Animated / Brief Encounters · Bristol
111 films from 23 countries are recorded in the archive for this edition, with 4 award winners.
The sixth Brief Encounters expanded to five venues including the new IMAX Theatre at At-Bristol, with a new chairman and a partnership with AtomFilms for online distribution. The festival premiered a Without Boundaries experimental strand at Arnolfini and a Beckett on Screen programme. Hong Kong by Gerard Holthuis won the International Jury Award, Alnoor Dewshi's Jomeo & Ruliet took the Short Circuit Award, and To Be Continued by Linus Tunström won the Pathé Five Minute Award. The programme also featured a Script Factory workshop, Pop Promos schools events, and a European Round Table on festival management.
Read the 2000 Brief Encounters programme on the Internet Archive
Read the 2000 Animated Encounters programme on the Internet Archive
The flight approach to Hong Kong's airport provides a stunning visual poem of the city.
Struck down by a heart attack, a cinema projectionist is rushed to hospital. Suddenly the film wobbles and burns out, taking the projectionist into a more disturbing reality.
Winner of the Best Short Film Award at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, Jomeo and Ruliet is a modern urban retelling of Shakespeare's famous balcony scene.
Three apparently unrelated scenarios lead towards an emotionally charged resolution in this thought-provoking film.
A film about not knowing what's in our food.
A nameless man and a woman meet by chance. He is an immigrant working in the vineyards, she is from a wealthier background but on the run from her past. Excellent performances make this a touching film.
Ana is being interviewed for a job she desperately needs, but is determined to hide something from her past. The interview is an intrusive enquiry into her private life which forces her to remember, but the dilemma is whether to talk about what has scarred her.
A teenage girl travels through a middle class neighbourhood, sampling suburban bliss and blight.
Better or Worse? explores the world of 8 year-old Rachel as she embarks upon a series of experiments attempting to make sense of her defective eyesight.
Fouzia, a 19 year-old Asian girl working at a supermarket checkout is looking for romance. She believes she has found it with the smooth carphone salesman Kadeem, or has she?
The rules of the road for two young lovers; always keep moving, always move fast, always think of the worst cast (sic) scenario.
A love story set in a cinematic world of desire, memory and beauty. Blackout is a dialogue about loss, between a man and a woman, conveyed through re-edited voices from a classic Hollywood film and deeply poetic imagery.
The face of a voyeur is transformed by what he watches and what he watches is transformed by being watched. The impact of the gaze is marked by lightning bolts as the voyeur opens his eyes to a series of images, illicitly watching people in their beds.
An ironic look at the machinations of the Brit Art scene as viewed through the eyes of Luke, a painter with limited ability but who has a business-savvy girlfriend. The script for Brilliant! was read at last year's Brief Encounters' Script Factory workshop.
Harry Weaver is visiting his wife Susannah. He has brought her flowers. But Susannah needs more than flowers, and she asks for the one thing she knows he can't bring her.
An Irish boy, Packo, and a young Romanian immigrant, Milos, battle to secure space to beg in a Dublin train station. After a comical battle of fists and wits, of sly tricks and hard blows, the boys find a truly special friendship in their common love of music.
Roger is boss: Matt his protégé. Strapped to their waists are their weapons of work: the mobile phone. A chance encounter at the same forest retreat leads to a showdown.
An imaginative little girl in 70s Derry gets confused when her games of Charlie's Angels spill over to an imagined real-life drama and she becomes convinced that her mother has murdered her father and disposed of his body.
Charlie is the sharpest small-time gambler in North London. His self-belief is untouchable. How long can he have things so good?
1960s communist China. A young boy is intrigued by a tattered card depicting a Christmas tree. Innocently, he sets out to make a tree of his own, only to realise that there is one all-important item missing. A gentle comedy where East meets West.
