Short Film Programmes

Returning for 2023 and under the guidance of filmmaker mentor Kevin Macdonald, we invite six filmmakers to make a short documentary in and around Sheffield during the festival.

Relaxed Screening of three short films from our festival programme that explore poetry, childhood, imagination, nature, and gratitude.

When the world around us changes beyond all recognition, how do we choose to respond? These four playful films create beauty in the face of the unknown, using dance, poetry and humour to confront change.

When the immense power of the state is used against citizens, what role does the camera play? These three films, from Afghanistan, USA and Ukraine, offer an array of possibilities. Is it a forensic tool or strategic weapon, an unreliable witness, a prosecutor or a provocateur?

Flowers give birth to dreams. A rock dreams of a man. Trees hold us as we grieve. And a community establishes new roots. These four films take us far beyond the individualistic human-centred view of the world.

In this special programme we will present four of the Iran - Sense of Place films, followed by a discussion with the filmmakers and project curator Afsun Moshiry.

These profound and deeply touching films speak of things often left unsaid. A man finally brings to light a traumatic childhood secret; a mother writes a message to her unborn child, and a filmmaker constructs a wild youth from the letters a young man left behind.

Across distance and time, these four cinematic visions speak of things in and out of place. They move between disconnection and connection. An isolated Arctic village; a man seeking voices on the radio waves; the journeys of an ancient image, and a woman seeking to commune with her ancestors.

Against the brutality of war, dictatorship, white supremacy and settler colonialism, these films focus on the power and joy of resistance. They employ cinema as a tool to honour the actions of ancestors, to pay homage to those working for peace and to imagine new worlds beyond injustice.

The real troubles in life are often the unexpected ones. As you are looking ahead, life comes in from the sides. These three films follow characters as they navigate inner and outer change. Whether it’s a mental health crisis, a city in decline, or the seasons themselves, how do we respond to the things we cannot control?

The world of work is changing rapidly, and not just in the directions you might imagine. These beautifully cinematic films span the full spectrum of labour, from the gentle dedication of a woodcutter to the rise of robot waiters, surveying the past, present and future of work.

This programme brings together three films spanning the Sheffield Film Co-op’s history, from their early DIY activist work to innovative hybrid experiments and compelling investigative documentaries.