Brief Encounters 4 · Bristol
140 films from 18 countries are recorded in the archive for this edition.
The fourth Brief Encounters expanded to ten days across Watershed and Arnolfini, programmed by Catharine Des Forges. The festival launched its first Audience Award and highlighted short film as a springboard for features, noting the recent successes of François Ozon, Lynne Ramsay and Simon Beaufoy. Special events included the Olá! Brazil programme, a Gas Giants live soundtrack to Norman McLaren's Camera Makes Whoopee, Tales from Down Under, and the inaugural DepicT! awards. Industry guests included editor Mick Audsley and screenwriter Ian Iqbal Rashid, with a Short Film Conference on Creative Partnerships.
Read the 1998 Brief Encounters programme on the Internet Archive
Ex-bunny girls show their ears to the world and dish the dirt on the Playboy club from its '70s heyday to its demise in 1981.
A man standing in the supermarket queue is approached by an old woman who makes an unusual request of him.
The glamour of the '50s is stunningly recreated in this poetic drama about the love and devotion between mother and son which is suddenly marred by her affair with a handsome young man.
By manipulating single frames from the Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland original, Arnold creates an inflated, monstrous doppelganger of the original cuts. The hidden message of sex and violence is turned inside out to the point where it crackles. Innovative and hugely enjoyable, for cinephiles everywhere. Winner at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival.
The super duo Ace and Gary help some kids with safety around the home.
More fun and frolics with the duo.
Ace and Gary are back again.
Three shorts featuring a red-headed reprobate in an anorak, getting antsy about families, sneezing and parental neglect.
Liz Smith stars as Dolly, who hoards coal and memories of her husband and son who died in mining accidents. Her niece Winnie wants to borrow coal but it's more than Dolly's life is worth to let her. A brilliantly written tale.
An irreverent trip through the world of apples and the extraordinary characters who inhabit it. Apple experts Dr Joan Morgan and Bob Sanders undertake a quest in search of a lost variety of apple known as 'Kitchen Door'. On their journey, they discuss the history of apples from the Roman Empire to the present day.
The late Allen Ginsberg, in one of his last performances, recites a polemical poetic monologue to musical accompaniment from Philip Glass and Paul McCartney and a dazzling visual montage from Gus Van Sant.
Spring cleaning on the Enterprise but then everything gets knocked out of whack.
A young man returns to his native city and confronts his feelings of guilt from the past. An amusing and original film from a talented director about to finish his first feature - reminiscent of a Japanese Hal Hartley.
A woman sleeps and dreams of sensual pleasures of the flesh...
Early work from classic, innovative animtor McClaren. A witty and inventive view of the Christmas Carnival Ball at the Glasgow School of Art.
An estranged family plan to spend Christmas together when their father is taken ill, but 19 years is a long gap to fill for both father and son.
Davey and his talking dog are on a quest to clean the city.
A classic kaleidoscopic ride on the New York overground.
A cautionary tale of a young woman on a nightmare one-night stand. Waking up the next morning in a strange bed, she finds the consequences of her unwise decision weighing down heavily upon her.
How to get on in business - a boss makes an unexpected and intriguing offer to his employee over dinner.
Animated models from a mail-order catalogue tell us how they really feel. An unusual and very funny film.
A freshly mown lawn provides too much temptation for this naughty doggy.
Nicholson, an eleven-year-old boy, sits on the top of a high-rise block of flats looking out over the night skyline. Somewhere in the city below, Frank, a lost and very drunk best man who still can't remember his speech, muses on the stars. At some time, their paths are destined to meet.
Two tiny bugs try to find God, only to catch a glimpse of an immense void and a bigger picture.
A nagging wife receives a welcome and unexpected present from her husband but there's a twist in the tale...
A celebration of the phallus seen through the eyes of a master of Italian animation.
A man on a first date attempts to amuse his partner's slobbering dog with devastating effects.
