Introducing the #NFF2020 Official Selection. Featuring 132 short films from 33 countries, our 2020 Official Selection is our largest and most exciting short film selection yet.
6-19 November 2023
12th Man
British
In the ultra-masculine environment of Scottish grassroots football, star players Angus & Charlie struggle to come to terms with their relationship, sexuality, and place within the team.
3 Minutes of Silence
British
A troubled and anxious young girl, who feels shut out from the wider world, finds a way to connect with it again when she finds an unlikely haven of hope and friendship in a Manchester boxing gym.
37 Things
International
A man with a brain condition that prevents him from ever knowing more than thirty-seven things must fight to retain his most precious memory in our information-dense world.
A Glimpse
British
A blossoming relationship unfolds when two strangers have a chance encounter in a London cafe.
A Head Shorter
International
A man recounts the harrowing journey he experienced as a 12-year-old boy during the Holocaust, forced to leave his home in Czechoslovakia and held prisoner in multiple concentration camps.
A Hole
International
A skilled workman digs a perfect hole in a cracked earthen plain in an endless warehouse, a series of well-dressed people come and sit on comfortable couches offering contradictory opinions, and the job gradually unravels.
A Separation
International
On a warm autumn day in 1990, Huixian, a young Chinese woman, arrives in Florida to reunite with her PhD husband, after a four-year separation. Filled with blossoming hope and desire, she is introduced to another side of American life.
Adnan
British
Ten year old Adnan has fled Syria with his mother after their family were killed and their neighbourhood destroyed. Now settled in the UK, he must use all his creativity to break through her PTSD or risk losing her forever.
Alex and Mr Fluffkins
1 Minute Movie
With quarantine loosening and lifting in places, Alex and his cat Mr Fluffkins have been having a pretty chilled time, but life is about to change for these two… or is it?
Alina
International
As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend’s three-month-old baby to safety.
All Inclusive
International
Kalervo, who has always felt powerless and unable to fight back, is gifted a miraculous opportunity to change his life. He is forced to consider whether revenge or benevolence might taste sweeter.
Anna
British
Living in war-torn Eastern Ukraine, Anna is an aging single mother who is desperate for a change. Lured by a radio advertisement, she goes to party with a group of American men who are touring the country, searching for love.
Annie and Alistair
Animation
A short film reflecting on the lives of a couple with a lifetime of memories. Inspired by Flyte’s song ‘Annie and Alistair’.
Appreciation
British
An African Pentecostal Pastor questions everything she believes after a life-changing event.
Arena
British
Trapped in a vicious circle fulled by envy and jealousy, a theatre understudy transcends and finally confronts the real source of her dark emotions.
Around the Block
Documentary
Creation for creation’s sake can be a struggle. ‘Around the Block’ aims to encourage viewers to push through the difficulties of creative paralysis and self-doubt by focusing on the work of street artist, David Zinn.
Bathtub by the Sea
International
Lighthouse-keeper Gunnar is set in his ways and structures his life around strict routines. Things get complicated when his outdoor bathing schedule is disrupted by a mermaid brought in by the tide.
Bird
Student
A girl suffers from a feeling of great discomfort that comes without warning, like an uncontrollable disaster. When the panic is accompanied by a flapping of wings, a chaotic, dissociated journey into her unconsciousness begins.
Born Again
British
A magical realism film set in London, ‘Born Again’ follows Nwa, a British Nigerian woman tormented by her inability to have children. However, a transformative baptism leads her on a journey of healing and rebirth.
Brothers Again
Student
Franco, an elderly man, lives his life in serenity together with his wife Margherita. The arrival of his brother Vittorio, with whom he hasn’t talked in years, breaks the calm.
Bubble
International
On an ordinary night, concealed in an alleyway, a man and woman dine together in a quiet restaurant. The plate of herbal plants on which the man gorges will instigate an outlandish transformation…
Chen Chen
Student
Hao is left to look after his brother Bin, who has cerebral palsy. After noticing that Bin seems to experience sexual attraction just like everybody else, Hao takes him out for an overdue good time.
