.
Director/Writer/Producer: Charlotte Morrison

TERRY’S LAST INTERN
Terry Richardson’s Wrecking Ball music video sparked a media onslaught of open letters and feminist debates concerning whether Miley’s nudity was empowering or victimising. Terry’s Last Intern imagines the day preceding the shoot with as many innuendos as can be found in the original video.
WINNER: Writer/Director/Editor: Hannah Ford

Aural Pleasure: Best Composer & Best Sound Designer Awards - Saturday 21 November, 5pm

 

SONIC SIRENS: Best Sound Designer Award sponsored by Sound Disposition

Across documentary, animation and drama, astute sound design enlivens this programme of gripping films, featuring Kate Dickie answering a 999 call, recounted rites of passage, family relations and resistance to religious homophobia.

Award sponsored by top quality sound post production house Sound Disposition. The winner will receive a day of studio time.

OPERATOR
Gemma wakes to find her house on fire. Trapped with her son, she dials 999. The operator who answers holds Gemma’s life in her hands.
WINNER: Sound Designer: Lisa-Marie McStay

PAPER THIN
Seventeen year old Mina isn’t like most teenage girls. Her concerned parents decide to act before it’s too late. But things don’t quite go according to plans. Part horror movie part magical realism, Paper Thin is a subversive take on psychiatry, religious fundamentalism, the power of fairy godmothers… and the truth.
Sound Designer/Music: Steph Walker

SUNDAY
Ten year old Jonah sees his absent father once a month for a splash about at the local pool. Together they find fun in the water, but when it stops, Jonah begins to plunge new emotional depths. A tender observation of a boys burgeoning consciousness, buoyed by beautiful underwater imagery and subtle performances.
Sound Designer: Kirstie Howell

TAKLIF
Taklif is an abstract yet lyrical story of religion as forced into a girl’s life, seen from the innocent perspective of the child. It conveys the violence of early marriage and rites of passage, as faced by pre-pubescent girls in an Islamic context.
Director/Sound Designer/Editor: Maryam Tafakory
 

SHE SCORES: Best Composer Award sponsored by Musicians’ Union

Atmospheric and inventive scores illuminate each piece in this diverse collection of films, by turns delightful, heart-breaking, beautiful, and powerful, including animation, dance and a moving performance from Olivia Williams.

Award sponsored by Musicians’ Union, which looks after the interests of over 30,000 professional musicians. The winner will receive 1 year of membership, a bespoke careers advice session and a visit to Abbey Road Studios.

ELI
Breaking free from her home in a suitcase, Eli embarks on an extraordinary journey during which she takes in a magic show, runs wild in the country and meets a mysterious woodland spirit who gives her a special gift.
Director/Animator/Composer: Claire Morgan Jones

NAJMIA
As labour nears, a pregnant twelve year old Yemeni child bride must endure the challenges of her everyday life. Inspired by the true story of Fawziya Abdullah Youssef.
Composer: Emily Rice

VISIONS
A ballet in noir about young dancer Clio as she reaches out for inspiration only to be sucked into a spiral of fatal attraction.
Composer: Dani Howard

EMMA, CHANGE THE LOCKS
Emma (Olivia Williams) changes the locks on the front door of an empty apartment. But who, or what, is she locking out, and why? As she goes through the process of installing the lock her mood shifts from steely determination, to fear, to regret… and then the knocking starts…
WINNER: Composer: Josephine Stephenson

IN THE CUT: Best Editor Award sponsored by VET - Saturday 21 November, 7pm

An over-abundance of talent covering all genres: from a steam room in the Docklands, to a magical circus, via New Mexico, and an encounter with Ben Whishaw, this collection of documentary, animation and narrative films showcases the diversity of subject and style that makes Underwire proud to exist.

Award sponsored by post production house VET. The winner will receive £500 of suite time or training.

BOOTWMN
Deana McGuffin is a third generation New Mexico bootmaker, handcrafting wearable pieces of art. When she is approached by a Canadian artist and a San Franciscan tattooer to create a gay themed cowboy boot, a story unravels of a unique collaboration that takes them to the heart of cowboy country.
Editor: Bonnie Rae Brickman

THE FALLEN CIRCUS
Agnes falls from the sky landing at the feet of a friendly juggler who tells her the story of The Fallen Circus. Agnes tells him that she has lost her mum who was blown away by a big gust of wind, so he promises to help her find her mum.
Writer/Director/Editor: Shelly Love

WE WILL FAIL
We will fail is a story of fascination and mystery set in a timeless space filled with potted plants, modernist furniture, old museum specimen and other ephemera. The main characters conducts a series of surrealist acts and pseudo-scientific experiments lifted straight from Codex Seraphinianus. The central object of the video is a mysterious chemical substance, the effects of which are never revealed but which must be powerful, as hinted by the violent dimming of the lights. Is it a chemical weapon? Is it a powerful drug? Maybe a cure for a disease or the elixir of youth? The answer is up to each watcher.
Writer/Director/Editor: Olga Ozieranska

