The BIFA and BAFTA qualifying Bolton Film Festival has become a staple in DN’s festival calendar. Every year the festival presents a wonderful selection of carefully curated shorts that always offer up an exciting opportunity to watch some of the best short films currently on the circuit. This year the festival takes place in person from Wednesday 2nd October through to Sunday 6th October at the Light Cinema in Bolton and online from Wednesday 9th October through to Sunday 20th October. Alongside its curated selection of films, it also boasts an informative programme of industry sessions – including the inaugural edition of the £10K Slick Films Fund live pitch event of which Directors Notes is a partner organisation. DN was graciously offered the chance to survey the short films screening at the festival next month and we can gladly report that the expected high bar of artistic quality has once again been met. The range of films too is impressive with animation, documentary and live action shorts from both established filmmakers and students sitting alongside one another. So, without further ado, please read on to explore DN’s list of ten cutting-edge shorts screening at Bolton Film Festival 2024.
Just Be Awesome – Ed Kear & Cringo Williamson
Ed Kear and Cringo Williamson’s Just Be Awesome follows a freelancer, Alex, at the end of his tether. He’s not getting any work, losing focus with his family, and relying on his wife to pay his way. But when a job interview arises with a hip new company he puts it all on the line. Alex is played by Spencer Jones (who featured in long form comedian/artists documentary A Brush With Comedy which was covered on DN earlier this year) who brings perfect comedic timing and a heartfelt delivery to his character’s journey of desperation. It’s also just a fun and playful satire on edgy, contemporary middleman companies.
We Beg To Differ – Ruairi Bradley
The cinematography of Ruairi Bradley’s documentary short We Beg To Differ is so strong. Locked off frames of careful compositions that depict the action with thoughtful consideration. It makes for a distinctive change from the atypical loose, handheld approach of most contemporary docs. The film itself is centred around drifting, a form of driving that is focused on a singular spot. But it’s really about community and events that bring people together, and how powerful and affecting to the individual that can be.
SUCK – Takuya Miyahara
A group of teenagers are hanging out at the lake when one of them appears to drown. Or does he? Takuya Miyahara’s short film SUCK is a gripping tale of teenage relations and strange, eerie vibes. It’s one of those horror/thriller shorts that shows just how powerful sound can be too. Slurping and guzzling has never sounded so uncanny.
Most Popular
Marion – Joe Weiland & Finn Constantine
Joe Weiland, whose BAFTA-nominated short Gorka we featured back in May last year, is at Bolton Film Festival with his new film Marion (which recently premiered at Venice and boasts Cate Blanchett and Sienna Miller as executive producers), co-directed with Finn Constantine. The story follows real life French female bull-jumper Caroline Noguès-Larbère as she readies herself for an upcoming event. Weiland and Constantine choose to keep the camera close to their protagonist as she navigates the male dominated spaces of her sport. This short particularly impressed me through its spectacular production design, with its recreation of the event of bull-leaping proving to be incredibly effective.
Gardening – Sarah Beeby
A psychedelic, surreal and fantastical exploration of life in the wake of a sexual assault. Filmmaker Sarah Beeby’s animated short Gardening is wonderfully unique, using myth-driven imagery as the springboard to discuss the navigation of one’s existence in the aftermath of a major trauma.
Dissolution – Anthony Saxe
Anthony Saxe’s divorce drama Dissolution is a fascinating short film. Featuring performances by the director’s actual parents, who are both non-actors, the story follows the couple as they navigate the process of finalising the end of their forty eight year marriage. Saxe combines the live action fictionalised segments of his short with genuine archival footage of Saxe’s parents, resulting in a brilliant piece of brutally honest autofiction.
Lapel – Nicholas Seaton
A sound recordist who’s burying herself in her work finds that her work is telling her what she needs to hear about her home life. I really like how Nicholas Seaton’s film Lapel showcases the power of performance and how a truly in-the-moment piece of acting can be a transformative mirror to our own personal issues. Seaton also just does a great job of creating a realistic, lived-in set atmosphere.
74 – Charalambos Margaritis
The purposefully unreliable form of Charalambos Margaritis’ animated short 74 is the perfect format for its historical narrative of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. It’s a film that unfolds without dialogue, instead relying on sketchbook-style imagery to recount the incredibly affecting period in Cypriot history, one that is still resonant today and yet to come to any resolution.
Nico – Max Olson
Evoking the existential loneliness of Wong Kar-wai or Jane Schoenbrun, Max Olson’s nocturnal short Nico is about a trans man navigating his way through a series of strange, liminal spaces in hopes of discovering who he is. The atmosphere of the short is what struck me, the patient, introspective cinematography mixed with dreamlike production design does an excellent job of transporting you into the eerie world of Olson’s titular protagonist.
Yeah The Boys – Stefan Hunt
Yeah The Boys is about six young Aussie men who spend an afternoon sinking beers and going wild. But it’s also a beautiful dance short. The brilliance of Stefan Hunt’s film is how he uses cliched male behaviour as a springboard to engage with masculinity on a much deeper level. It’s also scored by The Avalanches so you know you’re in for a good time.
You can find more unmissable films, like the ones playing at the Bolton Film Festival, in our Best of Fest collections.