A lawn mower, washing-up and the kidnapping of a Mexican walking fish bring intrigue to suburbia on a hot summer's day.
A Russian emigre's story - his beard, his mother and his feelings of belonging.
The soundtrack composed by long-term collaborators Fructose leads the camera in an exploration of time and speed. The viewing experience is a mosaic of multiple relationships.
A fast trip through the excitement of a modern-day film festival.
Two women find unexpected solidarity during a murder investigation. A subtle and complex piece about the many shapes of violence.
A magician with rather special talents entertains an audience.
The latest work from one of Britain's most respected avant-garde film-makers, GARDEN PIECES is a sequence of three film poems set to music by John Gray.
An old gentleman plays chess in the park against himself. Somehow he manages to win every time - even if it means cheating. Winner of this year's Oscar® for best animated short.
Grace, a middle-aged Aboriginal woman, returns home for her sister's funeral and receives an uncertain welcome from her family, facing recriminations for the intervening years.
A talentless man is determined to get into showbusiness.
Surreal black comedy about a man who spends too much time in his favourite armchair.
Based on an original poem by Charles Bukowsky which describes a bizarre dental experience. Joint winner of the Jury Prize at Cannes.
Two bored shadow puppets play themselves at their own game in this award-winning animation from Aardman studios.
A short film about love and friendship in the afternoon. Joint winner of the Best Short Film Award at the 1998 Edinburgh Film Festival.
This film will make you choose your dentist very carefully.
Jesus is a huge bull mastiff who terrorises the sweet white rabbit from next door with dire consequences...
Nine-year-old Keith finds a best friend in Frank, a car mechanic from across the road who teaches him to drive. One day however, Frank disappears and Keith is left to try and control his own life and deal with the consequences of emotional betrayal.
This year's programme brings together both established and new film-makers from the region, fiction, animation, documentary and several premières.
A pool game holds salvation or destruction for Mike and his daughter Natalie. Mike's chances of survival seem as uncertain and unpredictable as the rules of the game.
Two women spend their summer vacation by the sea. Now is the time when anything can happen...
An animated poet writes alone in a dark cell, his words brought to life as a silent movie in which human actors play out a game of seduction that turns sour. The human and animated characters confront each other as the poet battles with his own desires.
Share some of Lloyd's tips on personal hygiene - once voted as 'the sickest cartoon ever'.
A mortuary assistant senses an unusual smell in the cold store but sees nothing, not understanding that love can overcome even death.
At the last possible moment, an important threshold is crossed, and love reveals itself to be true.
It's Rick's and Margie's wedding anniversary. He's at the opera getting progressively smashed whilst she's at home ignoring his drunken calls on the answer machine. When he eventually stumbles home, she's not in the mood for love.
MAP OF THE SCARS takes the viewer on a whirlwind tour of the pretty summer island of Jersey. The guide map is the human head of our alternative tour guide Paul, scarred through fights, drunken accidents, tragic incidents and adventures. Here we have a hidden island, not only of warm sands but of alcoholism, schizophrenia, humour and insan
'Absurdity is a way of living in my country. This is a comedy about some tragic events that took place a few weeks ago in modern Serbia.' Winner of the Grand Prix at Vila do Conde.
It's a summer night at a public swimming pool and two solitary swimmers are lost in their dreams as they swim up and down the pool.
The time it takes for rabbits to copulate...apparently.
Ol' Nan invites her neighbour in for a cup of tea and a chat.
A young couple find a bloody scene on a lonely road late at night. But who can have committed such a random act of violence?
Pensioner Penny was cold and lonely until the day she had a bit of a fling with a giant inflatable chicken.
The nice chap in this film likes to let people know what he thinks.
A nine year old boy seeks to understand the remote world around him in the hostile environment of his family home. He seeks refuge through his younger autistic sister, who provides him with a brief glimpse of another world.
