BAFTA SHORT FILMS - 5
Soft by Simon Ellis (2007) (UK) (14m)
Simon Ellis won the International Short Filmmaking Award at Sundance and was nominated for a BAFTA in 2008 with his great short film, Soft. It is the gritty story of a son and father tormented by a gang of 'happy-slapping' youths, but with neither apparently being brave enough to fight back. Simon Ellis went on to make the feature film, Dogging: A Love Story, in 2009 but scored less success with this film.
Antonio's Breakfast by Daniel Mulloy (2005) (UK) (16m)
Antonio's Breakfast follows a night in the life of a mixed race teenager who tries to keep up his street cred while looking after his father, who is on a ventilator. It's a little esoteric but very British in its realism and won Mulloy several awards. Mulloy studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and stated his "interest is to capture and translate events that I have witnessed or imagined".
My Wrongs # 8245 - 8249 & 117 by Chris Morris (2002) (UK) (12m)
Chris Morris is best known for his often highly amusing TV spoofs The Day Today and Brass Eye but ventured into short filmmaking with My Wrongs # 8245 - 8249 & 11 starring Paddy Considine. More recently he has made Brit comedy Four Lions and, as with his other works, My Wrongs # 8245 - 8249 & 11 is not everyone's cup of tea but it is certainly unique and another glimpse into Morris' worrying mind.
About A Girl by Brian Percival (2001) (UK) (10m)
Another departure from the norm, About A Girl, written by Julie Rutterford, won at Edinburgh and Raindance too. We watch and listen to a fast-talking girl as she delivers an apparently disjointed narration. We see snippets of her disfunctional life as she strides along the canal before finally seeing her reason for being there - and the secret she's been hiding. Rutterford and Percival continue to write and direct high-end drama on British television.