THE MUSE
Edward Dunstan (Ben Whishaw) is a photographer and filmmaker obsessed by his muse (Kristen McMenamy). Blinded by his all-consuming passion and perfectionism, he was unable to see her as she was and so, she has left him.All that remains are his photographs and film of her that he has running on a loop. Only now does he understand what she endured. There is nothing left for him but to become both artist and muse…
Editor: Cinzia Baldessari

SHARON
Sharon was ordained seven years ago and she has recently joined a new parish. The presence of women in senior roles in the Church of England is still controversial. The film exposes the questions Sharon asked herself before answering the call to the priesthood.
Director/Producer/Editor: Jessica Bishopp

FULFILAMENT
Travel around the brain with a little, lost thought and discover what it takes to make a great idea.
Editor: Samantha Rhodes

STEAMERS
Steamers follows the regular patrons of the Docklands Sauna and Steam Rooms of East London. Friends, steamers, who have been steaming together for decades, share their love of the steam, telling stories and getting their therapy amongst the hot air. A film about community, camaraderie and friendship.
Editors: Marta Pretty and Anita Churcher

IN REAL LIFE
Journeying through In Real Life’s otherworldly hued, colour shifting scenes, the film probes the themes of agency, a culture of sublimated violence and powerlessness in its topical social inquiry. A sense of precarity reigns when the protagonist stumbles upon a YouTube instructional video for escaping a hypothetical situation of restraint.
Director, Writer, Editor: Claire Kurylowski

SATAN HAS A BUSHY TAIL
Satan has a Bushy Tail is a wickedly fun, charming buddy comedy about grandparents, bereavement and a demonic squirrel… called Clive.
WINNER: Editor: Manuela Lupini

Addicted to Sheep: Feature Screening + Q&A - Saturday 21 November, 8:45pm

Having caused the Chair of Sheffield Doc/Fest to remark “the kind of film which just makes me glad Sheffield Doc/Fest exists” Addicted to Sheep is an endearing and remarkable film. Director Magali Pettier spent a year with tenant farmers the Hutchinson family, and documents their lives with a compassion and warmth that emanates from the screen.

Followed by a Q&A with Director/Producer Magali Pettier and Producer Jan Cawood, chaired by Writer/Film Programmer, Simran Hans.

 

Mark Kermode, Observer, ★★★★
“… Told with affection but without sentimentality (life and death are unflinchingly intertwined), Magali Pettier’s debut feature gets under the skin of its subjects and the tough lives they lead.”

David Parkinson, Empire, ★★★★
“This intimate, but unflinching account of the travails of a North Pennine farming family captures the beauty of the changing seasons, while deftly conveying the graft involved in rearing sheep and cattle and the grimier realities of the rural economy.”

Gently introducing cameras to the family so as to ensure natural behaviour on camera, Pettier’s patience has ensured a touching and compelling insight into a lifestyle unimaginable to the city dweller, and accurately portrayed with candid honesty. The entire Hutchinson family is very much addicted to and dedicated to sheep, working tirelessly in the astonishingly beautiful North Pennines. The humour and generosity with which they share their passion is strikingly moving, particularly during encounters with the younger Hutchinsons, aged 10, 12 and 13 years old.

First time feature producer Jan Cawood and Magali (who herself grew up on a farm) have been delighting audiences around the UK with the film. While you may enter the cinema thinking it must be a sort of madness to farm prize-winning sheep, this beautiful and unapologetically sympathetic documentary might just have you wishing to swap lives on your way out!

 

Underwire’s Features Programme is supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.

 

CELLULOID SCULPTORS: Best Director Award sponsored by Directors UK - Sunday 22 November, 3:30pm

Romance and humour give way to darker and more difficult territory, in an unforgettably powerful programme. Warning: one film in this programme contains explicit language describing acts of prostitution.

Award sponsored by Directors UK, the professional association for TV and film directors. The winner will receive a mentoring lunch with an experienced Directors UK member.

AT FIRST SIGHT
A newly married couple return home from their honeymoon and open all of their wedding presents, but find there is one gift they are unable to share.
Director/Writer: Chloë Wicks

REST STOP
Everything changes one night for Meredith, a young backpacker desperate to find meaning in her life, when she meets a mysterious stranger in a dingy British service station… claiming to know her.
Director: Kate Herron

THE AGREEMENT
Shortly before her due date, Laura visits the married couple she is giving birth for.
Director/Writer: Eva Riley

HISTÒRIA D’UN OBJECTE (STORY OF AN OBJECT)
Història d’un Objecte is the story of an object, a story about subjectivity and introspection of people. The short film portrays the conflict between two friends after the disappearance of an object and their pursuit in order to find it.
WINNER: Director, Writer and Co-Producer: Carlota Castells Puig

MEN BUY SEX
This is a documentary about paying for sex. Three men share three radically different experiences while three women lip sync to their words. A frank exploration of gender inequality that uses subverted perspectives to ask: What can their stories tell us about our society, others, and ourselves?
Director: Alice Russell

 

RING MASTERS: Best Producer Award sponsored by Women in Film & TV (UK) - Sunday 22 November, 5:30pm

Breath-taking ambition and scope, delivered to an exceptional standard, these works demonstrate every reason to feel that the future of UK filmmaking is in safe hands. The proof of collaborative brilliance shines throughout each, reflecting assured producing skill across this extraordinary programme.