A grandmother tells her granddaughter stories of her life in a traditional Aborigine upbringing.
Written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and based on his play 'The Beat Generation'.
Chris Petit revisits the terrain from his classic road movie RADIO ON in an homage to his brilliant cinematographer Martin Shafer who died suddenly in 1988.
Christmas is only a month away, so start the festivities now...a merry friggin' Christmas to you all!
Five participants discuss their notions of romantic love and the intense, passionate, impulsive nature of sex with strangers.
Romance New York style.
When Vince the dog begins to sing operatic arias, Rex and his chums take an incredible journey in order to find out what is really happening in his brain.
Torture, mutilation and death, all in a day's work if you are a professional torturer.
Youssef and Said, joint owners of a café lost among the sand dunes, live in harmony playing chess and drinking coffee until a female stranger steps into their lives.
A guide to the difficult task of putting on a condom.
From one of Europe's most exciting new young directors, a series of couples contemplate their sleeping partners.
The latest short from the King of outrageous animation.
A disturbing drama about sexual harassment in the police force uncovered by a TV documentary crew.
The world's most outrageous cabaret act performs to an unsuspecting audience.
How to work off steam when you are a very cross little girl. For parents everywhere.
Beleaguered by an unsympathetic landlord, drunken vandals and a mountain of unpaid bills, Joseph is becoming overwhelmed by the outside pressures which crowd in on his small fruit and veg shop. At night he finds escape from his disturbing customers but their personalities begin to infiltrate his life with remarkable effects.
Tasha is having a traumatic time. Estranged from her alcoholic mother and misunderstood by her peers, she seeks refuge in the boxing ring and hangs out with the boys who 'train surf'. An intelligent and accomplished portrait of adolescent courage.
The tragic downfall of a lion from King of the Jungle to gibbering, pill-popping wreck is told by his tormentor - a mouse.
Arthur has spent 30 years working as a mechanic at the coal mine but he's paid a price: he is obsessed with washing. A haunting, passionate film which explores the ways in which Arthur's preoccupations affect his social life and his relationships with both his wife and his mistress.
A lonely young woman steals a baby from outside a supermarket and we follow their ensuing days together which border on the unexpected and desperate. A work of great originality with a powerful emotional intensity from a new young talent.
A champion couch potato relentlessly channel surfs his way through the twilight world of late-night TV with devastating results.
A gay son's film about the 'colonialist fantasy' of the film star Sabu brings him into conflict with his father, who is an avid fan.
Kenny, a reformed drug user, agrees to build a garage for his neighbour and former dealer Carl in order to repay an old debt. It is not in Carl's interest for him to complete the job though and he is forced to take drastic action.
An otherwise normal boy is born with a strange affliction...a flip top head.
For loyalty, two peasants are given four wishes by Saint Martin.
A suburban husband is the source of many frustrated desires - both his wife and his neighbour crave some physical attention from him but satisfaction proves elusive...
The bittersweet exhilaration of a schoolgirl crush.
The spiralling consciousness of a dying man. His delirious memories of events past, and possibly future, are spun into a cascade of abstract and twisted visions.
A young African man gets on a bus in France and has to face the wrath of three bus inspectors when he does not have a ticket. A powerful film about society's ignorance and racism.
If you are a young and fashionable gay couple, there's no room in your life for a baby, is there?
'One day a man entered my belly...so it was a shock when he left.' Winner of the Grand Prix at the Tampere Short Film Festival.
A day in the life of a vinyl junkie, his adventures and misadventures in the quest to find money for the ultimate waxing. Raising the money on the streets is the least of his problems though, once he gets his prize home.
A grotesque comic fantasy which caricatures the lives of a well-to-do dysfunctional family unaware of the smoothly operating society of wasps living in a nest over their heads.
An apposite choice for the GasGiants, this erly Laurel and Hardy classic sees the dynamic duo try their hands at making a living by becoming musicians.