Sunderland Film Festival

Films 2016

Camrex

Synopsis: Camrex House is a notorious homeless hostel that for 40 years has upheld a fearsome reputation. Its skewed, in-house morality perpetuated by men with complex histories. Based on interviews with hostel residents, CAMREX constructs a series of unflinchingly...

read more

Last Dance on the Main

Synopsis: While a row of historic buildings on Montreal’s St Laurent boulevard is being demolished by politicians and building developers, the local community resists. Country: Canada Directed by: Aristofanis Soulikias

read more

Home Sweet Home

Synopsis: This is the story of a house which escapes from its suburban foundations and sets off on an epic journey. Country: France Directed by: Pierre Clenet, Alejandro Diaz, Romain Mazevet, Stéphane Paccolat

read more

Boris In The Forest

Synopsis: A black comedy about a Californian geek in search of his horror hero Boris Karloff. "Wonderfully weird." Chris Blaine, writer/director 'Nina Forever'. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Robert Hackett

read more

Abigail DeVille’s Harlem Stories

Synopsis: How does an artist acknowledge forgotten people? Artist Abigail DeVille stalks the streets of Harlem with a trash-laden push cart, creating temporary sculptural interventions along the way. Stopping at Lenox Avenue and 131st Street, Bronx-born DeVille tucks...

read more

The Way of the Dodo

Synopsis: His wife thinks he’s obsessed, but rewind boy Ümit isn’t convinced. The film follows Ümit Mesut, a colourful East London shop keeper, as he fights to keep his passion for celluloid alive in an ever changing digital world....He strikes the switch, then the...

read more

Ripple

Synopsis: The shapes we make - an advertisement for plant Earth Country: United States Directed by: Conner Griffith

read more

Face Wash

Synopsis: Nick is a careful, clean, and orderly young man who takes his shower routine seriously. When he finds his coveted face wash has been misplaced, his relationships stand to enter turmoil. Country: Canada Directed by: March Mercanti

read more

Just a Song

Synopsis: A songwriter shares his new song with his girlfriend and things get a little weird. Country: United States Directed by: Gina Hirsch

read more

House of Odin

Synopsis: A mockumentary staring Game of Thrones-star Miltos Yerolemou and Scandinavian reality star Enok Groven, the latter is doing everything in his powers to impress the first into helping him get a part in Game of Thrones. Country: Norway Directed by: Kaspar...

read more

NASTY

Synopsis: WATCH - SEARCH - BECOME Short synopsis: It's 1982. Twelve-year old Doug is drawn into the lurid world of VHS horror as he explores the mysterious disappearance of his father. Long synopsis: It’s 1982. Twelve-year old Doug's Father has mysteriously vanished....

read more

Lost Property

Synopsis: An old man works in a Lost property Office. Every day an old lady comes into the Office presenting an item she’s lost and everyday he tries to help her find it. With each day that passes, expectations falter, hopes fade and the feeling of loss grows...

read more

3000

Synopsis: When Leon’s best friend Ari shares tragic news about his battle with cancer, unemployed and desperate to help, Leon secretly decides to become a criminal to pay for more cancer treatments. Against the backdrop of contemporary Athens, Greece, Leon’s actions...

read more

The Gallant Captain

Synopsis: A boy and his cat journey into unknown waters with a little bottle, a boat and a vivid imagination. Country: Australia Directed by: Katrina Mathers, Graeme Base

read more

Aftermath

Synopsis: When you wake up in a strange bed the morning after a party, you find that it's often the small things that raise the questions of greatest importance. A film about the time between yesterday and today. Country: Germany Directed by: Ralf Beyerle

read more

Aqua Profonda

Synopsis: After encountering a frog at a swimming pool, a young boy reflects on his life growing up on opposite coasts of Australia and his fear of the creatures that lurk in the deep end. Country: United States Directed by: Nathan Campbell

read more

Collider

Synopsis: COLLIDER is a psychological sci-fi love story in the mould of 'Upstream Color,' 'Her' and 'Persona.' Dawn, a brilliant scientist, is devastated after the death of her partner Ann. Dawn has been working in a classified wing of the Large Hadron Collider and...