Get ready for a revolution in movie arcade-gaming! Silent film classic goes digital to defeat the enemy. An ingenious, hilarious and thought-provoking re-working of Sergei Eisenstein's silent classic, Battleship Potemkin, in the form of a video 'shoot 'em up' game.
An audio-visual essay about the last day of the year on Brazil's most famous beach, Copacabana.
One hotel. One elevator. One world. Two people. One black. One white. One old. One young. One destination. One distance.
Part of Ovcharov's myths series concentrating on stories from the ancient world, Feats of Hercules tells a chapter of the story of humanity, combining live action with computer graphics.
An elegant transition from death to life frozen in Macmillan's ground-breaking 'time slice' style.
On a hot summer's day at the local pool, 12 year-old Victor is introduced to Amanda, an older girl from the same neighbourhood in New York. The encounter is one of unparalleled intensity for Victor who goes in search of the object of his desire. A beautifully observed verité-style chronicle of sexual awakening.
Three young Japanese people share a flat in Sydney. After a year of carefree living, Daisuke has to return to Osaka to work in his father's butchers shop. An emotionally charged final day is captured in this lyrical vignette.
A comic portrait of a boy's dream of being a football star, featuring Helena Bonham Carter as his embarrassing mother.
Forty Below is a non-narrative film shot on location in Ireland and Iceland. It explores mankind's brief, fragile existence in the face of the apparently limitless forces of nature.
To any football fan, wherever they are, 4.45 on a Saturday is like a call to prayer. This film looks at how far people will go to find out the footie results.
Dawn. Masked men arrive at a car park as the last survivors of the carnival are about to make their way home. Amongst them Veronique is torn between Xavier and Jochen. If you play with fire...
This short experimental drama follows a journey of transformation by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo (1907–1954). The film draws on the artist's own words and characteristically bold painting style to refute the picture of Kahlo's life as one of tragedy and suffering.
A film about the relative insignificance of death when viewed from the context of the whole of existence. A point of view from outside life.
A beautifully atmospheric film with great set designs creating a fairy tale world. The film charts the growing rivalry of a group of gypsies against the background of an enchanted wood.
Two hostages await the daily arrival of their guard whose words offer a source of solace. A brilliantly conceived script delivers a sharp film.
The flight approach to Hong Kong's airport provides a stunning visual poem of the city.
A delightful film which combines the comic mood of Jacques Tati with a surreal darkness. Visual, imaginative and playful.
Robert is reading the words In God We Trust on a quarter when he meets an untimely demise. However, fate gives Robert a second chance to make amends with his girlfriend, his dad, and his parakeet Benny.
When Mrs Duane's husband passes away, she finds a very special way of dealing with his death. Audrey O'Reilly's screenplay was based on a true story told to her by her Great Uncle.
Winner of the Best Short Film Award at this year's Edinburgh International Film Festival, Jomeo and Ruliet is a modern urban retelling of Shakespeare's famous balcony scene.
Using found footage Rosenblatt depicts his childhood fear of Jesus Christ. These childhood recollections are a point of departure for examining profound issues about the roots of Christian anti-Semitism and the need for forgiveness and healing.
Struck down by a heart attack, a cinema projectionist is rushed to hospital. Suddenly the film wobbles and burns out, taking the projectionist into a more disturbing reality.
Evocatively shot by Brian Tufano (Trainspotting / Shallow Grave) on location in the Clifton open-air pool, The Lido tells the story of the developing relationship between the ageing caretaker and a young boy. Commissioned by HTV, The Lido is to be broadcast next year.
Failed actor Trevor Figg tells of how he became a world-famous scarecrow. A deadpan comic account of fame.
When Tessa's English father leaves his Italian wife and family stranded in the English countryside, each member of the family responds to the crisis in his or her own (very) peculiar way.
A neo-Gothic episode of loss and longing. A mother and her daughter live as outsiders on a remote Irish island. Their world is disrupted when the child finds a corpse washed up on shore.