Cinderella Games
British
A group of contestants battle it out in a competitive game show, each one desperate to prove they are the real Cinderella in order to win their very own Happy Ever After.
Common Molly
Student
When a disturbing presence casts a shadow over everything you do, there comes a moment when you have to confront it. An exploration of intrusive thoughts and where they may lead.
Cosmic Fling
Animation
Stan, an intergalactic binman, lives alone on an asteroid. After spotting a fellow astronaut stranded on a passing comet, he falls instantly in love, but extreme measures will be needed to reach her.
Crocodile
International
A gaming YouTuber, takes questions from his fans during a live-stream. An unexpected comment stops him in his tracks and forces him to navigate his personal circumstances away from keyboard…
Crunch
Animation
When watching a spaceship launching, a space agency worker is hit by a mysterious lightning and starts to grow bigger. But there seems no way to stop…
Cuckoo
Student
An insecure mother tries to maintain the bond with her son as he starts to reject her and threats from the outside world put a strain on their relationship.
Dad Was
British
On a cold Glasgow morning, Mattie must give the eulogy at his father’s funeral. Dad Was is a meditation on grief, memory and shielded masculinity.
Dafa Metti
Documentary
Under Paris’ glittering Eiffel Tower, undocumented Senegalese migrants sell miniature souvenirs of the monument, to support their families back home. Far from their loved ones and hounded by the police, each day is a struggle through darkness in the City of Lights.
Danielle
Documentary
This documentary paints an intimate portrait of Danielle, a woman with deep connection to family and environment, who lives a very full life around the obstacles presented by her multiple sclerosis.
Dawn in the Dark
British
On the eve of her father’s birthday, Dawn and her fun uncle Nate struggle over her bedtime routine. A new dynamic to their relationship is explored as they navigate their way through a family crisis.
Diabla
Student
After surviving assault, an enigmatic 17-year-old Mexican girl finds retribution through her untapped female power and local witch culture.
Dramatherapy
Student
An emotionally stunted, middle-aged man enters a group dramatherapy session. He must move beyond his comfort zone in order to face trauma hidden deep within his psyche.
End-O
British
Jaq is angry. But she also wants to have sex. This should be straightforward – angry sex is one of the pre-approved genres for copulation. But her body is out to sabotage her coitus in the worst way…. endometriosis.
Fish Head
International
An alienated teen on the cusp of womanhood must find solace in an alternate coming of age, where lines of gender dissolve by the surrounds of the sea.
Five Days to Say Goodbye
East Anglian
A grieving mother has a string of final conversations with her son. She shares with him her love, memories and thoughts on life after bereavement, before saying goodbye to him for the very last time.
Flesh
Animation
Rare, medium rare, medium, medium well and well done. Through intimate and personal stories, five women share their experiences in relation to the body, from childhood to old age.
Forever
Student
A life insurance company uses an AI algorithm to determine the risk of a new applicant. The subsequent denial sparks a period of introspection for the individual in question.
Ganef
British
A little girl, spooked by her mother’s paranoia, starts to believe her adored cleaner is a thief.
Ghillie
British
An ageing Scottish deer hunter conceals a dark secret from his wife, who is confined at home with dementia.
Gimcrack
East Anglian
In a future swallowed whole by environmental disaster, a nomadic young woman finds her survivalist values tested when she meets a mother and daughter in need of protection.
Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad
Animation
A personal story of grief, those we look up to, and how the interactions we may deem insignificant may play a huge part in how we live our lives.
Hate
British
When Humza’s friend dies in a stabbing, he decides to make a life change. Meeting his fiancé Sara restores his faith and turns him from hate towards love, but this will be challenged on many fronts.
Heartbeat
Student
Under the impact of the passing on anti-abortion “Heartbeat Bill”, the struggling conflict between a pregnant 18-year-old and her devoted Christian mom begins to rise and their distinct beliefs gradually lead them apart.