read more

Dance of the Neurons

Synopsis: 24 Dancers embody the birth of neurons. This work illustrates Oberfelder’s playful and inventive choreography for film. "Rube Goldberg Variations' will similarly play with a science theme, bringing to light how things (and people) connect and fall apart....

read more

Present Moment

Synopsis: PRESENT MOMENT is a collaborative film project documenting a family negotiating the realities of a longterm, degenerative illness. The film is a celebration of living life well, despite whatever health challenges one might face: our protagonist's wisdom,...

read more

Jackdaw

Synopsis: A father mourns on the one year anniversary of his wife's disappearance. Country: United States Directed by: Travis Champagne

read more

The Last Post

Synopsis: A halfwit is invited to speak at the funeral of a girl he only knew through the internet Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Adam Preston

read more

Versus

Synopsis: When Tom - the murderer of a crime lord's son surfaces - unarmed and willing to be taken into custody, assassin Ray Vincent is contracted to wreak bloody retribution. But Tom has leverage. Not only does he claim he is holding a vital hostage, but he has...

read more

The Hunger Artist

Synopsis: Daniel’s mother approaches strangers in shopping malls and coaxes them to buy lunch for her. The feeling of anger and embarrassment has been with him all the time, Daniel remember his mom's strange efforts when he was a child and how he tormented and anxious...

read more

Johnny Express

Synopsis: Johnny, a space delivery courier, is traveling though space to deliver a package. His ship soon arrives on a very small planet where he needs to deliver the package. The package is so small that he has to look through a magnifying glass to see it. Johnny...

read more

Eyes

Synopsis: James wakes up in hospital with no memory and one of his eyes bandaged. Despite the nurse telling him he's recovering from a car crash, he soon suspects he is involved in something far more sinister, and his life is in serious danger. Country: United Kingdom...

read more

In Memory

Synopsis: In Memory tells the story of elderly couple, John and Grace who, after a long life together, are struggling to cope daily with John's advancing dementia. As Grace navigates him through a tricky day of forgetting her name, running out into the rain in his...

read more

VIKTOR

Synopsis: Young Viktor escapes his parent’s world with the help of his grandmother. She allows Viktor to discover who he truly might be. Country: United States Directed by: Ann Prim

read more

Tale Of A Tinkerer

Synopsis: Instead of living his life, Alan spends his days tinkering in his workshop attempting to change the world. But when Alan finally realises his goals, he does not get the outcome he had hoped for. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Ben Hutchinson

read more

The Ditch

Synopsis: Donna wakes up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere. She tries to remember what happened, but only gets flashbacks of fear, violence and rage. And who is the young woman lying half-dead beside her? Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Sheena Holliday

read more

MOS

Synopsis: The search is on for Enzo Ball, the recreant Mime whose 2012 disappearance is believed to be linked to his controversial hobby. A staunch believer that Ball was targeted for simply being his own Mime, Eric Farmer hits the streets with a a camera and a cause;...

read more

Hole

Synopsis: When retired police detective (James Cosmo) learns that the man who killed his wife is to be released from prison, he hatches a plan to try and find her missing body and take vengeance on her killer. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Mike Callaghan

read more

A Six and Two Threes

Synopsis: A Six and Two Threes is a short film about two boys from different sides of the tracks who meet when one goes in search of his real father. Shot on location in Stockton on Tees, the film was part of the Creative England iShorts 2 scheme. Country: United...

read more

Whisper

Synopsis: A young woman travels to a remote beachside cabin in an attempt to finally quit her heroin habit. While there she accidentally sets in motion a chain of sinister events. Hauntingly beautiful, Whisper is a modern day ghost story that will keep you gripped...

