In Heaven's Secret, a young inhabitant of Heaven narrates the story of his kidnap and murder in the South American jungle, along with the secret of ascendance. It was inspired by the murder of a Mark Lindgren, from St Albans, England, who was killed in the Ugandan jungle. It was shot in two days at two tropical gardens in Cornwall, which make a convincing backdrop for the Columbian rainforest.
Written and directed by Acim Vasic, 8 was the winner of the fourth FILMSshort competition and is a masterful example of how to create a film with no dialogue. Two soldiers from opposing armies (the naughts and the crosses) find themselves alone in a snowy forest. A game of cat and mouse ensues as the pendulum swings between them - but there are ultimately few winners in the game of war!
Made in England but set in an Iranian school, Two & Two is an allegorical tale about a teacher telling his class of young boys that what they thought was the sum of 2 + 2 is wrong. With a writing credit for Gavin Cullen and its director, there are obvious similarities to George Orwell's 1984, where the populace are forever being told that they have in fact been fighting a different enemy to the one they thought. Two & Two was nominated for a BAFTA in 2012.
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.