Encounters 16 · Bristol
337 films from 42 countries are recorded in the archive for this edition, with 11 award winners.
The sixteenth edition reinstated the Animated Encounters and Brief Encounters brands within a combined festival, nearly doubling the programme with over 200 competition films and 14 awards including a new Documentary category. Tim Minchin presented Desert Island Flicks and premiered the animated film Storm directed by DC Turner. The jury featured David Sproxton of Aardman, Nik Powell of the NFTS, BAFTA winner Emma Lazenby, and Chris Collins of the UK Film Council. A Focus on Germany and Ireland complemented the competition, while the iFeatures micro-budget strand highlighted Bristol's growing ambitions as a feature filmmaking hub.
One night, Mircea hears his 15 year old daughter having sex with her boyfriend in her bedroom.
Ella is a burlesque drama about old, boozed-up Ella, 73, who refuses to take a bath.
Suspicion bubbles to the surface during a tense family portrait.
This is a story about the desire for revenge; about how hard it is to forgive.
Dennis, a pig farmer, is in a fix. All his fortunes lie in one pig, and a dubious plan to cross it with a worm...
An irresponsible guard in charge of an unruly Maya child prince has his hands full as he encounters an unexpected danger.
A 3 minute documentary exploring the Funland Arcade in the Trocadero Centre, London and it's thriving community of dance mat players.
A family prepares for a day out at the beach - Where's the baby?
Fed up with the hostility of the city and its people, a young woman's view of the world changes when she makes a surprise connection.
Two idiots, one long slanging match. In bad French.
A young goatherd in Northern Uganda yearns to be able to read and write, but the odds are stacked against him…
Inside an abandoned house a strange dual universe awaits. A shadowy host sits ready to lure us inside it's rooms of curiosity.
Singing rubbish bags lament their fate as dead cats drift by.
A young man visits an abandoned observatory to confront memories of his past and follow his Father on a journey into the unknown.
Anthony had a terrible flaw: he only told the truth, the whole truth...
It is Easter at Small Birds Singing and the Unbelievable family look forward to their traditional Grand Egg Hunt, guns at the ready!
A dark fairytale about an orphan girl who must outwit a terrible sorceress with the help of a magical lunar bird.
A recently deceased Fox has a life after death experience.
An everyday love story set in the not so distant future sees blackbirds battling with technology, automatic palm readers and power cuts.
It's Christmas Eve morning 1984. Young Kishore, a Milkman's runner, has a very special delivery to make. A big journey in a small world.
Hotel 66 relates the uncanny rendezvous of two emotionally displaced workers; an innocent female security guard and a male sex vendor.
A comedy of missing teeth, unrequited love and one dog’s potential to shape the fortunes of a couple destined never to be together.
Teenage Tony’s enigmatic Chinese dad nearly dies in a car crash. Tony yearns to break down barriers between him and dad before it’s too late.
Set in a border town in rural Scotland Native Son is about a troubled farm labourer struggling with loneliness and the need for human contact.
Paul wakes up from a coma and is told by his wife Beth they have been in a car accident.
Two old friends rejoice in the best of what the great outdoors has to offer.
Suspicion bubbles to the surface during a tense family portrait.
At her daughter's bouncy castle party Celia is reminded of the events that led to this day.
In Nicosia, the divided capital of Cyprus, a display of nationalism is taken to its logical conclusion.
This is a story about the desire for revenge; about how hard it is to forgive.
Teenager friends Malik and Adam suspect that older brother Jamal is a potential terrorist bomber. But they discover the truth is much more complex.
An intimate exploration into the mysterious and wonderful nature of illness and recovery the adventure of living on the West Coast of Scotland, and worms.
The ability to spot where truth lies, and lies begin, will make or break you in this edge-of-your-seat thriller.
It's your turn to take your Aunty to the conservative club - what do you do? Bite the bullet or do a runner?
A very short film about when a hen eats a bee. Not necessarily scientifically correct.
Nine-year-old Grace, lives a latch-key life. Running the bleakest of errands for her dad. She seeks solace in a fantasy existence.
Michael wants to know...Donna is running out of excuses.
A teenage boy looks after his disabled mother, both haunted by the past.
Lauren and Amy hear a man who “likes children” living in the area, and decide to track him down to show him their handstands.
Andy Butters throws aside the dependable potato and risks the future of his farm and his daughter Ruthie on the magical Soul Flower.