read more

Sebastian and Them

Synopsis: Based on true events. Sebastian has to leave his childhood friends behind. The only problem is they don't want to leave him. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Benjamin Bee

read more

OMESSA

Synopsis: Anna never leaves her backpack and do not come-back often in France. Discovering a lump in her breast, she goes to a gynecologist who tells her that it is worrying. For Anna, it’s the moment to return in Corsica, to face her history, her inherit, her father....

read more

Aestas

Synopsis: A man returning from a business trip saves a teenage girl from drowning. She disappears a few moment later, leaving the man quite shaken. His girlfriend tries to cheer him up, but she disappears too, when the teenage girl suddenly comes back. Country: Canada...

read more

Getting In

Synopsis: When Roger loses his scholarship at one of the most prestigious universities, he decides to hack the tuition system in order to clear his bill. Country: United States Directed by: Stian Hafstad

read more

Twine

Synopsis: A hostile, serrated blade of a movie that follows the unravelling of a dark and twisted father/son relationship. Riddled with tension and beautifully shot on the wintery, snow-swept moors of northern Britain. Long-listed BAFTA Short Film Award 2016 Best...

read more

Backtrack

Synopsis: 1998 was the best year of Matt's life. Given the opportunity he'd go back like a shot. But once there, will he like what he sees? Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Ben Cohen

read more

In Honor Of

Synopsis: IN HONOR OF is the story of Sarah, who finds herself on trial for her life when an innocent family gathering harbors malicious intent. Seeing no way out, she submits to their devastating patriarchal ritual.  Our film is a metaphorical narrative, using the...

read more

beverley

Synopsis: Beverley follows a mixed race girl's struggle to carve out a sense of identity in a confusing, shifting cultural landscape - 1980 Leicester. A move from the decaying, poverty-stricken, urban environment to the relative comfort and theoretical safety of white...

read more

Abismo (Abyss)

Synopsis: A man and a woman drifting on a raft, dance with their instincts by choosing the only possible escape… Country: Canada Directed by: pablo diconca

read more

Awakenings

Synopsis: The line between dreams and reality is blurred when a young woman in charge of two children is haunted by mysterious entities. Country: India Directed by: Bhargav Saikia

read more

TEDDY2K

Synopsis: Logline: Disenchanted with the inane online persona that made him famous, YouTuber Teddy2K attempts to reinvent himself as a more serious performer. It does not go well. Brief Synopsis: TEDDY2K is a short comedy drama about a disenchanted YouTube celebrity....

read more

Seven Days a Week

Synopsis: For the last 36 years, Paul has opened his North London paper stall at 4.40am, seven days a week, every week of the year. Now 66, and with his time selling papers nearing an end, Paul reflects on his life in the paper booth and what the future holds for the...

read more

Artificial

Synopsis: Xabier (Gorka Otxoa) goes for a job interview. What he doesn't know is that he has already been selected. CORPSA offers to pay him 80,000 if he agrees to be cloned. But more than just a lot of money depends on his decision. Country: Spain Directed by: David...

read more

dark_net

Synopsis: Alan (Johnny Vegas) searches for answers in all the wrong places and this time he thinks he's found them...on the internet in the form of a highly trained deadly assassin. But he's about to learn the true price of entering the 'dark_net'. Country: United...

read more

Tooth Fairy

Synopsis: A dark tale of a Tooth Fairy who builds her house out of teeth. Country: United Kingdom Directed by: Robert Brown

read more

In The Waves

Synopsis: A tie-dye fabric animation that narrates the beginning of life through a microscope perspective. Country: United States Directed by: Ying-Fang Shen

read more

The Eve

Synopsis: Simon is an eight-year-old boy who seems to have everything from life. He’s a handsome child, he’s rich yet unhappy. He senses that there’s something wrong with his life and this leads him to wander off thanks to his fervid imagination. His greatest wish is...

read more