His Name Was Gerry
British
After a young boy’s best friend dies he gets convinced into creating a Viking funeral for him by a neighbour.
Hold
East Anglian
Tommy, an out of work building contractor, faces up to the consequences when a series of phone calls expose a lie that spirals out of control.
Hungry Joe
British
A single mother struggles to bond with her apathetic child; born with an insatiable and increasingly inhumane appetite.
Hysterical Girl
International
Sigmund Freud’s sole case study of a female patient is re-examined from a modern feminist perspective. This documentary exposes how Freud’s ideas about ‘hysteria’ continue to pervade popular culture.
I Am Pilate
British
A journalist is sent to the home of former district governor for an interview, but his routine obituary fact check reveals an extraordinary secret.
If We Smarten Up
International
Homeless and stranded after losing her flat, live-in maid Maria decides to declare the building’s broom cupboard her new home. The neighbours are far from pleased but getting rid of her won’t be easy.
Impermanence
International
When a man falls out of a window from a Chinese restaurant in Saigon, the stories unfold through different perspectives by different people on what has happened and how it affects these interwoven lives through its surreal connections.
In Her Boots
Student
Heidi is experiencing strange things. While her granddaughter is visiting, she suddenly embarks on a hiking journey, to the deepest parts of the Alps, revealing the reason for her devoted attachment to her hiking shoes.
In The Shadow of the Pines
International
A deeply personal animated documentary short about a difficult father-daughter relationship inspired by the filmmaker’s own upbringing with her immigrant dad, who was also the janitor at the elementary school she attended.
Innocence
British
When a worker falls to his death at a care home, it appears to be a terrible accident. But when a detective questions a young man with Down syndrome spotted at the scene, they uncover a crime more shocking than anyone imagined.
Instant Doctor
International
In a dystopian future, where machines carry out medical diagnosis and treatment, Charles visits an automated booth in a subway station with a nasty nagging cough. Inside, he receives unforeseen news.
Isle of Us
Student
Haunted by the ghost of war, a stoic Syrian Barber is trying to build a home for himself and his family on a remote Scottish island. He must find a way to survive this new unfamiliar life and protect the memory of Syria for his young children.
It’s Me
British
Set over the course of an evening, a mother remembers moments from a game she played with her son throughout his childhood. Tragedy strikes when he unexpectedly returns.
Joey
British
A lonely clown working in a forgotten seaside resort falls in love with a local waitress. Their encounter forces him to face his fears and confront a terrible secret he thought he could hide forever.
Kata
International
A fantastical and dramatic journey through the mind of 13 year old Mahiro Takano, an unprecedented 6 year in-a-row national ‘Kata’, Karate form champion, who comes face to face with her greatest enemy yet.
Leopard
British
Rocky, a born-and-bred London teenager, begins to question the strict routine set by her father – as well as deeper feelings about her own identity – after meeting a free-spirited girl in a local launderette.
Letter of Forgiveness
International
In the household of a wealthy Romanian noblewoman in 1855, Maria, a Roma-Gipsy slave, fights to obtain freedom for her son Dinca.
Liverpool Ferry
British
Sarah must make a journey from Belfast to Liverpool to avoid a life she does not want. A journey that is against the law.
Lola
British
The fear of acceptance is breaking down the relationship of Ruby and Paul. A secret is tearing the pair apart and today is the day Ruby’s curiosity gets the better of her…
Love Spell
British
Love Spell is about female friendship and queer desire. In 1999 in a high school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a teenage girl casts a spell to make her best friend fall in love with her.
Lucky Break
British
Uloaku works the graveyard shift at a remote service station and is bored out of her mind. Fortunately a chance encounter with a suspicious stranger will soon fix that…
Ma’am
British
Queen Victoria as you’ve never seen her before – the original ‘Instamum’, struggling with post-natal depression while facing a photo shoot to show off her perfect family to the world.
Muse
British
An artist turns to his android muse for help when trying to sell his newest paintings, but events take a dark and disturbing turn when the android learns what has inspired the work.