An intimate portrait of champion bodybuilder Steve Avery.
This film puts the thoughts of children into a vibrant animated world. They give their views on everything from flying cars to lost penguins.
The boy is locked in his room alone, until he finds a mouse. He escapes and embarks on an odyssey in search of cheese...
Late at night, a desperate woman escapes mysterious pursuers through a bored man's house: a dream-like event that leads to obsession, transgression, and unforeseen consequences.
Staring at a blank page, a draftsman finds his focus on work begins to drift and with it, his imagination.
Greer’s weird. Everyone in the Village thinks so...
A gritty neo-noir film about the consequences of the partygirl lifestyle.
After a wasted life consumed by alcohol Jacob drifts through Christmas Eve in his local pub, searching for joys long gone.
Dennis, a pig farmer, is in a fix. All his fortunes lie in one pig, and a dubious plan to cross it with a worm...
In a black-and-white Paris, small creatures with brushes decide to repaint the city.
In a colourful and vibrant town, all the people and animals can whistle – with one exception, namely the small bird called Whistleless.
A wry little animation with characters made out of felt, buttons, pills, cigarettes and plasters that subtly pokes fun at an old Jewish saying about the life of women.
A giant bull finds interest in an unsuspecting depressed flamenco dancer in this striking animation - ole!
Old Romanian men and women share their memories of life under the Ceausesca regime.
A young woman searches for something precious in the sand.
Fish and chips, family, music, travel and heights - here's a glimpse into the passions and fears of Kenneth Mitchell.
A pleasant drive. A smoking rabbit. A beautiful nightmare. Mankind, Beastkind and Girlkind (the trinity of schoolboy terror) haunt a peculiar dream sequence.
Three students meet at a pub to discuss their film ideas. But soon their motivation is washed away… Time for another pint!
86-year-old newspaper columnist Tony Lord shares his devastating memories of his time in the Royal navy during the end of World War II - including rescuing Australian prisoners of war and witnessing first hand the effects of atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
A discerning gentleman villain curls his moustache as he earnestly tries to tie a young lady to some train tracks in this 1920s silent film-style animation.
A funny animation focusing on Peter Peel, who is at work, working something out with his brilliant mathematical brain.
Grandmother Marisa and cheeky young Grandson Romeo try to make stuffed pasta ina cold winter afternoon. Quirky music, great food and an adorable little wannabe chef.
Precise Peter introduces his junior to the subtleties of the family ritual, a great dinner ceremony in the allotment garden.
Based on the poem “The Lighthouse Keeper Loves Birds Too Much” by Jacques Prevert, this is a film about love, suffering and death.
Follow the Legs is designed, directed and animated by Rafi. The film explores the concept of collage in the medium of animation.
Vlad- 40 years old man, wants to eat his lunch in quiet but someone drops small cat near his door that disturbs Vlad’s idyll.
A boy’s parents have split up and live on different sides of a river. The boy has to cross the bridge on his own...
Ubiraci Crispim de Freitas, a real character aka Divino, sings 'repente' songs and tells us about his life, in this experimental fictional animated documentary.
A hospital cleaner has dreams of being king of the dance floor but his disco moves means a patient has a brush with death...every morning!
A sound animation revolved around the description of the word "Scunner".
Everyone needs to buy milk, even some you don't expect. The story of a man, his shop and a very unusual customer.
In a world of "Up" anyone who's a different shape simply does not fit in.
A hungry fox finds shelter from the rain and the city at the Hen house cafe.
Chris and Mike drive along a lonely stretch of Northern Ontario highway, where they are suddenly stopped and harassed by two socially inept moose.
A lion has lost his voice. Now even the birds seem to laugh at him. Perhaps a case for the monkey doctor?
When Max, a deaf boy, sees a lion on a school trip to the zoo, his life is changes forever.
A short film about man's misunderstanding and mixed relationship with mother nature.
When Abuela Grillo sings, rain comes. That day, she has been mistreated by the farmers because of her singing too much. She decides to leave.
Luis is waiting for Lucía in the forest. He appears and disappears in charcoal on the walls of a room.
A lovers' tiff escalates and threatens to destroy Victorian London, until the couple find themselves dwarfed by two even bigger monsters...
A young coyote makes a significant mark on his surroundings...and on the night sky
An old woman wrecks her garden in her pursuit of a chipmunk. All to the music of Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus.