Award sponsored by Women in Film & TV (UK). The winner will receive a mentoring lunch with a top industry producer, plus a year’s membership.

OFF THE GRID
Sandwip is a Bangladeshi island which has no grid electricity in homes. Men routinely leave their families in search of jobs where industrial electricity exists. In the last ten years, solar energy has brought a tiny spark of light and connection to their wives and children facing the isolation of life here. Guided by a young and ambitious solar engineer, we enter the homes of a mother of two and a young girl about to finish school. Off the Grid explores what the experience of a life without electricity means both emotionally and materially, as we go from light to dark over the course of a day.
Producer: Raihana Ferdous
Director/Producer: Meghna Gupta

A L’OMBRA DE LA MUNTANYA (IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOUNTAIN)
The villagers of a tiny place in the Catalonian Pyrenees will do everything in their power to preserve their identity in history.
Producer: Laura Torenbeek

STRINGS
Following the death of his wife, Dean leaves the Army to care for his son Luke. Convinced his dad is a spy, Luke embarks on a journey that leads him to discover the awkward truth. A boys own tale of secrets, subterfuge and fallen heroes set against a backdrop of 1970s Britain.
WINNER: Producer: Ruth Wright

TOUCH LIFE
Agata is a modern, blind woman. Her boyfriend Matt wants to introduce Agata to his family, 3,000 miles away. In the days leading up to the trip, Agata ponders what it means to be in a relationship. How can you be sure of your loved one when you’ve never even seen him?
Producer: Anne Milne

BELLEVILLE
Surreal stories unfold from dawn to dusk in an introverted tale of suburban living.
Producer: Julia Rockwell

NASTY
Short fantasy-horror set in 1982. Twelve year old Doug is drawn into the lurid world of VHS horror as he explores the mysterious disappearance of his Dad. Shot on 16mm and S8mm film.
Producers: Meghna Gupta, Helen Mullane

Awards Night - Sunday 22 November, 8pm

As the only short film festival presenting prizes across the crafts, our Awards Night is an amazing opportunity for creatives working across a whole film crew to meet and congratulate one another on their amazing achievements. Each of our Award Sponsors shares our aim to help nurture the talent that we have enjoyed at the festival, and we are proud to offer generous mentoring, training and memberships from them as prizes.

The women who will shape the future of the UK’s film industry will be recognised at this special event, both as nominees and winners, and after this evening of celebration, we hope to see much more from them all.

And everyone who joins us to celebrate will be given a complimentary gin and tonic made with BLOOM London Dry Gin. BLOOM London Dry Gin, created by the World’s first Female Master Distiller is a light & floral London Dry Gin – enriched with natural botanicals of honeysuckle, pomelo & chamomile for a delicate gin drinking experience.

Event sponsored by Women in Film & TV (UK)

Sense and Sensibility: Feature Screening + Intro - Sunday 22 November, 8:30pm

Emma Thompson’s first feature screenplay charmed the world twenty years ago. After writing seventeen drafts, most of those completed by hand, she created one of the most beloved adaptations of one of the most beloved novels, and won international awards for doing so.

There will be a short introduction by Writer Samantha Ellis on Emma Thompson’s adaptation of the original novel for the screen.

Known as an actress of skill, variety and fearlessness, Emma Thompson’s work as a screenwriter is less discussed, despite her status and expertise. Sense and Sensibility, together with Nanny McPhee and last year’s Effie Gray demonstrate her compelling evocation of women, foregrounding nuanced, strong-willed and honest characters who have a directness and warmth that is irresistible.

Recently Emma Thompson has spoken passionately about the need for increased equity in the film industry between men and women. She has remarked on the sexism she and her peers experience, and is proudly feminist in her stance, bravely standing up to international organisations for her beliefs. These profoundly important views resonate through all her work, and are present in the timeless characterisations she brings to the screen through her writing.

In celebration of a writer who uses her eloquence to reaches across genres, times and audiences to convey essential truths and relate stories as beautifully as can be imagined, we are delighted to present this special 20th Anniversary screening of Sense & Sensibility.

 

Underwire’s Features Programme is supported by Film Hub London, managed by Film London. Proud to be a partner of the BFI Film Audience Network, funded by the National Lottery.