Adapted from the poem by Charles Bukowski, the film tells the story of a gang of kids who find a strange house with an overgrown garden where they play. This beautifully animated film won an award at the recent British Animation Awards.
Set in 1959, Me and the Moilsies charts a Hasidic boy's journey into manhood and his fall from innocence. Following his sister on an illicit trip to the beach, Sheldon discovers greasers, lovers, and a gang of Hasidic misfits.
The story of a man who meets his son for the first time. Winner of this year's Kodak Award.
A lyrical film shot in beautiful black and white with a specially commissioned musical score.
The psychologically disturbed Professor Herville analyses the literary classic Moby Dick. A sharp edged satire on literary theory mixing live action and animation.
A short film for three pairs of hands and three tables, based on the famous composition by Thierry De Mey. The film explores the boundaries between music and movement.
A surreal moment in a local pub.
On the seventh anniversary of his wedding day, police inspector Groehnke must solve, not only a murder case, but also his marital problems.
Elisa is a 22 year-old prostitute living in Arequipa in Peru. She is struggling to escape from her situation and start a new life, away from men and anybody else who tries to obstruct her integrity as a human being.
A young girl's video diary reveals a terrible emotional secret.
When an undertaker sees the image of his secret obsession, Barbara, embedded in a dead man's retina, he decides to make her his own final and everlasting image. Preserve is a dark tale of love, lust and obsession.
In the 'dog eat dog' world of big business, two disenfranchised '90s males fight to survive.
When the cat is away (or the projectionist) the rats will play Skat — Germany's most popular card game.
Using a soft porn film from the 1970s, nail polish and bleach, Removed deconstructs the original film. In its place, the film maker has created a short piece of pornography in which the woman is present only as a hole, an empty animated space.
An amusing look at present-day Tokyo and Japan which pays homage to Yasujiro Ozu's classic study of Japanese life, Tokyo Story.
Although gay sweethearts Rick and Steve and lesbian lovers Kirsten and Dana do not get along at all, they decide to have a baby together. Steve is jealous that the lesbians prefer Rick's sperm so he comes up with an alternative plan with the help of Pussy the cat.
Winner of the McLaren Animation Award at this year's Edinburgh Film Festival, Robots follows the demise of three redundant robots as they attempt to put meaning back into their empty lives.
Road signs can be confusing!
Jon Kaye is fed up with the 'nine to five'. He wishes something would happen. But when it does, is he ready?
A joyrider once asked me to get into the passenger seat. I might look stupid but I'm not that stupid. We play golf. You gotta keep your eye on the ball 'cause it's a dangerous game.
Trapped by her grief, Anna inhabits a lonely, dislocated world. Believing her dead son is trying to contact her, she chooses Halloween to seek the help of a local wise-woman. But on the most magical night of the year, events do not go as planned.
The premiere of the new film from Forkbeard Fantasy. A comic surreal journey through the evolution of that neurological phenomenon: the brain.
Stuck indoors on a rainy night, a little boy fights with his reflection in the mirror. But his reflection fights back, dragging him into a fantasy world. Here the boy must defeat his own shadow before he can return home.
A poetic look at the suicide of a young Asian-British doctor during a hospital shift, blending drama with dark comedy. The film incorporates typography and innovative camera techniques.
A visually playful day in the life of Sainsbury's superstore at Marsh Mills, Plymouth.
A TV set wakes up and tries to tune himself in, but with no success. When he accidentally comes across the weather channel, the beautiful woman presenting the forecast catches his attention. This animation charts his awkward attempts to stay tuned.
A narrative constructed on a train resembling an old foreign film with subtitles and shot in black and white. The scene of a woman speaking Swedish is repeated three times, creating a hypnotic and dislocating effect.
A typical story about an atypical snail family.
Three small-time hoods attempt to put the squeeze on Bookie Bob, played by Oscar winner Rod Steiger. A great adaptation of Damon Runyon's short story.