My Brother is a Mermaid
British
My Brother is a Mermaid is a social realist fairytale about a trans-feminine teenager, as seen through the eyes of their 7 year old brother. Set in a desolate and prejudiced coastal town, the film examines how a child’s unconditional love can be a powerful and disruptive force for good.
My Father The Mover
Documentary
In Khayelitsha, South Africa, an inspirational man nicknamed ‘The Mover’ motivates kids to transcend poverty and ignite their own sense of freedom through the power of African electronic ‘Gqom’ dance.
My Mum’s Letters
Student
This surreal tale follows 13-year-old Alice: the bubbly, colourful daughter of Death! Every day she receives a letter with her next job, but her bond with a suicidal teenager soon disrupts her duties.
On Air
International
Brian, a cynical and once-successful radio DJ, now works for a small local station. During a live broadcast, Brian is abruptly shaken out of his rut when a caller threatens to take his Mother’s life.
Opening the Earth: The Potato King
Documentary
Julio Hancco is a guardian of biodiversity, critical to the survival of humanity. He represents a people, a culture, and way of life that is being lost to modernisation. Will their culture survive? Or will it all be lost with the last Potato King?
Our Sister
British
A nonverbal autistic teenage girl and her sister come to terms with the death of their youngest sibling.
Ouzo and Blackcurrant
British
Two old friends take a trip down memory lane, but they are not alone – there’s someone there who never left.
Pampas
Documentary
Sexual signalling and suburban myth; what does your front garden say about you? A look at sexual signalling, female desire, subcultures, and suburban legend.
Patina
East Anglian
In a society that stresses the burdens of ageing, Patina frames old age in a personal and progressive manner. Human and natural landscapes blend to form a response to beauty standards and eco-anxiety.
Pavement
British
A homeless man wakes up and the pavement has grown over his legs. The worse people treat him the more he sinks into the ground. Only one person is sympathetic to his plight but will her empathy alone be enough to save him?
Petrichor
British
A washed up, former wunderkind of the snooker world has one last chance to revive his career. Battling with addiction and the ghosts of his past, is there more at stake than just the score?
Pods
British
Dave is overcome with grief and guilt following the death of a close friend in a gang conflict. After withdrawing into his earphones, Dave finally realises the importance of speaking about his feelings.
Portraitist
International
A suicidal grandfather kindles a relationship with his dying granddaughter through art.
Princess
British
A troubled mother takes her daughter out for the day on Dalston High Street in East London. Unable to financially provide for her princess, she resorts to petty theft to make the day feel special.
Project 282
Documentary
Emily Scott sets off on a continuous and self-supported trip to climb all of Scotland’s highest mountains – the ‘Munros’. She reflects on her motivations and documents her experiences along the way.
Proud To Be Bald
East Anglian
A short documentary film exploring Louisa Sadler’s experience with Alopecia, how she finds positivity and remains confident.
Rangda
International
Ji-yoon finds herself trapped in a hospital with a sinister atmosphere. Her roommate’s decrepit appearance, and the strange behaviour of her carer Haewha, soon leaves Ji-yoon concerned for her safety.
Reappear
British
Frank decides to restore his late father’s vintage motorcycle, so that he can recreate his mother’s most treasured photograph. He is completely unaware that the project will kickstart his own journey.
Remember When
East Anglian
A lockdown film. A letter. A love transcending separation. Written, directed and performed in a Norwich home by Maili Little, Remember When offers a fictional snapshot of life during the pandemic.
Ride
International
A man decides to give up his miserable life, and gets himself back on track after experiencing a series of chance encounters with strangers, which inadvertently prove life-changing for all concerned.
Rock Country
International
Women perform attached to bungee ropes on the side of a rock face in a spectacular display of ‘vertical dance’. Their routine explores and celebrates women taking leading roles in today’s society.
Scrum
British
A single mum struggles to come to terms with her teenage daughter’s love of rugby league.
