BAFTA SHORTS 2017 THE BEST BRITISH SHORT FILMS OF THE YEAR
British Council Film is the ‘cultural partner’ of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and we are partnering for a sixth time in 2017 to showcase the short film nominees as part of our remit to promote the best of British short filmmaking internationally. The UK has a long tradition of producing world class short film and both BAFTA and British Council recognise the value of nurturing the diversity and talent demonstrated by short filmmakers producing short film. Drawing from the 2017 nominees in both Best Short (Live Action) and Best Short (Animation) BAFTA categories we aim to find new international audiences for the films and their filmmakers.
The BAFTA 2017 Short Film Nominees programme features five live action shorts and three animated films with an approximate running time of 98 minutes. The films are available on DVD, Blu-ray. Please note that these films are not suitable for audiences under 16 years of age. The films are intended primarily for non-theatrical screenings. This means that while the films can be screened in cinemas or on British Council, diplomatic or cultural/educational premises, they must be for nonpaying audiences (98min). The films should always be credited as ‘EE BAFTA Short Film Nominees 2017’.
THE PARTY, Andrea Harkin, Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming and Conor MacNeill. MOUTH OF HELL, Samir Mehanovic, Michael Wilson, Bart Gavigan and Ailie Smith. TOUGH , Jennifer Zheng. STANDBY, Charlotte Regan and Jack Hannon. CONSUMED, Richard John Seymour. THE ALAN DIMENSION, Jac Clinch, Millie Marsh and Jonathan Harbottle. A LOVE STORY, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Khaled Gad and Elena Ruscombe-King. HOME, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell, Afolabi Kuti and Shpat Deda.
THE PARTY Nominees: Andrea Harkin, Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming and Conor MacNeill Dir.: Andrea Harkin | UK | 2017 | 14mins Belfast 1972. Laurence welcomes his cousin and man-on-the-run Mickey to a party of drinking, dancing and young love. By morning, reality catches up with them. Andrea Harkin (Director) Derry-born Andrea is a graduate of the UK's National Film & Television School. Her most short The Party won the Cork Film Festival Nomination for the 2017 European Film Academy Awards and has screened at several international festivals. She is currently directing BBC3’s new thriller, Clique. She has made several award-winning and nominated short films and is currently developing her debut feature film The Rain Days with Northern
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Ireland Screen. Her films include The Flyer (BAFTA Scotland new talent award winner), Communion (nominee, British Council Award for Best UK Short) and For Megan (Special Mention, Best Student Short Film and London Short Film Festival). Farah Abushwesha (Producor) Farah Abushwesha is a producer, currently working on Irreplaceable You, directed by Stephanie Laing with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jeffrey Tambor and Steve Coogan. It was recently listed by VARIETY as one of the hottest titles for Acquisition. Her production work includes the acclaimed directorial debuts of BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Rowan Athale’s The Rise and BAFTA nominee Tom Harper’s The Scouting Book for Boys. Abushwesha also founded BAFTA Rocliffe New Writing Forum - a showcase for emerging screenwriting talent, the initiative behind the BAFTA’s FORUM LIST. She was recently listed by Stepfeed as one of 11 Inspirational Arab Women in Film.
Emmet Fleming (Producor) Emmet Fleming was nominated for the Bingham Ray New Talent Award at the Galway Film Fleadh, where his debut feature film Out of Here also had its World Premiere, placing second in the Best First Irish Feature category. The short film Joy, received a Special Jury Mention in Galway 2012, having previously screened at SXSW. He currently has four feature films in development with support from the Irish Film Board.
Broadway revival of Martin McDonagh’s The Cripple of Inishmann. In 2016 he appeared alongside Jamie Dornan NETFLIX’s The Siege of Jadotville; in 2017 he will be seen in Paul Abbot’s No Offence for Channel 4”.
Conor MacNeill (Writer) Conor MacNeill is a writer and actor from Belfast. His feature script The Laughter of Our Children won the 2014 NI Screen’s New Talent Focus. It is currently being developed and will be directed by BAFTA-winning David Blair, and MacNiell will star in the leading role alongside Stephen Graham and Michelle Fairley. MacNiell previously performed to critical acclaim as ‘Bartley McCormick’ opposite Sarah Greene and Daniel Radcliffe in the West End and
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MOUTH OF HELL Nominees: Samir Mehanovic, Michael Wilson, Bart Gavigan and Ailie Smith Dir : Samir Mehanovic | UK | 2017 | 15mins A child labourer in the burning coalfields of Jharia, India has to make a choice. To do what’s right? Or to save his dying mother… Samir Mehanovic (Writer, Director) Samir Mechanovic began directing theatre in his native Bosnia, establishing the JLS Theatre Company, through which he created a number of groundbreaking plays from 1992-95. After relocating to Edinburgh, Mechanovic continued directing theatre and completed an MA at Edinburgh College of Art. In 2005, he won a BAFTA Scotland New Talent Award for his directorial debut, The Way We Played. More recently, Mehanovic has been commissioned by BBC to direct the Artworks Scotland Documentary, A Message from Sarajevo and he has spent four months attending the Directors Lab in Amsterdam developing his first feature project MIRZA with producer Ailie Smith and executive producer Iain Smith (The Killing Fields, Children of Men). Michael Wilson (Producer) Michael Wilson has worked professionally in film and television for 15 years, starting out as a runner, then working through the ranks as a 3rd Assistant Director and Production Coordinator on films like Beautiful Creatures, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Dear Frankie and Elizabeth: Golden Age, before stepping up to Production Manager and Line Producer positions in 2006. As a Production Manager and Line Producer, Michael has been responsible for multi-million pound budgets on shows like Rebus, Hope Springs, MI High and the international hit US TV show Outlander. Mouth of Hell is his first outing as a producer.