Kaly is trying to become friends with the cool crowd at school but her mother is getting in the way. A poignant study of a mother/daughter relationship.
Legend states that the souls of drowned sailors are captured by underwater spirits and held in clay pots at the bottom of the ocean. A lyrical, narrative film inspired by the myth.
On a cold autumn evening, a young mother and her bewildered daughter run to catch a train. The train is delayed. We watch the other travellers from the girl's point of view as the veneer of civilised behaviour is stripped away by the strain of waiting.
The film chronicles the battle between Soho Eckstein and Felix Teitlebaum for the hearts and mines (sic) of Johannesburg. Kentridge's powerful animation dissects the power struggles in South Africa.
A warm-hearted tragicomedy of a delicate relationship between father and son. When it comes to expressing feelings between the two, silence really can be golden.
A sardonic tale of love, sex and female perversion. New Woman is stalking the city streets, redrawing sexual boundaries, refining her desires. Meanwhile, New Man simply cannot cope.
A playful run-through of video techniques becomes an hypnotic vista of colour reminiscent of the experimental techniques of Len Lye.
An urban tale of mystery and suspense. A young man attempting to get home after a particularly unsuccessful night out thinks the arrival of a minicab driver will bring him solace.
The morning after the night before. A spiral of increasingly disastrous telephone conversations chart the certain ruin of young Phil's day as he attempts to fib his way out of one scrape after another.
A female librarian realises that portrait smiles have been cut out from a number of illustrated books of European paintings. Outraged by the incident, she decides to visit the suspect, only to discover an elderly human smile cut by the scissors of time.
This River Winding uses animated film formed from original visual artwork, poetry and live action and combines it with digital techniques to reflect the life journeys of a number of artists with disabilities.
It's a hot summer afternoon in a deserted lido and two bored girls are timing a third girl to see if she can hold her breath under water for three minutes. But they can't agree when the game started or who is in charge.
Three apparently unrelated scenarios lead towards an emotionally charged resolution in this thought-provoking film.
A witty evocation of the hours that preceded the writing of the Bard's famous monologue.
Wilfred isn't doing too well at school or at home. Model aeroplanes are his passion in life, but he doesn't have enough money to buy his dream machine. When a social worker arrives, Wilfred sees his chance to get money, the plane and revenge!
A couple are driving along a desolate country road. A deer appears in front of the car and they are sent skidding off the road. Just before impact they hold hands. They can survive a car crash but how do they survive the aftermath?
A woman, disillusioned with her husband and her life, is whisked away at night by Columbine, who shows her a magical world where she can be herself. But is he all he seems?
When two octogenarian sisters communicate only through Scrabble, they spell nothing but trouble.
A dark comedy about sex trading, mutilation and quiz shows!
When the Music Stops is a moving response to the experience of a close friend needing an organ transplant.
Whose My Favourite Girl? is a witty and entertaining tale of two boys in an awkward stage of puberty — kissing girls.
A clinical look at how the Nazis transformed Zyklon B gas from pesticide to genocidal weapon gives way to the enormity of one family's loss. This powerful film finds shape and form for unspeakable, unshowable memories.
Spring 1965. Two couples go out to the countryside. Teresa and German are in their forties. Pili and Pablo are just married. Sun, sangria and pop music reveal a very well kept secret in this lively comedy.
Cast: Sean McGinley, Gary Lewis
Cast: Milo O'Shea, David Kelly
Cast: Alan Rickman, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juliet Stevenson
Cast: Harold Pinter, Rebecca Pidgeon, John Gielgud
University of West of England
National Film and Television School
University of Westminster
The London International Film School
London Guildhall University
University of West of England
The story of a man who answers a newspaper advert, run by Yale University in 1963, for volunteers to participate in a memory experiment. Soon he finds himself in a struggle between his moral conscience and a malevolent authority.
National Film and Television School
London College of Printing