In their golden cage, among the feathered guests, a little bird and a fat turkey launch into a breeding, twirling dance
Desert. Somewhere. Two Birds with digestive disorder are fooling around with an old sunbleached skull…but even a skull has its limits.
An irresponsible guard in charge of an unruly Maya child prince has his hands full as he encounters an unexpected danger.
Gretchen removes a jelly from its pan in her bedroom while her parents picnic in the garden.
China, in the early sixties: an angry mob is persecuting a rich landowner.
Chasing after different buzzing sounds, a dragonfly realizes suddenly that sometimes size does matter...
The story of a moth being drowned in natures complex cycles.
But because of greed, lust and excess they destroy not only the bird and their home but also nearly themselves.
An ailing jockey reflects on his life and the woman he loves.
“Out Of A Forest” is an experimental and poetic journey through places we all know, but have never been.
On the heights of the mythic Mount Olympus, a young girl unleashes a dangerous monster from a mysterious box.
Matters of life and death weigh heavily on two mountaineers.
Suddenly some colorful traces appear from the water ripples. This incidence brings him to the next movement and to the rhythmic dance.
Hanging out all day in front of television can affect you, but as well people who are close to you. Think about it…
As the old lonely Elsa celebrates her late husband’s birthday, a burglar breaks in, and Elsa makes a decision that changes their lives.
A lighthouse keeper is suddenly aroused from his sleep by a strange bug-a truly unusual night will ensue.
In the woods a lumberjack and his team work to the rhythm of their joyous working melody. However, this melody is soon to be disturbed.
Many years Urs has had to look for his aging mother. He carries her up a mountain to find a better place.
A ravenous rotten avocado crashes a swinging Mexican fiesta and starts devouring the guests... a film about the last tomato standing's race for his life.
A boozy broad finds it difficult having a sly fag. Toilet humour par excellence.
Lost in a garbage dump and looking for some human attention, Little Rabbit tries to reach the city with his new mate Little Indian.
Meet George & Irene. George likes to think he can make a difference. Irene is just looking for the simple relaxed life.
The film traces multiple journeys made by the participants towards defining their identities and towards forming the Kala Raksha Trust and the School for Design.
A juggler tries during his plate spinning act to keep the plates up in the air, but there are too many plates.
At the edge of society, a cow tips the balance of destiny with quite some impact...
MADAGASCAR is a journey diary that redraws the trip of a european traveler confronted with Famadihana customs.
And I'm still carrying the gift you gave, it's a part of me now…
Remnants remain, and reclaim the night.
Yujin is busy solving problems during a math test. Suddenly, a kid jumps out of her head, ruining her concentration.
It is a 10 minute animated dark comedy about a vacationing couples' encounter with a man they believe to be the Zodiac Killer.
A ten-minute episode in the lives of the pupils at a deaf-mute boarding school is reconstructed in real time.
A couple was defusing the mines which remained from war, out of the country and in a camp near the border.
In the silence of her home, Rosa, an elderly woman, bathes herself, cooks, watches television, looks for company and smokes alone by the window.
Two young teenagers who come together every summer in the small village.Their friendship is taken to a new level of sexually loaded intimacy.
The drowning depths of illegal abalone poaching has become a dangerous life that Jimmy, a legendary ex diver, has to escape from.
A short drama about friendship and understanding, takes place in Semey, Kazakhstan.
Vira, a forty-year-old Ukrainian immigrant in New York, is preparing for her sister's funeral. Amongst all her responsibilities, Vira suddenly finds herself falling in love...
A girl is enjoying with her friends a careless summer day on the sunlit streets of Vukovar, where leisure make everything seem nice and simple.
Sixteen-year-old Tomi trusts no one and does his best to protect his little sister Aino from the dangers of the world.
A man is driving through a winter landscape. All of a sudden, his car hits someone, and he flees the scene in panic.
Having come to Germany only recently, Edna is new in the class. But she draws more and more attention to herself.
A family is trying to get back to some kind of normality.
Anything works to earn for a happy life. Sergey makes money on excavations on World War 2 battlefields. But the war, once started, never ends.
‘White Tape’ explores the theme of boundaries; the frame, the space between brushstrokes and the implications of occupation.
One night, Mircea hears his 15 year old daughter having sex with her boyfriend in her bedroom.
What happens if you are caught by the owner while stealing the corn?
A young girl’s magical quest to find her father in 1980s Zimbabwe leads to her coming of age.
a father, a boy and a dove.