Bart Gavigan (Co-writer) Bart has worked extensively as a Script Doctor on both sides of the Atlantic. He is regularly employed as Script Advisor at Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute as well as Equinoxe, British Screen in Europe and as external examiner for Leeds Metropolitan’s MA Screenwriting course. His writing credits include Midnight Sun, End of the Spear and the 2003 feature Luther, which starred Jo Fiennes, Bruno Ganz and Alfred Molina.
Ailie Smith (Producer) After initially training as a Makeup Artist, Ailie enjoyed a successful 13 year global career in the film industry. Her credits include some of the biggest grossing British films of all time such as Harry Potter, Prince of Persia, Troy and Cold Mountain and in 2016 Ailie attended the Oscars and BAFTAs as part of the award winning Makeup Team on Mad Max; Fury Road. Ailie began her producing career in 2007 as a key member of the development and production team on projects including ‘The Academy’ starring Sir Ian
McKellen, as well as helping to finance 'Little Charley Bear' a digital animation released on CBBCs in early 2011. Ailie also secured development funding with Creative Scotland for her first independent feature ‘Mirza’, which went on to gain a place on the prestigious Binger Film lab in Amsterdam.
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TOUGH
Nominee: Jennifer Zheng Dir: Jennifer Zheng | UK | 2017 | 4mins Some things can only be understood with maturity. New light is shed on childhood cultural misunderstandings when a Chinese mother and her British born daughter speak as adults for the first time. Jennifer Zheng (WriterDirector) Jennifer Zheng was a confused Chinese kid who grew up in Northern Ireland. Now she is an animator based in London. She just started as a Designer/Animator at Moth Collective.
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STANDBY
Nominees: Charlotte Regan and Jack Hannon Dir: Charlotte Regan | UK | 2017 | 5mins Gary and Jenny share the same cramped “office space� as all beat cops: the front seat of a police car. Charlotte Regan (Director) Charlotte is a London-born filmmaker who started off creating rap videos for local artists, since then she's created over 200 music promos and has worked with artists of all genres from Dot Rotten to Keaton Henson. Her short film Standby received its world premiere at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.
Jack Hannon (Producer) Starting out with low budget music videos alongside his studies, Jack has been producing for nearly two years. His first short Elle & Naomi premiered at London Short Film Festival and his second premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, going on to be nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short Film.
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CONSUMED
Nominee: Richard John Seymour Dir: Richard John Seymour | UK | 2017 | 18mins A cinematic voyage through the mines, landscapes, factories and ports of Chinese production. Richard John Seymour (Director, writer y photographer) Richard John Seymour is a British photographer, filmmaker and designer. His
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work can be characterised as an attempt to reveal political, social, and environmental issues made manifest through the built environment. After completing an Architecture degree at University of Bath and Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Seymour was awarded a scholarship to study at the Architectural Association in London. Richard has had work exhibited in the Tate and Royal Academy, and has been featured in various international media outlets, such as the BBC, The New Yorker, CNN, The Guardian, GEO, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, and Harpers.
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THE ALAN DIMENSION
Nominees: Jac Clinch, Millie Marsh and Jonathan Harbottle Dir : Jac Clinch | UK | 2017 | 8mins Alan Brown uses divine powers of precognition to foresee the fate of mankind... and breakfast. Meanwhile, Wendy has had enough of being married to 'the next step in cognitive evolution”. Jac Clinch (Director, Co-writer) Jac Clinch is a director, animator and writer. After completing a degree in Illustration Animation at Kingston University, he was selected for MA Directing Animation at the National Film and Television School in 2014. His debut animated short, The Alan Dimension, was selected for the 69th Cannes Film Festival this year in the Cinéfondation competition. It won awards at BAFTA and Oscar qualifying festivals, Annecy and Encounters Film Festival 2016. His work is humorous, inspired by scientific theories and his upbringing in the British countryside. He is currently shooting his first live action film, and developing his animation work for television.. Millie Marsh (Producer) Millie Marsh is a creative producer who is passionate about director-led, visually ground
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breaking films. Her short film Fuel To Fire which was selected to screen at BAFTA as part of the New Talent Showcase, and was in competition at Clermont-Ferrand for Best International Short Film. ‘The Alan Dimension’ premiered at the 69th Festival de Cannes and is in competition this year at Oscar-qualifying Annecy and Guanajuato festivals and BAFTA-qualifying Edinburgh International Film Festival. Marsh is currently developing a variety of feature projects at Bridge Way Films, with BAFTA-winning and Oscarnominated producer Chris Hees. She is mentored by Charles Steel at Cowboy Films. Jonathan Harbottle (Writer) Jonathan Harbottle is an Essex born, Londonbased screenwriter. He studied Film Production at UCA Farnham, and graduated with an MA in Screenwriting from the National Film & Television School in 2016. He is currently developing a number of original TV projects, from sciencefiction to comedy drama, with companies such as Clerkenwell Films, The Ink Factory, Drama Republic, Wall To Wall, and Left Bank Pictures. Jonathan is represented by Harriet Pennington Legh at Troika Talent.