Sh_t Happens
Animation
The caretaker exhausted by everything, his frustrated wife and one totally depressed deer. Their mutual despair leads them to absurd events, because… sh*t happens all the time.
She
British
A frantic young woman struggles against an unstoppable inner voice that battles against all logic, rhyme or reason… compelling her to endure a physical, mental journey that takes her right to the very edge.
Shoal
British
In an isolated coastal town, where everyone knows everyone, Eliza works shifts at the fish factory while her fisherman dad goes out to sea. When an apparent accident happens, rumours start spreading, and Eliza has to decide whether she fully trusts her dad.
Simulacra
Student
A surreal blend of dance, movement and animation is used to capture the life journey of an elderly Japanese Geisha, and the identities and relationships she has embodied and experienced along the way
Something Borrowed
Animation
Pen to paper, a sweet old woman can’t find the right words. But when she lends her pen to a hopeless young chap, a whirlwind of a chase ensues. Struggling to reach him, she begins to realise it’s more than just words that elude her.
Song Sparrow
International
A group of refugees pay a smuggler to transport them to a safer country inside a meat lorry. Their hopes for a better life are shattered as the freezing temperatures leave them struggling to survive.
Square One
British
Holly finds herself stuck in a closeted relationship. In the hope of avoiding sex, she distracts her partner James with fishing trips. A friendly fellow fisherwoman will complicate things yet further.
Sulphur
International
When a murder takes place in Russia’s most notorious and polluted industrial city, a young police woman has to deal with the strange manners of the main suspect.
Sweater
Student
An unsuspecting man struggles his way into a colourful jumper. Before he knows it, he finds himself whisked into a psychedelic kaleidoscope of patterned wool… from which he may never recover!
Sweet Street
British
Isabella, a sex worker and drug addict, struggles to survive Leeds’ red-light district. A romantic encounter offers respite, but happy endings are hard to find when you’re working on the sweet street.
Take It and End It
International
Underlying tensions rise to the surface as a disgruntled butcher discovers that one of his young calves is in line to be slaughtered. This calf is different than all the others – it’s his ‘child’.
Take Me
British
Single mum Lena is getting back on the dating scene, but her babysitter’s just cancelled. About to call off her date, Lena finds her four-year-old son hiding in a suitcase, giving her an idea. She will take him with her, hidden in her luggage. Hopefully her date won’t notice?
Talk Radio
British
Pauline and Barry are a seemingly happily married middled aged couple. That is until Pauline tunes into relationship hour on Talk Radio and thinks she recognises the nameless voice that’s relaying a lifetime of regrets live on the radio.
The Act
British
1965, the eve of decriminalisation for acts of male homo- sexuality. Matthews, a young gay man at odds with the world, discovers love, sex and a family in the backstreets and underground bars of Soho.
The Appointment
British
A curmudgeonly novelist, Henry Salt, wakes from a nightmare to find a troubling entry in his diary: 12 o’clock at the restaurant ‘La Folie’. But whom is Henry meeting, and why doesn’t he remember making this appointment?
The Beekeeper
Documentary
A beekeeper on the island of Anglesey faces losing her ancestral home to the development of a nuclear power plant.
The Binding of Itzik
Student
Searching for bookbinding materials, a middle-aged Hasidic bookbinder stumbles across an advert offering ‘binding lessons for submissive women.’ He responds to it, becoming entangled in an emotionally intense BDSM relationship with a stranger on the internet.
The Blood Bride
British
When a young woman held captive by a trafficking gang is shot, she falls into a surreal journey through her subconscious as she battles for her life.
The Bull
International
Feeling too young to grow old and too old to start over, an unemployed art teacher has an encounter with a bull who has just escaped from a slaughterhouse…
The Cloud Is Still There
Student
When her grandfather becomes terminally ill, Xiao Le, a young Christian woman, faces a critical decision over whether she should intervene with her family’s traditional Taoist rituals.