Ella is a burlesque drama about old, boozed-up Ella, 73, who refuses to take a bath.
A detailed and humorous account of a failed bank robbery: A single take where 96 people perform a meticulous choreography for the camera.
Georg lost his father. To find him again, he dives into the strange but fair and beautiful world of an old fishermen's tale.
Mom has never asked me, she just brought granny home.
The story of a peasant woman working in the teeming slums of Shanghai, whose life is changed by a chance sighting from her window.
Paradise Later is a “documentary adaption of a novel“. Inside the head of a trader we travel on a river towards an apocalyptic scenery.
Eitan lives alone in Jerusalem and works at night at painting lines on the streets of the city. Seeking for another persons company makes him wonder.
Through the reading of a witness declaration, "10 min." narrates how a young girl winds up in a prostitution ring.
Chloe has been keeping a secret. A secret best kept in the dark...away from children...away from public places...away from the window...away from humanity forever.
It's not wrong to want love - you just need to look for it in the right place
The Heidens: 7 kids, no money, yet not a welfare case. Family chief Marita is keeping the household together while dreaming of world literature...
Two friends spend a summer Saturday together in the suburbs of Montreal. They will watch the fireworks that same evening.
One late afternoon at the rice paddies after the harvest, four boys turns a little shack into a recreation centre.
Joel doesn’t fit in anywhere, he desperately tries to make friends with a local gang without knowing what kind of sinister process lies ahead.
Mark serves a long-term sentence. Step by step a brief stopover in freedom reveals a portrait of a convict falling to pieces over himself.
Micky, 100-years-old, has been a member of the local bathing club for almost half a decade. Every day, every season, she swims with her friends.
The nightmares and realities of a depressed person in exile.
When confronted with the prospect of easy money in post-war Sarajevo, Mirza is certain he can control the consequences.
A love experienced by two children is remembered by a narrator.
Miss Remarkable struggles with her own demons and crushing parental expectations. She finally realises what she really wants for herself - she wants life!
Between frames and windows "AWAY" shows the worn out routine of a young couple living on a small apartment of Buenos Aires City.
In a Brazilian slaughterhouse, two skilled men build a cow.
A pregnant Mexican woman follows a shady human smuggler into an underground border crossing that goes terribly awry.
Rosa and Jesús, a young couple, are driving at night through a dense forest.
Helmut celebrates his 60th birthday on the day he is actually turning 57 (his wife miscalculated).. bizarre declarations of love and transience.
A spectacular gay love story filled with glorious 80s fashion, high energy dance numbers, glitter and fun!
Whilst clearing the belongings of his missing father, Chris unearths some unexpected truths.
Just another day staffing an underground carpark. Two ordinary men share an extraordinary responsibility, it's a tough job but someone has got to do it.
Jesus Christ saves from all sin. Pray to Jesus now. Obey the bible. Warning: Death, Judgment, Eternity, Heaven or Hell.
12 Sketches on the Impossibility of Being Still is a collection of experiments in animation and editing exploring the spaces where nothing happens: the liminal zone that exists between you and me, between here and there, sound and silence, movement and stillness.
A chance encounter with an eccentric stranger during a breakfast at a roadside café leaves Martin with a bad taste in his mouth.
Come inside Betty's hairdressers and watch as wigs and hairdryers come to life and talk about their ailments.
A brother's betrayal and the nightmare of growing up too fast, in a place where there is nothing to live for.
Life on a Hull Council Estate through the eyes of a young girl.
The morning after the guy she wishes didn't happen…
Karen (Nora-Jane Noone), a young single mother is bored by routine. Slot machines have become her secret thrill and addiction. With Christmas looming, a desperate hope for a big win sees her life spiral out of control.
An animated insight into the human machine and it's obsession with consumption. Take an intriguing journey through this mechanical monster, observing its ruthless nature towards anything in its path.
Jez and his long suffering Deaf friend Andy are broke and living in a van until Jez dreams up the perfect get-rich psychic scam.
On the evening of a friend's wedding, the relationship between two young men is about to change forever...
In a decaying Scottish community, a lonely man witnesses a violent attack that gives him a reason to exist.
Mark, a deaf man, adopted by hearing parents, uncovers the truth about his past and in doing so he reveals a tragic family secret.
A driving lesson that comes to mean more that it should.
A 3 minute documentary exploring the Funland Arcade in the Trocadero Centre, London and it's thriving community of dance mat players.