A LOVE STORY
Nominees: Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Khaled Gad and Elena Ruscombe-King Dir: Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara | UK | 2017 7mins Two creatures fall in love, weaving a colourful world together but when darkness threatens to consume one of them, the other must fight to stay together, or risk being torn apart. Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara (Director) Nush is a recent Direction Animation Masters graduate from the National Film and Television School and her speciality is in Stop Motion Animation. Her emotive work fuses both narrative and experimental elements; it is tactile and uses materials such as wool, paper and paint to explore human emotion. With a background also in graphic design, her work has a strong emphasis on aesthetics and design. Recent awards include, Audience Award in the Animation Shorts category at the New Orleans Film Festival and Grand Prize for Best Experimental Film at Rhode Island International Film Festival.
featuring female actors in lead roles. Following his graduation from the National Film and Television School, Gad produced a documentary about Buddhist nuns in India (with special guest appearance from His Holiness the Dalaï Lama) and more recently, he worked as director's assistant to Peter Kosminsky on a National Geographic and Channel 4 TV drama. Elena Ruscombe-King (Writer) Elena Ruscombe-King is a screenwriter and playwright currently based in London. Originally from Dartmoor, in 2010 Elena traded in her rural home for student halls at siren-level on the A2, and a place at Goldsmiths College to study Media and Modern Literature. The work she did there earned her entry into the National Film and Television School’s prestigious screenwriting MA, which she graduated from in 2016, leaving with a portfolio of both short and long form work, and two graduate animations, A Love Story and Spaghetti Junction.
Khaled Gad (Producer) Khaled Gad is an Egyptian and French producer based in London. Over the years, he has produced award-winning short films (fiction and animation), as well as documentaries. He has a track record of supporting up-and-coming female filmmakers and
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HOME Nominees: Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell, Afolabi Kuti and Shpat Deda Dir : Daniel Mulloy | UK | 2017 | 19mins Thousands of men, women and children struggle to get into Europe as a comfortable English family sets out on what appears to be a holiday. Daniel Mulloy (Writer-Director) Daniel Mulloy makes films about themes he connects strongly with. For several years, he has spent much of his time outside Europe, predominately in post conflict zones. Mulloy is currently developing a feature length film.. Scott O’Donnell (Producer) Scott O’Donnell is an independent British film producer. Following 12 years producing music videos and TV commercials, O’Donnell began developing and producing short films. His first successful short was BEAT, starring Ben Whishaw and directed by Aneil Karia. Since then Scott has produced a succession of distinguished shorts including Daniel Mulloy’s HOME and Leo Leigh’s debut fiction Mother, starring Jeremy Swift, Gerard Monaco and Sandra Voe. The short premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2016 and has since been shortlisted for Best British Short at the British Independent Film Awards. Afolabi Kuti (Producer) Afo is a producer with a career that began whilst working for both Sundance and BFI London Film Festivals. As of 2016 Afo has executive produced feature film I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, directed by Billy O’Brien starring Christopher Lloyd, Laura Fraser and Max Records. Both I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER and HOME films premiered at SXSW Film Festival. HOME later won an award for Best at Fest at Palm Springs Film Festival and has been nominated for Best European Short Film at the European Academy Awards. Shpat Deda (Producer) Shpat Deda is a producer and musician with a background in film and advertising. As a former refugee, he is a strong advocate for refugees, having lived through the Kosovo war himself. Deda has a feature length project in development.
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British Council Spain www.britishcouncil.es arts@britishcouncil.es
THE PARTY, Andrea Harkin, Farah Abushwesha, Emmet Fleming y Conor MacNeill. MOUTH OF HELL, Samir Mehanovic, Michael Wilson, Bart Gavigan y Ailie Smith. TOUGH , Jennifer Zheng. STANDBY, Charlotte Regan y Jack Hannon. CONSUMED, Richard John Seymour. THE ALAN DIMENSION, Jac Clinch, Millie Marsh y Jonathan Harbottle. A LOVE STORY, Anushka Kishani Naanayakkara, Khaled Gad y Elena Ruscombe-King. HOME, Daniel Mulloy, Scott O’Donnell, Afolabi Kuti y Shpat Deda