The Coral Guardian
Student
What happens when a drowned deep sea diver is given another chance at life? A moving story about the changing underwater world and the precarious connection between man and nature.
The Flood
International
A long-absent father and his neglected son set off on a reconciliation trip, heading for the family mountain hut.
The Flying Gold of Arabuko
Student
In Kenya, sustainable butterfly farming has become an unlikely saviour of the last indigenous forest on the East African coast. Charo, formerly an illegal logger and poacher, introduces his new role.
The Last Supper
International
A sensitive and restless young boy, overlooked by his parents and rejected by his schoolyard peers, finds himself on an adventure of a lifetime when he accidentally lets the wily family turkey – tonight’s main course – escape the pen…
The Lonely Prince
International
A lonely Prince invites a sculptor to his court to create a piece of art just for him. As the days pass, the Prince and sculptor grow closer, and the reason for the Prince’s abandonment becomes clear.
The Passing
Student
A talented mortician’s world is turned upside-down as she encounters the most difficult job of her career, bringing her face-to-face with the small and life-defining moments that she has let pass by.
The Recordist
International
When sound recordist Andrew tunes into a young actress having an affair with a film director, he uses the recording to blackmail her into submitting to his perverted desires.
The Ribbon
Animation
A young girl suddenly finds herself in a beautiful imaginary world. As she explores this enchanting place, the long ribbon of her dress gets caught, holding her back. As she pulls on the ribbon to break free, a completely unexpected journey begins.
The Snow Maze
East Anglian
10-year-old Adam is an isolated boy tormented by the school bully, until the arrival of a new classmate and the discovery of an old key changes everything.
The World Is Thirsty
1 Minute Movie
Despite the crucial relationship between water and the production of our food, human beings are still wasting this precious resource. This film draws attention to water wastage by way of animation.
This Camera Is Broken
British
An ageing director uses her final film as a chance to delve into her past. Face to face with the embodiment of her younger self, the line between her present reality and the film’s begins to blur.
Thousand Yesterdays
British
In 1982, elderly Charlie Rainbird waits for his seventeen year-old self to come forward in time from the frontline of the WW1 trenches.
Tick Tick Tick
British
Tick Tick Tick is a black comedy about what it means to be when you’re a worker bee with a mind of your own. How far would you be willing to betray your personal beliefs if your job was at stake?
To the Dusty Sea
Student
Left alone in the deepest of the summer, Malo and Zoe are trying their best to catch their mother’s elusive eye…
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Student
Tommy pursues his dream of becoming a pianist from boyhood to manhood. Different compositions of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ are used to mirror his journey through the different stages of his life.
Two Little Boys
International
A boy’s secret love for his closeted bully drives him into an unconventional road to confession and its consequences.
Umama
Student
The morning after having made a promise to celebrate her son’s academic achievement, Domestic worker Sibongile wakes to find he is missing. Despite her worries about her missing son, Sibongile must care for the children of her employer in order to get home and keep her promise.
Underwater
British
Jack, an achiever in-and-out of the pool, learns that winning isn’t everything. As acknowledgement and adulation fades who is there for him when he really needs it? On the surface everything’s calm but underwater tides are turning.
Verisimilitude
British
Verisimilitude is a short film about an unemployed disabled actress who is frustrated as all the disabled acting jobs go to able bodied actors. She gets a job as an advisor to a spoilt up and coming British film star advising him how to be disabled for his latest role, which might just win him a BAFTA.
We Met Before
British
When a friend suffers from an illness, it opens the door for people round him to be able to talk about their own life’s struggles. When words are too hard, music takes its place. When that is too hard, movement takes hold. Together, they heal.
Wicked Friday Night
1 Minute Movie
An enthusiastic British lad is determined to stay positive while stuck in coronavirus lockdown, and takes it upon himself to find new ways to make sure he can continue to have wicked Friday nights.
Wings
East Anglian
Two women fall in love whilst working as Land Army girls during World War II, but when the men return, so must normality. It will take an unexpected twist of fate to reunite the pair 60 years later.