A man in a colour postcard falls in love with a woman in a black and white postcard.
Two teenagers’ lives are brought together through their internet webcams.
Newlyn is facing a crisis, but the regeneration plans may end up destroying the very thing they set out to save.
After short-changing the Prostitute, the Renegades visit the King Of The Pimps for Cake. Here they meet the Sailor. With disastrous consequences.
Ignored because of her wheelchair, thirteen year old Maike longs to catch Sven’s eye.
When Lieke visits Mister Metsiers, she accidently intrudes on him taking his own life. Lieke is forced to choose to either stop him or help.
For twelve years she ignored sneers and mockery and stood up for her relationship. But that was probably a mistake.
Breakfast deals with the lost connection between the food we eat and the animals we love.
A family prepares for a day out at the beach - Where's the baby?
Anything a Cat can do a Horse can do badly. Especially HorseCat... he's a Horse that thinks he's a cat.
Knit'n'Purl are a tight knit duo who's yarn will have you in stitches.
Virgile is a story about a young man who relies on a metamorphosing drink to fulfil his desires.
Bud, 19, is profoundly deaf. His best friend is leaving for university. Bud is forced to literally find his own voice.
Fed up with the hostility of the city and its people, a young woman's view of the world changes when she makes a surprise connection.
Based on the true story of Andrew (Isa) Ibrahim, Conviction staring Adam Deacon (Adulthood, 4321) portrays a vulnerable British student who became radicalised to the point where he was planning a terrorist attack.
Gallop is an animated film about the canter of the horse. It is an artistic reaction to the motion studies of the early 1900's.
Grime City, Clementine County. A seemingly normal tale of consumer rejection (of a watermelon) explodes into a labyrinthine mystery of duplicity and greed.
A young British Indian boy discovers he has a special gift. Tragedy ensues and a powerful secret is revealed to the world.
Where do all the old vinyl records go? From out of attics, rubbish bins & stacked shelves, a ‘collector’ calls them to his warehouse.
Two idiots, one long slanging match. In bad French.
Award winning actors JOHN HURT and PHYLLIDA LAW are the stars of this funny, moving and poignant short film set in a Residential Home.
The most dangerous journey needs a helping hand.
A boy takes a long walk to the park.
A muslim woman's encounter with an elderly man invites reflection on a dark conflict and its hidden consequences.
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the ss Great Britain's homecoming, 'The Incredible Journey' tells the story of the salvage operation to rescue Brunel's famous ship.
The tale of a hairy girl who is unlike others and how life in the wild can take unexpected and sometimes rather unpleasant turns.
In a world made entirely out of paper, the drawings in a man’s sketchbook are brought to life by a train journey.
On his sixth birthday Robert receives three beautiful broken old birds who tell a dark and magical tale of an emperor with no skin.
The eternal battle between man and fly is played out with ever more comedic results to the final pay off.
Blake and Claire meet for dinner, but things are never that simple.
In an isolated bicycle repair shop a lonely creature seeks comfort in an unusual pastime.
A showdown between a determined goat and a short-tempered woman.
A short spoof commercial for 'Whelk Custard' - The wonderful fishy dessert. A mix of puppetry and animation set to music.
Lucille, a lonely lighthouse-keeper, surfs the net for company. Oblivious to the potentail perils of internet dating, she prepares a romantic supper for two...
When militants indiscriminately murder his young brother, Akram is out for revenge. Brotherhood, tragedy, revenge. The true story of one day in Baghdad.
Joshua is an Liberian war orphan, falling far behind his peers, but when a goat goes missing he reveals something great despite his tough circumstances.
Salah Ameidan is from Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa. He runs for a country that does not exist.
A young goatherd in Northern Uganda yearns to be able to read and write, but the odds are stacked against him…
Each night the only bordercrossing between India and Pakistan on a 3000km stretch becomes the sight of an extraordinary event.
Can a young girl overcome her fear of jumping into the water?
Twelve year-old Danny must fend for his brothers and sisters whilst trying to protect a secret that threatens to break up the family forever.
The first day at school is an uncertain one for any young teenager, but for Khan his journey to England is his greatest struggle.
Three teenage boys break into their school swimming pool late one night, with tragic consequences.
Trolley Boy tries to keep himself motivated in his isolated and unfulfilling job.
When your mother has turned into a beast, a lot of things change.
A boy. A girl. A step too far...