SHEFFIELD SHORT FILMS TO BE SHOWCASED AT SENSORIA FESTIVAL

Published 30 September 2022 at 4:30pm

South Yorkshire has a wealth of talent in film production and some of the latest short films produced by up-and-coming talented producers will be showcased on Thursday 6th October at the University of Sheffield Drama Studio.

These films were made possible due to the funding from the South Yorkshire Mayor’s ARG Arts & Culture fund, which meant Sheffield City Council was able to partner with a number of arts providers to allocate support to Sheffield’s creative and cultural sector.

Applications for the funding were very oversubscribed with a really high standard of project proposals. The film projects selected were awarded small grants up to £5,000.

It will be the first time that any of the short films will have been viewed publicly, as part of the Sensoria Festival. Sensoria is the UK’s festival of film and music. The festival presents a unique mix of live performance, film screenings, installations, exhibitions plus music and film industry activity at venues across Sheffield.

These short film productions include:

Angel of the North / Joe Willis
Sheffield City Centre. A woman stands on a roof psyching herself up to jump, claiming that she's an angel. However, as one man takes it upon himself to try and stop her, we’re left to question whether she's in trouble...or in fact ready to soar. A magical realist drama, Angel of the North follows misanthropic Thomas who, having recently fallen out with his boyfriend, has his day made much worse by the prospect of a young woman Sofia about to jump off his flat roof. Born on Sunday Silent / Tyke Films

A Sheffield-based short gothic drama. Kai, a petulant 8-year-old Black spirit, reveals the horrors of the past to student Abba-Yaa, so she can break free from the white cemetery where she has been trapped for over 100 years.

Adapted for the screen by Sheffield-based co-writers Eelyn Lee and Désirée Reynolds. The film is based on a short story written by Désirée Reynolds and published in the Book of Sheffield [Comma Press, 2019]. Based on the true story of Kai Akosua Mansah, a baby who was born and died in Sheffield in 1902.

Drew in Wild / Aysegul Balkose
Set in rural Turkey and Sheffield, we follow a girl who plans to run away that night by jumping out of the second floor of their house. The aim of this film is to explore the question “What is it to be a woman?”, femininity, patriarchy, oppression, and tension between traditionalism and modernism.

I Love You, Guys / Static Flow Productions & Jumpcut Studios
I Love You, Guys explores mental health in the music industry. The film follows an upcoming musician, about to play her biggest gig in Sheffield, but is battling with the weight of fear and anxiety she feels backstage compared to the bubbly persona she shows her fans on stage and online.

Institution / Cole Morris
Combining film, animation, and shadow puppetry, Institution dramatically explores current and historical institutional and cultural racism. It is inspired by the dynamic music track “Institution” by Sheffield's Aziza and Finguz which was written in response to the 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities report which notoriously concluded that there was no evidence to be found of Institutional Racism within the UK. In order to tell these challenging stories, Cole has taken the lyrics as the 'script’ and created a world filled with monsters, demons, and victimised creatures, drawing inspiration from Hieronymous Bosch and Chicago-based arts collective Manual Cinema’s work on Nia Dacosta's "Candyman" (2021). The resulting film is both a horrifying and humorous study of contemporary social and racial politics.

Raven Hall (Script Development Project) / Nadia Emam
A coming-of-age story that morphs into a supernatural revenge thriller. Two friends, who start working in a lonely remote hotel over the summer, have their relationship tested when they meet a group of man-killing vampires. Nadia has developed her script to a 15-page draft and developed the project to pre-production.

Grief is a Shapeshifter / Outsidefilm
This short film is inspired Priya Jay’s text ‘Grief Is A Shapeshifter’ about her experience of running grief circles during the pandemic period. Shapeshifter foregrounds grief as a collective experience and considers how we connect with the natural world. The soundtrack is provided by experimental musician Anna Peaker.

Shirley & Roland / Memory Dance
Sheffield-based performance artists Shirley Cameron and Roland Miller have enjoyed a long and celebrated career of over 40 years in the arts. Both are now well into their 70s. Their home is a living archive of posters, photography, artefacts , sound recordings, video tapes and films. It is a remarkable collection of a life lived, from two remarkable people. Having digitised 100 hours of video tape, 3 hours of 16mm, c.600 images and documents and 4 hours of newly transferred audio recordings, Memory Dance’s collaborative documentary, Shirley and Roland will not only bring the material to life, but provide long-term preservation, access, exhibitions and outreach.

Stop Dead / Lunar Lander Films
Short horror film written by David Scullion, directed by Emily Greenwood, produced by Jude Goldrei (Lunar Lander Films) and Douglas Cox (Shadowhouse Films).

When a workaholic city detective and her laid-back partner try to stop a dishevelled girl staggering down the middle of a country road, they discover she’s being stalked by some unseen entity with a horrifying ultimatum: you stop moving, you die. In current times we all know how a threat like The Still Man - or a deadly virus - can bring our way of life crashing down. Stop Dead asks the question, are we truly free?

Time of Insurrection / Enon Films
The CEO of the world's largest dairy producer has called an extraordinary shareholders' meeting, no one knows why but himself.

Film Exhibition projects supported:

Dragadook immersive screening / Queer Film Club, Dina
Working with drag performers and set in the impressive Samuel Worth Chapel in the General Cemetery, QFC presented an immersive screening of “The Babadook”. This unique event filled a niche not currently catered for in Sheffield. Additionally, four special Queer Film Club (QFC) events will be presented at Dina venue in Sheffield city centre.

Gathering Ground Film Club pilot / Rivelin Co.
Gathering Ground is the new activity and wellbeing centre in Hillsborough Park which is collaboratively programmed by RivelinCo and Age UK Sheffield. The Film Fund has supported the launch of a Film Club, a weekly social get-together on Thursdays, including a film screening, themed activities, conversations, and refreshments. There will also be occasional family screenings and a regular programme of dementia-friendly screenings. The aim is to reach local people of all ages who are at risk of social isolation. A diverse group of film club volunteers will steer the cinema programme.

The Way of the Dragon: 50th Anniversary special screening / Reel Steel
A special anniversary screening of an iconic film title, hosted by Reel Steel and with an introduction from Dr. Wayne Wong (School of East Asian Studies at The University of Sheffield), a published researcher on Martial Arts Cinema. His talk highlighted the unique standing of The Way of the Dragon within Bruce Lee’s filmography.

Kate Brindley, Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage at South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, said: “The South Yorkshire Mayor’s Arts and Culture funding was released following what had been a very challenging time for the creative industries and it is fantastic to see how this funding has been put to good use. The Sensoria Festival is a great opportunity for people to see and experience some of the amazing film production talent that we have in South Yorkshire. I have been fortunate to preview a number of these films and know that attendees to viewers are in for a real treat!”

To book your place visit:
https://sheffshorts.eventbrite.co.uk

For more information:
https://www.sensoria.org.uk/events/